Explore the Watershed - What is your Tunkhannock Creek Watershed
address? Locate your county, township, and borough to determine
what sub-watershed you live in. This map explores the watershed in its
entirety, however, it does not contain any specialized data contained in
the following maps.
Recreation in the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed - This watershed
offers a wealth of recreational opportunities, including: the Lackawanna
State Park, the Trails of Keystone College, Elk Mountain Ski Resort, and
possibly the oldest Rails-to-Trails project in Pennsylvania - a private
equestrian trail organized in 1944. Explore the watershed's
recreational opportunities, and where available, view the trails to plan for
your next hike.
Historical Landmarks in the Watershed
Lackawanna
State Park
The trails of Keystone College (coming soon)
Fishing in the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed - Do you enjoy fishing?
Explore the watershed to find out where the stocked streams are or where the
wild brook trout are. Many fisherman will cringe at the fact that this
information is so readily available. Their "secret" fishing holes are
being exposed!
ammonia) and
phosphorus are the water quality parameters explored in this map.
These are nutrients, which serve as a good indication that pollution may be
entering the stream, whether it be from fertilizers on lawns and gardens,
sewage treatment plants, livestock, et cetera.
Please refer to this
document while using the map for more information about the parameters being
tested.
The Ackerly Creek Macroinvertebrate Survey -
This project
took place between the months of June 1999 and July 2001 and provides a
two-year “snapshot” of the health of Ackerly based on macro invertebrates
present. The purpose of the project was threefold: (1) To prepare a
biological assessment of the health of Ackerly Creek based on a 24-point
biosurvey scoring system, which uses insects and other macroinvertebrates as
an assessment tool, (2) to gain a basic understanding of the relative
numbers of various macroinvertebrate taxa present in Ackerly Creek, as well
as their relationship to one another (primarily on a trophic level), and (3)
to prepare a taxonomic survey of macroinvertebrate organisms (primarily
aquatic insects) present in Ackerly Creek using photographs and life
strategy descriptions. A preserved reference collection was also created,
as well as a
web page consisting of a macroinvertebrate key with pictures and a
description of biomonitoring in general.
This map represents data that spans the two-year sampling period; however,
it has been averaged to present a single biomonitoring index value for each
site.
Please refer to this document to understand where the data has come from.
The Ackerly
Creek Riparian Buffer Survey -
A riparian buffer is a vegetated zone
adjacent to a body of water which serves many different functions: to
filter out pollutants such as nutrients and sediment, to slow down surface
runoff into the body of water, to hold soil and reduce erosion, to influence
water temperature, to provide food and detritus for aquatic organisms, and
to serve as a unique habitat for terrestrial organisms. These functions of
a riparian forest buffer are invaluable; therefore, it is important to
maintain a riparian buffer at least 35-100 feet wide, dependant on the
conditions and desired functions of the specific locations.
To obtain baseline documentation on the
current conditions of the riparian buffers within the Ackerly Creek
Sub-watershed, a survey was conducted in the spring of 2002. The purpose of
this survey is to identify locations within the watershed that have impaired
riparian forest buffers, unstable stream banks, and excessive garbage. In
addition, the survey classifies the general health of the stream as it
relates to its physical characteristics. This map depicts the
condition of Ackerly Creek as it relates to the stream visual assessment
protocol.
Descriptions of the data within the map are contained in this document.
Please refer to it while exploring the map.
