Turtle Creek Watershed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

                           This Is The Turtle Creek Watershed

The Turtle Creek watershed is the 147.41 square miles of land (two-thirds in Westmoreland County and one-third in Allegheny County Pennsylvania) that drains into Turtle Creek and its ten major tributaries. The headwaters of this watershed begin in Delmont, Washington Township, Salem Township, Hempfield Township, and Greensburg. Covering all or parts of 33 communities, the watershed stretches westward to Wilkinsburg, North Versailles Township, and North Braddock where it empties into the Monongahela River at US Steel's Edgar Thompson Works, southeast of Pittsburgh.

The watershed incorporates a wide variety of land uses - forests, agriculture, mining, industry, commercial, rural, suburban, and urban. Its 193,000 people boast an equally diverse mix of cultures, ethnicities, economies, educations, professions, and trades. Turtle Creek is used for canoeing and kayaking, and is stocked annually by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission with over 7,000 trout from Saunders Station to Trafford. Local sportsmen's groups stock other sections of the watershed.

Most significant water quality and water quantity problems include: 1. abandoned mine drainage (AMD) -

    a.  low pH (acid)
    b.  iron hydroxide (orangish paste in stream channels)
    c.  aluminum oxides (milky white, blue, or green stream water)

2. excess stormwater runoff -

    a.  combined sewer overfows (CSO)
    b.  sanitary sewer overflows (SSO)
    c.  drinking water source contamination
    d.  erosion
    e.  flooding and flood prevention
    f.  habitat destruction
    g.  low water tables
    h.  sedimentation
    i.  streambank destabilization
    

Watershed communities include:

   Adamsburg Borough
   Braddock Hills Borough
   Chalfont Borough
   Churchill Borough
   Delmont Borough
   East McKeesport Borough
   East Pittsburgh Borough
   Export Borough
   Forest Hill Borough
   City of Greensburg
   Hempfield Township
   Irwin Borough
   City of Jeannette
   Manor Borough
   Municipality of Monroeville
   Municipality of Murrysville
   North Braddock Borough
   North Huntingdon Borough
   North Irwin Borough
   North Versailles Borough
   Penn Borough
   Penn Township
   Municipality of Penn Hills
   Pitcairn Borough
   Plum Borough
   Salem Township
   Trafford Borough
   Turtle Creek Borough
   Wall Borough
   Washington Township
   Wilkinsburg
   Wilkins Township
   Wilmerding Borough

For the purposes of research, the watershed is divided into sub-watershed units as follows:

                  Turtle Creek Sub-watershed Units

    Unit                 Stream Miles             Drainage Area (mi2)

Abers Creek 24.6 10.64 Ardmore Run 4.9 3.16 Lower Brush Creek 38.8 17.43 Upper Brush Creek 56.4 26.13

                   (combined    95.2                            43.65)        

Bushy Run 32.7 13.94 Dirty Camp Run 4.7 3.23 Haymaker Run 29.2 10.97 Lyons Run 17.6 8.78 Sawmill Run 2.5 2.02 Steels Run 10.0 4.81 Thompson Run 30.6 15.87 Upper Turtle Creek 18.2 10.02 Middle Turtle Creek 15.7 7.43 Lower Turtle Creek 29.0 19.98

                    (combined  62.9                             37.43)

Totals 314.9 stream miles 147.41 square miles

[edit] Source

Taken from a combination of brochures, newsletters and the 2002 Turtle Creek Watershed River Conservation Plan of the Turtle Creek Watershed Association and submitted by TCWA.

[edit] External link

You can access more information about the Turtle Creek watershed at [www.tcwa.org]