Annual Membership Meeting

All interested members of the Linn Conservancy, BCWA, and the public are invited to hear Jason Fellon, DEP Watershed Manager for the North Central District, speak about  “Stormwater Management”.  Fellon’s talk will take place Thursday, April 3, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. in the Mifflinburg Middle School, LGI Room. Refreshments will be provided.

Following Fellon’s talk the Alliance will hold its annual meeting where three alliance members will be elected to the board and a change in the bylaws will be voted on.  Current board members up for re-election are Owen Anderson and David Pearson. Anyone interested in becoming a candidate for the board, is encouraged to write buffalocreek@dejazzd.com for further information. The BCWA board will also propose changing the bylaws to schedule the annual meeting in April instead of February.

Acid Remediation Project

BCWA continues to make progress on its acid remediation project in the upper reaches of Buffalo Creek. We have reached agreement with Bureau of Forestry officials on the conditions for removing the timber and working on the site. Dietz-Gourley Consulting, LLC, has applied for all the appropriate permits, so if all goes well, bids for construction will go out this spring and construction will begin in late summer.

A Similar Acid Mitigation Site

Stream Monitoring Program

Stream Monitoring Program:  On a cold Saturday last December the volunteer stream monitors found their way to nine sites along Buffalo Creek and made the first stream test of Phase 2 monitoring. Testing will be done quarterly at nine sites; some old sites were retained and some new sites were added.  Site selection was based on the goals of the revised monitoring plan and two major impacts to Buffalo Creek (acid deposition and agricultural runoff.)  Near the headwaters of Buffalo Creek BCWA will be constructing a passive treatment basin in an attempt to mitigate the acid deposition problem that has drastically reduced the aquatic life in the first five miles of the stream.  Three sites will be tested near this, one above the basin intake, one below the basin output, and one a few miles downstream of the basin output.  Five more sites will be tested along the main stem as it flows toward the Susquehanna.  One site will sample the waters of a tributary, Coal Run.  Braving the winter weather our volunteers performed their stream-site tests and collected a one-liter sample which will be tested in a biology lab at a later time.  This newly-implemented lab testing has reduced the amount of effort and time needed by our volunteers at the stream site.  The lab testing will also provide us with more detailed analysis and is a great improvement to our stream monitoring process. 

The stream monitoring section of the BCWA web site is undergoing an update to reflect Phase 2.  When completed, you will be able to find more information about the monitoring program as well as access to the collected data at:
http://www.buffalocreek.org/monitoring.html

Assessing Agricultural Runoff

Dan Wagner, agricultural environmental specialist, at the Union County Conservation District continues to assess agricultural runoff in impaired segments of the Buffalo Creek watershed. His work is supported by the federal Clean Water Act § 319 grant program, for which BCWA was a co-applicant with the UCCD.  Dan has compiled data for establishing best management practices (BMPs) in tributaries of Buffalo Creek (just outside Mifflinburg) and Rapid Run (just south of Forest Hill). He is currently at work visiting farmers along a tributary of Coal Run (northwest of Mifflinburg), with visits along Muddy Run (in Mazeppa) planned next. Dan has been finding that in many of these areas the streams are often impacted by barnyard runoff, winter spreading, unrestricted livestock access, and lack of riparian buffers.

34% of watershed land use
is agriculture related.

With guidance from DEP, Wagner will create a model to predict future water quality for each sub-watershed within the Buffalo Creek watershed. Since thirty-four percent of the watershed is farmland, assessing the streams and working with farmers to limit agricultural runoff is vital to the future health of Buffalo Creek. BCWA and the UCCD have recently received a follow-up grant from US EPA to further fund this project into the BMP implementation phase..

Public Outreach

This year’s annual canoe trip, as part of the Linn Conservancy’s “Caring for Communities” events will take place on Sunday, April 27. We will kayak along a reach of the Buffalo Creek and learn more about the influence that the Creek has on our area and the communities in the valley. The trip will again be guided by Canoe Susquehanna.

This year’s event will take us upstream from the Dale Engle Walker House; we will paddle from Mazeppa to Grove’s Mill. A tour of the old mill to learn its history and operation as well as its tie to Buffalo Creek is included. We will then continue on to take out at Strawbridge Road. Final details are forthcoming, so be sure to check out the BCWA as well as Canoe Susquehanna’s websites. (Please note: Trip itinerary may change or be cancelled due to inclement weather or low water conditions.)

Save the date and get ready to enjoy the watershed!

Watershed Facts

• Buffalo Creek is 28 miles long, and drains 134 square miles (85,760 acres).
  
• The complete watershed is home to over 15,000 people.
  
• Main tributaries include Little Buffalo Creek, North Branch of Buffalo Creek, Spruce Run, and Rapid Run.
  
• Overall land use includes: 60% forests, 34% agriculture, and 6% residential/industrial/ commercial.
  
• Spruce Run and Rapid Run (which flow from Raymond B. Winter State Park to Cowan) are both rated as High Quality-Cold Water Fisheries