Mill Creek/Rose Valley Watershed General Information Presented by Dr. Mel Zimmerman Lycoming College CWI

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1 Mill Creek/Rose Valley Watershed General Information Watershed Concerns Rose Valley Lake Areas of Interest Biodiversity of Interest in Rose Valley Lake Rose Valley Lake Bird Area Fishes of Rose Valley Lake Fish Management Studies Mill Creek Background Information Mill Creek Water Chemistry Macroinvertebrate Populations at 2 Locations Along Mill Creek Fish Electrofishing Riparian Assessment Erosion Assessment Erosion Assessment Rider Park: Another Special Interest Area in Mill Creek Watershed Mill Creek/Rose Valley Watershed General Information Presented by Dr. Mel Zimmerman Lycoming College CWI Mill Creek originates from Rose Valley Lake and empties into Lycoming Creek maintaining a watershed of 24 square miles. The watershed provides the community with recreation including fishing and hiking and special interest areas such as Rider Park.

2 Rose Valley Lake is a 389-acre reservoir owned by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and managed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The lake provides the community with recreation including fishing and boating and has three public access boat launches. Watershed Concerns

3 Biodiversity Rose Valley Lake Areas of Interest Bird Area Fishes of the Lake Recreation boating (non-motorized), sailing, kayaking, hiking, all-season fishing Biodiversity of Interest in Rose Valley Lake The Blob Phylum Bryozoa-Pectinatellamagnifica

4 Freshwater Jellyfish Phylum Cnidaria Craspedacustasowerbii Rose Valley Lake Bird Area

5 Fishes of Rose Valley Lake The fish of Rose Valley Lake are managed under the Big Bass Program Special Regulations which are designed to increase the number of quality-sized individuals, specifically of the black bass species, through the implementation of higher minimum length limits. All other species are managed according to Statewide Regulations for Commonwealth Inland Waters.

6 Fish Management Studies Fisheries management staff conducts surveys of fish population and diversity using techniques such as trap net surveying and night electrofishing

7 Mill Creek Background Information Dr. Mel Zimmerman and Lycoming College interns in an ongoing project have collected 20 years of data pertaining to the water quality, habitat condition, invertebrate populations and diversity, fish populations and diversity, riparian buffer zones, and erosion at two sites along Mill Creek. The first site is at Sugar Camp Bridge and the second near Dr. Zimmerman s residence located on Spruce Brook Lane 1 mile from the mouth of the stream (LoyalsockLoyalsockCreek).Creek). Mill Creek Water Chemistry Upstream Site -Sugar Camp Downstream Site -Spruce Brook Lane ph Conductivity (µs) Alkalinity (ppm) Orthophosphate (ppm) Phosphorous (ppm) Nitrate (ppm) Nitrite (ppm) DO (ppm) Temp ( C) BOD (ppm) TDS (ppm)

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9 Macroinvertebrate Populations at 2 Locations Along Mill Creek Downstream Site -Spruce Brook Lane Upstream Site -Sugar Camp Total Taxa Simpson Diversity.872 +/ /-0.04 Shannon Diversity / /-0.19 SurberDensity (#/m2) 732 +/ /-706 HilsenhoffBiotic Index / /-0.6

10 Fish Electrofishing

11 Riparian Assessment Erosion Assessment Summer 2004 study of erosion assessment on LoyalsockCreek and its tributaries under a Growing Greener Grant to LoyalsockCreek Watershed Association. CWI interns Jim Rogers and Theresa Black and Penn College interns Don Muracoand Todd Hillegas Erosion Assessment

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13 Rider Park: Another Special Interest Area in Mill Creek Watershed Rider Park is a public access park consisting of 868 acres of woodlands and meadows An Advisory Board comprising various members of the community partner with the Directors of the Williamsport-Lycoming Foundation in managing Rider Park. This collaboration guides long-range and annual planning, as well as direct maintenance and development of policies for the Park.

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