CONODOGUINET CREEK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

Transcription

1 CONODOGUINET CREEK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER October 2004 CONODOGUINET EXPERIENCES WIDESPREAD FLOODING SEVERAL TIMES DURING SEPTEMBER 2004 The stream hydrograph below shows three peaks of storm flow during the passage of Tropical Storms through Pennsylvania. The flow on September was about one hundred times normal flow for that date! What a contrast from the drought in 2001 when stream flows were way below average. With the high flows came a considerable amount of sediment which eventually found its way to the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay. This year will be known as one of the highest on record for rainfall in the Harrisburg area. As of the end of September, Harrisburg was 12 inches above average for the period. And that amount would have been even higher if we had had our normal amount of snowfall in March. Can you remember that far back- that March was rather dry? Flooding has the potential to alter the streambed and streambanks. Advise the CCWA Board of any major changes you see in the Creek, such as course, depth, bottom materials, channel deepening or creek broadening, or large debris pile-ups or disappearance. 1

2 President s Column With the help of CCWA, researchers at the Nature Conservancy conducted a mussel survey in September. See Freshwater Mussels of the Conodoguinet Creek, below. Mussels can be an indicator of water quality. An excellent color photo of one is included in article below. Asiatic clam. Also of importance, in my opinion, is the intrusion of the Asian clam. Their shells can be seen on the bottom now, in the Conodoguinet Creek and the Susquehanna River. These clams compete with and can lead to the reduction of native species. They also can foul intakes of water supplies and power plants. These clams, however, are much smaller than the native clams and are eaten by a variety of fish. Membership Renewal Time. Show your confidence in us by completing the membership form at the end of this newsletter and mailing your membership payment. Don t know if you paid for this year? Don t worry. Pay ahead and we ll advise if you still owe for Our Annual Meeting: Hurricane Talk & CCWA Elections How bad was the damage to our property and environment from the hurricanes this fall? Susquehanna River Basin Commission flood plain specialist Krista Nelson will speak at our annual meeting Wednesday, November 10, at 7:00 pm at the Carlisle Community Center. We will also hold our elections for next year. If you want to help by joining the CCWA board, or becoming an officer, get in touch with Secretary Susan Parry, 17 Walnut St., Camp Hill, PA 17011, h , sparry@dejazzd.com. You may also submit nominations that night. CCWA Works and Plays The Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Association held a beside- and in-the-creek general meeting, Get-together and picnic on August 17, 2004, at Willow Mill Park, for all CCWA members, families and friends. The park is located in Silver Spring Township, off PA Route 114 on Willow Mill Road. Members helped remove vegetation from around the trees and shrubs that were planted last year as part of a Growing Greener grant. Although volunteer or unplanted vegetation often surrounded and crowded the planted vegetation, the good news was that much of it was native wetland species. To mark the county s publication of a waterways guide for the Creek, members of CCWA, county officials and others paddled their kayaks down the Conodoguinet Creek on May 28, The group started out at Willow Mill Park and paddled down to a take out in Hampton Township near Sporting Hill Road. We moved along at a leisurely pace on the peaceful somewhat cloudy day- not too hot and not too cold. It is amazing considering the amount of development in this section of the watershed that the creek has such a lovely pastoral setting, with abundant riparian vegetation. We saw few houses along the way. The most open areas were along a Golf Course and along Creekview Road. The excellent riparian vegetation is a huge factor in the good quality of the Creek. Riparian buffers do just that - they buffer the runoff and pollutants from man s activities, reducing sediment and excess nutrients. See related story below. We saw many birds, including several Double-Crested Cormorants sitting in a tree overhead, Great Blue Herons, a Great Egret, a Kingfisher, and Mallards. Despite their swimming underwater to feed, Cormorants, like their related buzzards, don t have feather oil. They spend a great deal of time drying themselves before taking wing. 2

3 Freshwater Mussels of the Conodoguinet Creek With help from seven volunteers, biologists from the Pennsylvania Science office of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) surveyed mussels (or freshwater clams) in the lower reaches of the Conodoguinet Creek in September. Betsy Nightingale, Trina Morris, and Mary Walsh of PA TNC and volunteers surveyed sections downstream of Orrs Bridge Road. Some surveyors looked for mussels at several locations near Orrs Bridge Road and a team of kayakers floated from there down to a park along Acri Road surveying for mussels along the way. Clear bottom viewing buckets were used to search for mussels. artificial lakes. They strain food particles from the water and are known to be important in maintaining good water quality. Their life cycle includes a parasitic phase where juvenile mussels attach to fish during development. The mussels drop off and settle into the creek bottom when they sufficiently mature. This phase is not believed to harm the fish hosts. Gravid females lure curious and hungry fish with a false prey lure and release juveniles that attach to fish gills. A good time to view mussels displaying their lures and feeding is in warm and dry summer months when the water is clear. As typical of medium to large size warm-water creeks, a variety of mussels was found in the Conodoguinet Creek. Seven of the thirteen species of mussels known to occur in the Atlantic drainages in Pennsylvania were found. Live mussel species included the common eastern elliptio (Elliptio complanata), the rainbow mussel (Villosa iris), and triangle floater (Alasmidonta undulata). Shells of several others were also found: the squawfoot (Strophitus undulatus), the yellow lampmussel (Lampsilis cariosa), elktoe (Alasmidonta marginata), brook floater (Alasmidonta varicosa). Although habitat requirements of freshwater mussels are largely unknown, streams with a layering of fine sands, pebbles, and cobbles provide areas for mussels to bury. Some areas downstream of the Orrs Bridge Road contained large areas bedrock without suitable mussel habitat and few mussels were found. Although mussels were once common in Pennsylvania, they are decreasing in numbers and species. In fact, according to some scientists 70% of all native North American mussel species are thought to be imperiled (Williams et al. 1993). Twenty-two of sixty-four species thought to have once occurred in Pennsylvania are no longer found in the state. Dams have isolated populations of mussels, have restricted the movement of fish hosts, and have altered habitats in running waters. Channelization and dredging of rivers also harms mussel habitats. In Pennsylvania, threats from poor water quality are related to runoff from farms and from roads, acidification from acid rain and mining, and other urban and industrial sources. Invasive mussel species, like the Asiatic clam (Corbicula fluminea), the Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha ) can out compete native mussels. The Asiatic clam was found to be abundant in the Conodoguinet Creek. The mussel varieties found in the Conodoguinet Creek indicate diverse and healthy mussel habitats. Although there were few live mussels found, the Conodoguinet Creek likely has areas of high mussel densities given the large amount of shells found. The eastern elliptio is known to be the most common mussel and is found in Pennsylvania on both sides of the Appalachian Mountains as is the squawfoot mussel and the rainbow mussel. Other mussel species are exclusive to the eastern side of Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River is known for its diversity of habitat and mussel species and likely provides a source of mussels to the Conodoguinet Creek. Nearly all native mussel species found in the Conodoguinet Creek are thought to be declining in numbers throughout their range. In Pennsylvania, mussels are generally found in medium size creeks and rivers typically with a diverse group of fish. They can also occur in natural and 3 The native eastern elliptio mussel, typical native mussel shape. Photo by B. Nightingale

4 The Conodoguinet Creek mussel survey is part of a larger study by The Nature Conservancy titled, The Pennsylvania Aquatic Community Classification Project, initiated to better understand the fauna of Pennsylvania streams. Funded by The Pennsylvania Departments of Environmental Protection and Conservation and Natural Resources, the project is working to identify differing aquatic habitats and prioritize aquatic conservation areas. In the future, The Nature Conservancy hopes to meet with CCWA about the Conodoguinet Creek survey and their project at one of our program meetings. Source: Williams, J.D., Warren, Jr., M.L., Cummins, K.S., Harris, J.H., and R.J. Neves Conservation status of freshwater mussels of the United States and Canada. Fisheries. 18: 9 (6-22). Reference books useful for PA mussels are: "Workshop on Freshwater Bivalves of Pennsylvania" presented by Arthur E. Bogan, Freshwater Molluscan Research, 36 Venus Way, Sewell, NJ Strayer, D. and K. Jirka The Pearly Mussels of New York State. New York State Museum. Albany, NY. For further information on Mussels, Please contact: Mary Walsh The Nature Conservancy Pennsylvania Science Office 208 Airport Drive Middletown, PA c-mwalsh@state.pa.us Asiatic clam Web photo by Jacksonville Shell Club Asiatic clam Note grooved ridge along upper edge of shell Web photo by Jacksonville Shell Club CONODOGUINET CREEK DEP 303d DE-LISTING A previous issue of this newsletter reported that the Conodoguinet Creek was no longer on the Department of Environmental Protection s 303d list of impaired waters. Bob Schott, DEP Southcentral Regional Biologist, advises that the creek had been previously listed in error due to low dissolved oxygen readings. The error was corrected and our creek is now considered unimpaired. The mussel report from The Nature Conservancy supports Bob s conclusions, as do collections of a variety of stoneflies at several locations on the creek downstream of Carlisle and North Middleton Township. Unfortunately, several of the Creek s tributaries are not in such good shape. Several of the limestone spring streams and northern tributaries are impaired due to sediment and excess nutrients from agricultural activities. These excess sediments are carried into the main stem after heavy rains, as evidenced by the chocolate-colored water that follow storms. This excess sediment adds up. We all hope that the sediment will not overwhelm the creek and it can continue to function as a good example of a regional warm water stream. For more information on the DEP 303d-impaired stream listings, now called the integrated list, check the DEP website at: 4

5 WE HAVE A NEW WEB SITE ADDRESS (The old one still works.) Membership dues for 2005 are due by end of December Membership Dues Payment and Application For 2005 Name Address Phone Student One year $10 Individual One Year $15 Family One year $25 Lifetime $150 Conservation Organization $25 Corporate $100 Donation to Betty Sullivan Memorial Fund Total Enclosed Membership Dues Categories Make checks payable to CCWA and send to: Jerry Hollowell, Treas., 1120 Creek Road, Carlisle, PA

6 Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Association Officers and Board Members President: Gill Freedman, 49 Sample Bridge Road, Mechanicsburg, PA or Vice president: Donald Seiple, Past President: Wilbur Wolf, Treasurer: Jerry Hollowell Secretary: Susan Parry Board Members: Kurt Henry, Ray Stiteler, Diane Hollinger, John Perry, Holly Smith, David Simko, Vince McCollum. Membership: Vacant- Help Wanted Web Page: Chris Woltemade Newsletter Editor: Jane Earle Jane Earle 20 Red Fox Lane Mechanicsburg, PA