Hoffer Creek is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the Susquehanna River in

Snyder County, Pennsylvania Snyder County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,736. The county seat is Middleburg. Snyder County was formed in 1855 from parts of Union County. Snyder County comprises the Selin ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Chapman Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of . At least part of the creek is designated as an impaired waterbody due to sedimentation/siltation from grazing-related agriculture. The creek is in the ridge and valley physiographic province, and the geology consists mostly of intermedded sedimentary rock and sandstone. The main land use in the watershed of Hoffer Creek is agricultural land. However, forested land is also common and there is some low-intensity development. The creek's drainage basin is designated as a Warmwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. The creek has few or no

riparian buffer A riparian buffer or stream buffer is a vegetated area (a " buffer strip") near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent land uses. It plays a key role in increasing water quality i ...

s in agricultural areas.

Course

Hoffer Creek begins in a small

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from ...

in a valley in Chapman Township. It flows east-southeast for a few tenths of a mile, passing through another pond and receiving an unnamed tributary from the left. The creek then turns south-southeast for several tenths of a mile, receiving two unnamed tributaries from the left, and in between them, one unnamed tributary from the

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

. It then turns southwest and then south, receiving another unnamed tributary from the right before eventually turning south-southeast for more than a mile. In this reach, it receives an unnamed tributary from the right and its valley eventually becomes much shallower. The creek then turns southwest for several hundred feet before turning south-southeast and receiving an unnamed tributary from the right. Several tenths of a mile further downstream, it receives a very short unnamed tributary from the left before crossing US Route 11/

US Route 15 U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Car ...

and reaching its confluence with the Susquehanna River. Hoffer Creek joins the Susquehanna River upstream of its mouth.

Tributaries

Hoffer Creek has no named tributaries. However, it does have several unnamed tributaries. Three of these are Unt 17489, Unt 17490, and Unt 17491.

Hydrology and climate

Hoffer Creek is designated as an impaired waterbody. The cause of the impairment is

sedimentation Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...

siltation Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate Terrestrial ecoregion, terrestrial Clastic rock, clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the ...

and a probable of the impairment is grazing-related agriculture. As of the early 2010s, the

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...

load in Hoffer Creekincluding an adjacent unnamed tributary to the Susquehanna Riveris per year, or per day. This requires a 5 percent reduction to meet the creek's

total maximum daily load A total maximum daily load (TMDL) is a regulatory term in the U.S. Clean Water Act, describing a plan for restoring impaired waters that identifies the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water qualit ...

for sediment: per day, or per year.

Cropland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

is the largest contributor of sediment, accounting for per year. Hay/pastures account for per year, while stream banks account for per year. Another comes annually from transitional land, while comes from low-intensity development. Forests contribute of sediment per year. The average annual rate of rainfall in the watershed of Hoffer Creek over a 19-year period was approximately . The average annual rate of runoff in the watershed during a 19-year period was approximately .

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of Hoffer Creek is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. The elevation of the creek's

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

is above sea level. The elevations in the watershed range from less than above sea level at the lowest to more than above sea level at the highest. Hoffer Creek is in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province. The surface geology in the watershed of Hoffer Creekincluding an adjacent unnamed tributary to the Susquehanna Riveris dominated by

interbedded In geology, interbedding occurs when beds (layers of rock) of a particular lithology lie between or alternate with beds of a different lithology. For example, sedimentary rocks may be interbedded if there were sea level variations in their sedim ...

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

, which underlies 70 percent of the watershed.

Sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

occupies another 25 percent of the watershed's area. The remaining 5 percent is split between

carbonate rock Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite (different crystal forms of CaCO3), and dolomite rock (also known as dolosto ...

(4 percent) and conglomerate (1 percent). The geology of the watershed has little influence on the creek's sediment load. The level of slope in the watershed of Hoffer Creek, combined with the lack of conservation farming practices in the upper reaches of the watershed, causes fast-moving

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

y runoff to form during precipitation events, degrading the creek and all its tributaries. The dominant

hydrologic soil group Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is call ...

s in the watershed include C (80 percent) and B (20 percent). Streambank erosion occurs in the creek's watershed.

Watershed

The watershed of Hoffer Creek has an area of . The creek is entirely within the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

quadrangle of Dalmatia. Its mouth is located near Dalmatia. The dominant

land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...

in the watershed of Hoffer Creek is agricultural land, which accounts for 51.0 percent of the watershed's area including of hay/pastures and of

cropland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed land occupies 42.9 percent of the creek's watershed and low-intensity development occupies 6.1 percent. There are a total of of streams in the watershed of Hoffer Creek. All the streams in the watershed are in Chapman Township, in the southern part of Snyder County.

History

Hoffer Creek was entered into the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1177159. The

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, Pe ...

was once issued an Encroachment permit to build and maintain an articulated grout mattress in Hoffer Creek, under a bridge carrying State Route 2002. In June 2012, the

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws. ...

invited comments on its proposed

for Hoffer Creek. However, no public comments were received.

Biology

The drainage basin of Hoffer Creek is designated as a Warmwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. The designated use for the creek is

aquatic life An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem formed by surrounding a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The tw ...

. In agricultural areas along Hoffer Creek, there are few or no

s. Additionally,

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

have access to the creek and conservation farming practices are not done in the watershed.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Snyder County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Susquehanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania