Laurel Run (also known as Laurel Run No. 3) 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 drainage ...

of the

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Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Lackawanna County (; unm, Lèkaohane) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania and had a population of 215,896 as of the 2020 census. Its county seat and largest city is Scranton. The county ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Jefferson Township and Archbald. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The stream is somewhat affected by mine drainage. A reservoir known as the Laurel Run Reservoir is in the watershed and is dammed by the Cawley Dam. Waterfalls, ravines, ledges, and slides occur on some reaches of the stream. Additionally, the stream is a source of flooding in the borough of Archbald. Its drainage basin is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery.

Course

Laurel Run begins on a mountain in Jefferson Township. It flows southwest for a short distance before turning west for a few tenths of a mile. The stream then turns west-northwest for more than a mile, flowing down the mountain and entering Archbald. In Archbald, it turns west-southwest for several tenths of a mile and enters a ravine, where it receives an unnamed tributary from the

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and passes through the Laurel Run Reservoir. A short distance further downstream, the stream turns northwest for a few tenths of a mile and crosses

US Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...

before turning west. After a few tenths of a mile, it leaves the ravine and after another few tenths of a mile, it reaches its confluence with the Lackawanna River. Laurel Run joins the Lackawanna River upriver of its mouth.

Tributaries

Laurel Run has no named tributaries. However, it does have one unnamed tributary, which is known as "Unnamed trib 1". This tributary is long.

Hydrology

Some flow loss occurs in Laurel Run near its culvert under the Robert Casey Highway. Some mine drainage flows into Laurel Run just downstream of the Laurel Run Reservoir via small seeps. However,

iron oxide Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of whic ...

is only deposited along a few hundred feet of the stream and

mine reclamation Mine reclamation is the process of modifying land that has been mined to ecologically functional or economically usable state. Although the process of mine reclamation occurs once mining is completed, the planning of mine reclamation activiti ...

efforts have been done in the area. Upstream of its confluence with the Lackawanna River, the peak annual

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has a 10 percent chance of reaching 423 cubic feet per second. It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 719 cubic feet per second and a 1 percent chance of reaching 867 cubic feet per second. The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 1275 cubic feet per second. At its confluence with the Lackawanna River, the peak annual discharge has a 10 percent chance of reaching 48 cubic feet per second. It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 110 cubic feet per second and a 1 percent chance of reaching 150 cubic feet per second. The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 300 cubic feet per second. The borough of Archbald once requested a permit to discharge

stormwater Stormwater, also spelled storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed la ...

into Laurel Run and a number of other streams. In the early 1900s, the stream was clear of culm and other forms of

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

as far downstream as the Olyphant Water Company's dam. Near the dam, two streams of mine water from the Humbert Coal Company discharged into the stream, but this had little effect on its

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

Geography and geology

The elevation near the

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of Laurel Run 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 standardised g ...

. The elevation of the stream's

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is between above sea level. A morphologic site known as the Laurel Run Sinuosity occurs in the watershed of Laurel Run in Archbald. Additionally, the Francis Cawley Dam is in the steam's watershed. This

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

impounds the Laurel Run Reservoir, a former

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

reservoir on the stream. A

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

known as the Laruel Run Marshes occurs in the watershed in Jefferson Township. From the Cawley Dam downstream to the culvert under the Robert Casey Highway, a 0.3-mile (0.5-kilometer) reach of Laurel Run has a high gradient and its course contains

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s, ravines, ledges, and slides. The stream is relatively unimpacted in this reach, despite historic mining nearby. The headwaters of Laurel Run are in a wetland in the

Moosic Mountains The Moosic Mountains is a mountain range in northeastern Pennsylvania that stretches from Scranton to Mount Pleasant Township, a distance of roughly 32 miles. The high point of the range is in Jefferson Township, at an elevation of above sea ...

. The stream is a mountain stream.

Watershed

The

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

of Laurel Run has an area of . The mouth of the stream is in the

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quadrangle of Olyphant. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Lake Ariel. Laurel Run is a

second-order Second-order may refer to: Mathematics * Second order approximation, an approximation that includes quadratic terms * Second-order arithmetic, an axiomatization allowing quantification of sets of numbers * Second-order differential equation, a di ...

stream. Upstream of the Robert Casey Highway, Laurel Run and its

riparian area A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

are mostly undisturbed, undeveloped, and on private property. However, downstream of the highway, the stream and its riparian area are impacted by waste mine rock from historical mining operations. There is some development in the upper reaches of the watershed, along Salem Mt. Road. However, the impacts caused by this development are likely to be small. The upper reaches of the watershed of Laurel Run are in

Pennsylvania State Game Lands The Pennsylvania State Game Lands (SGL) are lands managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) for hunting, trapping, and fishing. These lands, often not usable for farming or development, are donated to the PGC or purchased by the PGC with hu ...

, minimizing the chance of impact to this stream reach. The right-of-way of an electrical utility line also traverses the watershed. Laurel Run is a source of flooding in the borough of Archbald. Property owners along the stream have had their

basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...

s flooded by it.

History

Laurel Run 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 1199006. Archbald, which is on Laurel Run, was first settled in 1845 and was incorporated in 1875.

Waterworks Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

were drawing water from the stream as early as 1875. It was historically used as a water supply for Archbald. After a

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing event in 1972, a reach of Laurel Run was moved and reconstructed. In the early 2000s, the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan recommended that Laurel Run be managed solely for conservation use. The conservation plan also recommended that Jefferson Township and Archbald include protection of the stream in their zoning plans. In the early 2000s, the Theta Company owned some land in the stream's vicinity. As of the early 2000s, Laurel Run is on the Watershed Restoration Priority List of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Restoration. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection once created a Mine Drainage Pollution Abatement Project for the stream.

Biology

The drainage basin of Laurel Run is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. Wild

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

naturally reproduce in the creek from its headwaters downstream to its mouth. Upstream of the Laurel Run Reservoir, the

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 ...

of Laurel Run consists of native trees and

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...

. From the Cawley Dam downstream to the Robert Casey Highway, the stream has an "impressive"

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

growth in its riparian buffer. For this reason, this stream reach is on the Special Places and Natural Areas list of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association. Further downstream, the riparian buffer consists mainly of successional vegetation.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Lackawanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania