Lead Run is a tributary of

East Branch Fishing Creek East Branch Fishing Creek is a tributary of Fishing Creek in Columbia County and Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is long. The stream and its tributaries are acidic and contain aluminum. The area in the vicinity was firs ...

Sullivan County, Pennsylvania Sullivan County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,840, making it the second-least populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Laporte ...

. It is approximately long and flows through Davidson Township. Its watershed has an area of . The stream has a low pH and poor water quality, although that could potentially be remedied. The main rock formations in the area are the

Catskill Formation The Devonian Catskill Formation or the Catskill Clastic wedge is a unit of mostly terrestrial sedimentary rock found in Pennsylvania and New York. Minor marine layers exist in this thick rock unit (up to ). It is equivalent to the Hampshire For ...

, the

Huntley Mountain Formation The Huntley Mountain Formation is a late Devonian and early Mississippian mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, in the United States. Description The formation is composed of relatively soft grayish-red shale and olive-gray sandstone. It is lo ...

, and the

Burgoon Sandstone Burgoon is a village in Sandusky County, Ohio, United States. The population was 172 at the 2010 census. Geography Burgoon is located at (41.266832, -83.250024). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , ...

. The main soil associations in the vicinity of the stream are the Deep-Wellsboro-Oquaga association, the Norwich association, and the Oquaga association.

Course

Lead Run begins in on a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

in eastern Davidson Township. It flows west-northwest for approximately before turning southwest and heading into a steep ravine, where it stays for more than a mile. Near its mouth, the stream leaves the ravine and turns south and then east. It then reaches its confluence with East Branch Fishing Creek. Lead Run joins East Branch Fishing Creek upstream of its mouth.

Tributaries

Lead Run has no named tributaries. However, it does have a number of unnamed tributaries.

Hydrology

The average

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

of Lead Run is 821 gallons per minute. However, it occasionally runs dry for a period of time, especially during the summer. The average pH of the stream is 4.44. The average concentration of

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

in the stream is 0.301 milligrams per liter. The average alkaline deficiency of Lead Run is per day. The stream experiences chronic acidification. The

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 ...

of Lead Run is considered to be "severe", a rating worse than "very poor". The stream also degrades the water quality of East Branch Fishing Creek, although it is not a major contributor of acidity to the creek. Road liming has been suggested as a method of making Lead Run more alkaline. The cost of road liming Lead Run along with the nearby Trout Run is estimated to be $120,000. This restoration is the seventh and final phase of the restoration plan of East Branch Fishing Creek. A total of of streams (the entirety of every stream in the watershed of Lead Run) are considered to be impaired. The cause of the impairment is atmospheric deposition and metals.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of Lead 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 source is between and . The lower reaches of Lead Run lie over rock of the

. The middle portion of the stream is on rock of the

. The stream's headwaters are on

. Much of Lead Run is over soil of the Deep-Wellsboro-Oquaga soil association. However, the upper reaches of the watershed are on soil of the Norwich and Oquaga soil associations. Most of the soil in the watershed is strongly acidic. There are also some rock

outcropping An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial ...

s near the stream.

Watershed

The watershed of Lead Run has an area of . There are approximately of streams in the watershed. Most of Lead Run is located along private lands. However, a number of forest trails run parallel to and cross the stream.

History

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. ...

listed Lead Run as impaired in 2002. As of December 2011, a

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 quali ...

is planned for the stream in 2015.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Sullivan County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Fishing Creek (North Branch Susquehanna River) Rivers of Pennsylvania