Lick Run is a tributary of the

West Branch Susquehanna River The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the exte ...

Clearfield County, Pennsylvania Clearfield County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,562. The county seat is Clearfield, and the largest city is DuBois. The county was created in 1804 and later organized in 1822. ...

, in the United States. It is long and flows through Lawrence Township, Pine Township, and Goshen Township. Tributaries of the stream include Fork Run, Jerrys Run, and Flegals Run. Contaminants of Lick Run include

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

, and

alkalinity Alkalinity (from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is the capacity of water to resist acidification. It should not be confused with basicity, which is an absolute measurement on the pH scale. Alkalinity is the strength of ...

. The pH of the stream and its tributaries ranges from 4.0 to 6.1 and the

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 the

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...

is between 1804.3 and 59564.65 gallons per minute, depending on the time and location. The drainage basin of Lick Run has an area of 27.5 square miles and is located in the Pittsburgh Low Plateaus Section of the Appalachian Plateaus geophysical province. The main rock types in the watershed are sandstone and interbedded sedimentary rock and the main soil types are the Hazleton-Cookport-Ernest series and the Hazleton-Dekalb-Buchanan series. Historic industries in the Lick Run watershed include logging and coal mining. The stream is designated as a high-quality coldwater fishery.

Brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

inhabit it, as do various types of aquatic

macroinvertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate s ...

Course

Lick Run begins near the western edge of Lawrence Township, close to the Panther Rocks and in

Moshannon State Forest Moshannon State Forest is a List of Pennsylvania state forests, Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #9. The main offices are located in the unincorporated area, unincorporated village of Penfield in Huston Towns ...

. Its source is a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

above Panther Rocks Camp. The stream begins flowing west and almost immediately exits Lawrence Township. Upon exiting Lawrence Township, the creek enters Pine Township. It then turns southwest and flows into a valley which gets deep very quickly. The creek then turns southeast and then south after a short distance, exiting Pine Township. It reenters the northern Lawrence Township and continues southeast, passing through

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 ...

#90. The creek continues for several miles in the same direction before reaching the southern part of the township. It then receives the tributaries Slate Run and Fork Run before passing through the Baney Settlement. The creek briefly enters Goshen Township and turns south, reentering Lawrence Township. It turns east and begins to flow past strip mines. The creek begins to

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

is it enters Goshen Township again and picks up the tributary Flegals Run. A short distance downstream, it crosses

Pennsylvania Route 879 Pennsylvania Route 879 (PA 879) is a state highway located in Clearfield and Centre Counties in Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 219 (US 219) and PA 729 in Grampian. The eastern terminus is at PA 144 in Snow Shoe T ...

and enters the West Branch Susquehanna River.

Tributaries

Named tributaries of Lick Run include Fork Run, Flegals Run, and Jerrys Run. Fork Run enters Lick Run upstream of Baney Settlement. Its watershed mostly consists of forest and some areas of mining land. Jerry Run enters Lick Run upstream of the latter stream's confluence with the West Branch Susquehanna River. Its watershed mostly consists of abandoned mine lands. Flegals Run is the final tributary to enter Lick Run. Its headwaters are formed from

acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weathering ...

. The largest tributary of Lick Run is Stone Run, which is geographically similar to Lick Run and joins it one mile upstream of the Baney Settlement.

Hydrology

Metals, acidity, and alkalinity

The daily load of

near the mouth of Fork Run is per day. The load of acidity near the mouth is per day and the daily load of

is . Immediately upstream of Flegals Run, the manganese load of Lick Run is per day. The daily loads of acidity and alkalinity at this location are and , respectively. Between Flegals Run and the mouth of Lick Run, the concentration of manganese is 0.7 milligrams per liter, the concentration of acidity is 22.37 milligrams per liter, and the concentration of alkalinity is 7.33 milligrams per liter. Between UNTUnnamed tributary 26087 and UNT 26085, the manganese load of Lick Run is per day. The daily alkalinity load is and the acidity load is per day. The concentrations of manganese, alkalinity, and acidity are 2.53 milligrams per liter, 12.97 milligrams per liter, and 7.67 milligrams per liter, respectively. Upstream of Fork Run, the stream's acidity load is per and its alkalinity load is per day. The concentrations of acidity and alkalinity at this place are 9.67 milligrams per liter and 7.33 milligrams per liter, respectively. The entire watershed of Lick Run downstream of and including UNT 26085 is considered by 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. ...

to be impaired. A tributary of Fork Run is also considered impaired. The remainder of the watershed meets the water quality standards of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Discharge and pH

The

of Lick Run at the mouth of Fork Run ranges from 1804.3 to 38028.21 gallons per minute. Between UNT 26087 and UNT 26085, the stream's discharge ranges between 2264.76 and 58079.29 gallons per minute. The stream's discharge above Flegals Run ranges from 7065.01 gallons per minute to 51556.74 gallons per minute. Near its mouth, the discharge is between 1760.18 and 59564.65 gallons per minute. The uppermost reaches of the creek nearly run dry oftentimes during the summer. The pH of Lick Run at Fork Run's confluence with it ranges between 5.1 and 6.1. The pH between UNT 26087 and UNT 26085 is between 5.1 and 6.0 and the pH upstream of Flegals Run ranges from 5.0 to 5.6. Near the mouth of Lick Run, the pH is between 5.4 and 5.9. The lowest pH in the entire watershed is at a site on Flegals Run, where it ranges from 4.0 to 4.2. In Fall 2004, the pH of Lick Run was observed to be 4.1. In the upper reaches of Lick Run, its pH is lowest in the spring and highest in the summer.

Geography, geology, and climate

The watershed of Lick Run is located in the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Low Plateaus Section of the Appalachian Plateaus geophysical province. Most of the watershed of Lick Run (79.1%) lies over

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) ...

. The remaining 20.9% of the watershed's rock is

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 sedimen ...

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 ...

. The mail soil associations in the watershed are the Hazleton-Cookport-Ernest series, which occupies 48% of it and the Hazleton-Dekalb-Buchanan series, which occupies 24% of the watershed's area. 14.8% of the watershed consists of the Gilpin-Ernest-Cavode soil association and the Udorthents-Ernest-Gilpin soil association occupies 8.8% of the watershed's area. The elevation of the headwaters of Lick Run is higher than the elevation of the stream's mouth. The mouth's elevation 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 ...

. Although there is little stream flow at the headwaters of Lick Run, there is some slightly further downstream. There are numerous pools in this area of the stream as well. Downstream of the tributary Doctors Fork, there are

riffle A riffle is a shallow landform in a flowing channel. Colloquially, it is a shallow place in a river where water flows quickly past rocks. However, in geology a riffle has specific characteristics. Topographic, sedimentary and hydraulic indica ...

s and pools in it. The summers in the Lick Run watershed are warm, but the winters are long and cold. On average, the rate of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

is per year.

Watershed

The watershed of Lick Run has an area of 27.5 square miles. The upper reaches of it are mostly forested, but downstream of the communities of Goshen and the Baney Settlement, the dominant land use is coal mining land. 65.9 percent of the entire watershed's area is forested land and 27.7 percent is agricultural land. 3.9 percent of the watershed's area is developed and 2.5 percent of the watershed consists of former

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s and

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

. Most of the agricultural land lies on former coal mining land.s The main roads in the vicinity of Lick Run are

and

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

. There are also a number of

township road A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

s in the watershed.

occupies much of the upper part of the watershed of Lick Run.

History

Martin Nichols constructed a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

on Lick Run in 1845. Another mill, known as Irvin's Mill, was built on the stream by Frederick P. Hurxthal. The Lick Run School was later established near the mill. On May 6, 1854, the Lick Run and Sinnemahoning Turnpike Company was incorporated. Its purpose was to construct a road between Lick Run and Bennett Branch Sinnemahoning Creek. Coal mining began in the watershed of Lick Run in the early 1800s and continues into the 21st century. Most of the mining activity has been

surface mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...

, although there has been some deep mining as well. Large amounts of

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

were also done in the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Biology

Lick Run is designated as a high-quality coldwater fishery. In 1931, the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a separ ...

stated that the stream was "one of the best streams in this section of Clearfield County". In 1983, the

Susquehanna River Basin Commission The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) is a federal-interstate compact commission created by the Susquehanna River Basin Compact (Pub. L. 91-575) between three U.S states: (Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland), and the federal government, a ...

did a biological survey of the stream, finding that there were no fish there and only one species of

– a

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

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 ...

have historically been stocked on Lick Run. In 1957, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission suggested no longer stocking trout on the stream below Fork Run. In 1985, trout stocking on the creek stopped altogether. Brook trout inhabit the stream downstream of the mouth of the tributary Doctors Fork. Near Panther Rocks Camp, the land in the vicinity of Lick Run is fairly open, with

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

-like

sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...

seeps. Further downstream, a

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 ...

begins to develop, and remains highly intact for almost all of the stream's length. Still further downstream, pools of woody debris begin forming in the stream. Filamentous

green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

was observed on the stream at Panther Rocks in May 2005. 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 SB Elliot Cabins Wetland is located at the headwaters of Lick Run. The Clearfield County Natural Heritage Inventory lists it as a significant site on the county level. Lick Run has a low level of

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

at Panther Rocks. In a 2004 benthic

survey, only two

alderfly Alderflies are megalopteran insects of the family Sialidae. They are closely related to the dobsonflies and fishflies as well as to the prehistoric Euchauliodidae. All living alderflies – about 66 species all together – are part of the su ...

larvae and one crayfish were observed here. Upstream of Doctors Fork, the survey observed 125

stonefly Plecoptera is an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to be one of the mo ...

nymphs, 52

caddisflies The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the b ...

, 5 alderfly larvae, 2

cranefly Crane fly is a common name referring to any member of the insect family Tipulidae. Cylindrotominae, Limoniinae, and Pediciinae have been ranked as subfamilies of Tipulidae by most authors, though occasionally elevated to family rank. In the most ...

larvae, and a single crayfish. Downstream of Doctors Fork, 40 stonefly nymphs, 22 caddisfly larvae, and two alderfly larvae were observed. At the SGL #90 Bridge, 45 caddisfly larvae, 44 stonefly nymphs, 3

midge A midge is any small fly, including species in several families of non-mosquito Nematoceran Diptera. Midges are found (seasonally or otherwise) on practically every land area outside permanently arid deserts and the frigid zones. Some mid ...

larvae, and 2 aquatic

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...

s were observed by the survey. Upstream of the tributary Stone Run, the survey observed 83 stonefly nymphs, 53 caddisfly larvae, 8 alderfly larvae, 7

mayfly Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the ord ...

nymphs, 1 caddisfly, and 1 aquatic worm.

Notes

References

{{authority control Rivers of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the West Branch Susquehanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania