Little Buffalo Creek is a tributary of Buffalo Creek in

Union County, Pennsylvania Union County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,681. Its county seat is Lewisburg. The county was created on March 22, 1813, from part of Northumberland County. Its name is an allusio ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through White Deer Township and Kelly Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek is impacted by nutrients, sediment, E. coli, and thermal radiation. Rock formations containing sandstone, shale, and limestone occur in the watershed. Most of the watershed of Little Buffalo Creek is on forested land or agricultural land, but there are other land uses as well. A number of bridges have been constructed over the creek. In 2014, a $329,851 grant from the Growing Greener program was issued to the Union County Conservation District for agricultural best management practices in its watershed. The creek's drainage basin is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery and wild trout naturally reproduce in a reach of it.

American eel The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the elopomorph superorder, a group of phylogenetically ancient teleosts. The America ...

s have also been released into the creek.

Course

Little Buffalo Creek begins at the base of a mountain in White Deer Township. It flows south for a short distance before turning east-northeast and then east-southeast. Several tenths of a mile further downstream, the creek turns east-northeast for a few miles before turning south-southeast and entering a valley. After several tenths of a mile, it turns south and enters Kelly Township. The creek continues flowing south for some distance before meandering east for several tenths of a mile. It then turns south again for a few tenths of a mile before turning southwest. The creek then turns south-southeast, then east-northeast, before finally turning southwest. Several tenths of a mile further downstream, it reaches its confluence with Buffalo Creek. Little Buffalo Creek joins Buffalo Creek upstream of its mouth.

Hydrology

Little Buffalo Creek is impacted by

nutrients A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

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, sand an ...

E. coli ''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escher ...

, and

thermal radiation Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of particles in matter. Thermal radiation is generated when heat from the movement of charges in the material (electrons and protons in common forms of matter) is ...

. In 2000, the sediment load in Little Buffalo Creek was , while in 2008, it was . This equates to a unit area load of around . However, in the future, the sediment load could be reduced by 66.94 percent to per year. The largest contributors of sediment to the creek in 2000 were streambank

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

() and

row crop A row crop is a crop that can be planted in rows wide enough to allow it to be tilled or otherwise cultivated by agricultural machinery, machinery tailored for the seasonal activities of row crops. Such crops are sown by drilling or transplanti ...

s (). Hay and pastures contributed and low-density urban land contributed . came from other sources. In 2000, the

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

load of Little Buffalo Creek was and in 2008, it was . This equates to a unit area load of just under . However, in the future, the annual load could be reduced by 39.11 percent to . The

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

load of Little Buffalo Creek was in 2000, while in 2008, it was . This equates to a unit area load of less than . However, in the future, the phosphorus load could be reduced by 66.94 percent to per year.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of Little Buffalo 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 standardised g ...

. 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 between above sea level. There are of fencing and of stabilization along streams in the watershed of Little Buffalo Creek. There are also significant

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 ...

-prone areas along the creek, which, during a flood, could make access to emergency services in western Kelly Township difficult. There are some

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

areas along the creek and its tributaries. Little Buffalo Creek cuts through the Buffalo Mountain Anticlinal. Additionally, the Milton Anticlinal is located near the creek. Outcroppings of the Ore

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) ...

are visible at the Buffalo Mountain Anticlinal on Little Buffalo Creek.

Shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

s of the

Bloomsburg Formation The Silurian Bloomsburg Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Maryland. It is named for the town of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania in which it was first described. The Bloomsburg marked the first occurrence of re ...

also occur in the watershed of the creek. Additionally,

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

of the

Lower Helderberg Formation Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...

occurs near the creek.

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 Little Buffalo Creek has an area of . The mouth of the creek is in 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 Lewisburg. However, the source is in the quadrangle of Williamsport SE. The creek also flows through the quadrangle of Allenwood. It is one of the major tributaries of Buffalo Creek. The watershed makes up 14 percent of the Buffalo Creek drainage basin and is in the northeastern corner of that watershed. There are of streams in the watershed of Little Buffalo Creek. Of these, are in agricultural land. Forested land is more common in the watershed's upper reaches, while agricultural land is more common in the lower reaches. The creek does not flow through any protected areas, but its headwaters are not far from

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory. Background The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example: * In Australia, a ...

lands. There are no major highways in the watershed, but

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 ...

passes close to its northeastern edge. A total of 54 percent of the watershed of Little Buffalo Creek is on

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. Another 37 percent is on

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

land. Only 3 percent of the watershed is impervious, but this could rise to 26 percent in the future. The watershed contains of row crops and of

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

and

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

s. A total of of agricultural land in the watershed is on slopes of more than 3 percent. There are patches of commercial and residential land in the creek's watershed. There are no unpaved roads in the watershed of Little Buffalo Creek.

History

Little Buffalo 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 1179489. A

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

and 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 ...

were built on Little Buffalo Creek during the winter of 1774 to 1775. The Hubbler Bridge, which is also known as the Lewisburg Penitentiary Bridge, is located on Little Buffalo Creek west of Lewisburg. It is on private property. A bridge built over the creek in 1850 was used as a route for transporting grain to Campbell's Mill. A bridge carrying T-404 over Little Buffalo Creek was built before 1977. It is west of New Columbia and is long. A bridge carrying State Route 1003 was built over the creek north of Kelly Cross Roads in 1934. This bridge is long and was repaired in 1983. Another bridge carrying that road was built over the creek north of Kelly Cross Roads in 1936 and is long. A two-span bridge was built across the creek south of Kelly Cross Roads in 1949, was repaired in 2002, and is long. In 1950, a bridge carrying State Route 1004 was constructed over the creek in Kelly Cross Roads and is long. In 1951, a bridge carrying State Route 1006 was built over Little Buffalo Creek in northeast of Kelly Cross Roads and is long. A bridge with a length of was built across Little Buffalo Creek in 1985 and carries State Route 1003 west of Kelly Point. A bridge with a length of was built over the creek in 1991 and carries T-391 east of Kelly Point. In the 2008 report, the watershed of Little Buffalo Creek was ranked fourth amongst several sub-watersheds in the Buffalo Creek drainage basin for restoration priority. In 2014, the a $329,851 grant from the

Growing Greener Growing may refer to: * Growth (disambiguation) * Growing (band), a noise band based in Brooklyn, New York * Growing (Sleeping People album), ''Growing'' (Sleeping People album), 2007 *Growing (Rina Chinen album) * Growing, a children's song sung ...

program was issued to the

Union County Conservation District Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** Union ...

for agricultural best management practices in the creek's watershed.

Biology

The drainage basin of Little Buffalo Creek 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 on a reach of the creek from the T442 bridge downstream to the second State Route 1006 bridge. This reach is long. A group of spawning

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii)'' is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is commonl ...

s were observed in the creek in the 1920s. A population of

s was released into Little Buffalo Creek in 2013. The eels also carried with them the larvae of

freshwater mussel Freshwater bivalves are one kind of freshwater mollusc, along with freshwater snails. They are bivalves that live in fresh water as opposed to salt water, which is the main habitat type for bivalves. The majority of species of bivalve molluscs ...

s. The aim of the project was to restore American eels and freshwater mussels to the

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

. In a 2008 study, Little Buffalo Creek was found to be less biologically impaired than expected given the amount of agricultural activity and

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 animals ...

in its watershed. Additionally, some

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 ...

s have been created along the creek by landowners to serve as

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

habitats and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

has installed

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 on the creek in some formerly agricultural land. The

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

load of Little Buffalo Creek is 6.646 × 10¹⁵ organisms per month. 5.684 × 10¹⁵ of those organisms come from urban areas, while 9.564 × 10¹⁴ come from farm animals and 3.214 × 10¹² come from

septic system Onsite sewage facilities (OSSF), also called septic systems, are wastewater systems designed to treat and dispose of effluent on the same property that produces the wastewater, in areas not served by public sewage infrastructure. A septic tank a ...

s. The remaining 2.182 × 10¹² come from wild animals.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Union County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Buffalo Creek (West Branch Susquehanna River) Rivers of Pennsylvania