Stony Run is a tributary of Buffalo Creek in Union County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through West Buffalo Township and Buffalo Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The stream is impacted by nutrient pollution, sediment, ''

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'', and thermal radiation. The watershed mostly consists of forested land and agricultural land. It is designated as a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. The stream also has a healthy population of benthic macroinvertebrates.

Course

Stony Run begins in West Buffalo Township. It flows east-southeast through a broad valley that it shares with Rapid Run. After more than a mile, the stream enters Buffalo Township. Here, it turns southeast for several tenths of a mile before receiving an unnamed tributary from the

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. It then turns southwest for several hundred feet before turning east-southeast again. After several tenths of a mile, it turns southeast and a few tenths of a mile after that, it reaches its confluence with Buffalo Creek. Stony Run joins Buffalo Creek upstream of its mouth.

Hydrology

Stony Run is impacted by nutrient pollution, sediment, ''

'', and thermal radiation. In 2000, the sediment load of Stony Run was , while in 2008, it was . This equates to less than . However, the annual sediment load could in the future be reduced by 68.43 percent to . In 2000, row crops and

streambank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...

erosion contributed of sediment, respectively. A total of came from hay and pastures, came from low-density urban land, and came from other sources. In 2000, the load of nitrogen in Stony Run was and in 2008 it was . This equates to between . The annual load of nitrogen could be reduced by as much as 36.17 percent to . In 2000, of nitrogen came from groundwater/subsurface water. Another came from row crops and came from hay and pastures. came from low-density urban land, came from septic systems, came from streambank erosion, and came from other sources. The phosphorus load of Stony Run in 2000 was and in 2008, it was . This equates to about . However, the phosphorus load could be reduced by 46.22 percent to per year. In 2000, row crops contributed of phosphorus to the stream, while groundwater/subsurface water contributed and hay and pastures contributed . A total of came from low-density urban land, came from septic systems, came from streambank erosion, and came from miscellaneous sources.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the

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of Stony Run is above sea level. The elevation of the stream's source is between above sea level. There are no fences along any streams in the watershed of Stony Run. However, there could eventually be of fences. No stream reach in the watershed has stabilization, but up to could potentially be stabilized. Forest Hill is located near the headwaters of Stony Run. A debris fan from the late Pleistocene occurs in the vicinity of Stony Run.

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 Stony Run has an area of . The stream is entirely within the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Mifflinburg. There are a total of of streams within the watershed. Of these, are on agricultural land. The mouth of the stream is near

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. A total of 61 percent of the watershed of Stony Run is on forested land. Another 32 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 and 3 percent is on impervious surfaces. The area of land on impervious surfaces could potentially rise to 30 percent. The agricultural land in the watershed includes of row crops and of hay and pastures. None of the agricultural land in the watershed of Stony Run is on slopes of more than 3 percent. There are no

unpaved road Unpaved roads may refer to: * Dirt roads * Gravel roads A gravel road is a type of unpaved road surfaced with gravel that has been brought to the site from a quarry or stream bed. They are common in less-developed nations, and also in the ru ...

s in the stream's watershed. The watershed of Stony Run makes up 1 percent of the Buffalo Creek drainage basin.

History

Stony Run was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1188794. The John Umstead tract, which was located along Stony Run, was surveyed by Thomas Sutherland on May 17, 1770. In a 2008 report, the watershed of Stony Run was ranked tenth amongst sub-watersheds in the Buffalo Creek drainage basin for restoration priority.

Biology

The drainage basin of Stony Run is designated as a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. The stream has a population of

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

macroinvertebrates that has been described as "healthy". There are of vegetated riparian buffers along streams in the watershed of Stony Run. The pathogen load in Stony Run is on the order of 6.842 × 10¹⁵ organisms per month. The largest contributor of pathogens is urban areas (6.738 × 10¹⁵ organisms per month). Farm animals contribute 1.034 × 10¹⁴ organisms per month, septic systems contribute 3.287 × 10¹¹ organisms per month, and wildlife contributes 1.745 × 10¹¹ organisms per month. The pathogen load could in the future be reduced by 1.16 percent to 6.762 × 10¹⁵ organisms per month.

References

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