Stony Run is a tributary of

Little Catawissa Creek Little Catawissa Creek is a tributary of Catawissa Creek in Columbia County and Schuylkill County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Conyngham Township in Columbia County and Union Township and N ...

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Schuylkill County (, ; Pennsylvania Dutch: Schulkill Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the popula ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Union Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The stream is polluted and acidic. However, it is considered to be a coldwater fishery. The main rock formations in the stream's watershed are the

Mauch Chunk Formation The Mississippian Mauch Chunk Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. It is named for the township of Mauch Chunk, now known as borough of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania and for nearby Mauch Chunk Ridge where th ...

and the

Pocono Formation The Mississippian Pocono Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia, in the United States. It is also known as the Pocono Group in Maryland and West Virginia, and the upper part of the Pocono Formation is somet ...

. The main soils in the watershed are the Leck Kill soil and the Hazleton soil. No fish inhabit the stream.

Course

Confluence of Stony Run with Little Catawissa Creek

Stony Run begins on Little Mountain in Union Township. It flows east for several tenths of a mile before turning southeast for several hundred feet, leaving behind Catawissa Mountain and Little Mountain. The stream then turns northeast for a few tenths of a mile before turning east-northeast. Several tenths of a mile downstream, it crosses Ridge Road and turns east-southeast, almost immediately reaching its confluence with Little Catawissa Creek. Stony Run joins Little Catawissa Creek upstream of its mouth.

Hydrology

Stony run experiences some form 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 ...

. The stream is also highly acidic because it has been significantly impacted by

acid precipitation Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but aci ...

. The pH of Stony Run is 6.0 and the concentration of

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 ...

in the stream is 0 milligrams per liter. The

water hardness Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbo ...

of the stream is 0 milligrams per liter. At 1:00 P.M. on July 1, 1997, the air temperature in the vicinity of Stony Run upstream of its mouth was . The water temperature of the stream at that location and time was . The

specific conductivity Specific may refer to: * Specificity (disambiguation) * Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness Law * Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual * Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the fina ...

of its waters is 19 umhos.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of Stony 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 source of the stream is between and above sea level. Most of the length of Stony run is on rock of the

. However, the upper reaches of the creek are on rock of the

. The lower reaches of the stream are on Leck Kill

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

and the rest of it is on Hazleton soil. For approximately its lower half, Stony Run is flanked by areas that are prone to

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 during a

100-year flood A 100-year flood is a flood event that has a 1 in 100 chance (1% probability) of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The 100-year flood is also referred to as the 1% flood, since its annual exceedance probability is 1%.Holmes, R.R., Jr. ...

. Stony Run is a small stream, with a width of . It has a high gradient of 47.5 meters per kilometer.

Watershed

The watershed of Stony Run has an area of . The vast majority of the watershed is in Union Township. However, a small portion of it is in Roaring Creek Township, in Columbia County. A very small part of the watershed is in North Union Township. There is some club and association land in the upper and lower reaches of Stony Run. An area of land belonging to a Nature Conservancy Priority Forest Hub is located in the upper reaches of the watershed. The land in the watershed includes both

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 and

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. 9 percent of the length of Stony Run is within of road. 35 percent of the stream's length is within of a road and 50 percent is within of one. In 1990, the

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of the watershed was 40 people per square kilometer. Stony Run 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, ...

quadrangles of Shumans, Nuremberg, Ashland, and Shenandoah.

Biology

Stony Run 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 a Coldwater Fishery. A 1997 report advised against additional management actions on the stream due to low water quality and also suggested that 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 ...

not manage the stream for the same reason. The stream cannot support

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

life due to the fact that it has been affected by

. A 1997 report stated that Stony Run was a poor site for angling.

References

External links

Map of the Catawissa Creek watershed
{{authority control Rivers of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Catawissa Creek Rivers of Pennsylvania