Susquehecka Creek, once known as Freeburg Creek or Freeburg Run, is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of Middle Creek in

Snyder County, Pennsylvania Snyder County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,736. The county seat is Middleburg. Snyder County was formed in 1855 from parts of Union County. Snyder County comprises the Selin ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Washington Township and Freeburg. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek has one named tributary, Dry Run. Part of Susquehecka Creek is impaired by sedimentation/siltation due to agriculture. A number of bridges have been constructed over the creek. Its watershed is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery.

Course

Susquehecka Creek begins in a broad valley known as Pleasant Valley, in Washington Township. It flows east-northeast for a few miles alongside

Pennsylvania Route 35 Pennsylvania Route 35 (PA 35) is a state highway located in central Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 522 (US 522) near Shade Gap. The northern terminus is at US 11/US 15 in Selinsgrove. Route de ...

, crossing it twice. As the creek nears Freeburg, it receives the tributary Dry Run from the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

and turns northeast, entering Freeburg. After a few tenths of a mile, it turns east-southeast for a short distance and reenters Washington Township before turning east-northeast, continuing to follow Pennsylvania Route 35. After more than a mile, the creek arrives at the end of Pleasant Valley and reaches its confluence with Middle Creek. Susquehecka Creek joins Middle Creek upstream of its mouth.

Tributaries

Susquehecka Creek has one named tributary, which is known as

Dry Run Dry run may refer to: * Dry run (testing), a testing process * Dry run (terrorism), a test by a terrorist organization to examine the reaction to an attempted attack Places in the United States Settlements * Dry Run, Ohio, a census-designated pl ...

. Dry Run joins Susquehecka Creek upstream of its mouth, at Freeburg, and drains an area of .

Hydrology

A reach of Susquehecka Creek is designated as an impaired waterbody. The cause of the impairment is

siltation Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...

sedimentation Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the ...

and the likely source of the impairment is

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

-related

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

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 Susquehecka 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 above sea level. The creek is a relatively small stream. In the middle of the 20th century, the

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

of Susquehecka Creek was significantly modified and relocated. The modifications included straightening, adding dikes, cleaning, and widening and deepening. A. Joseph Armstrong's book ''Trout Unlimited's Guide to Pennsylvania Limestone Streams'' described the creek as "yet another alleged limestone stream in an area with little appeal".

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 Susquehecka 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 Freeburg. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Dalmatia.

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 has been known to occur along Susquehecka Creek and its tributary Dry Run in the borough of Freeburg. The designated use of Susquehecka Creek is

aquatic life An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem formed by surrounding a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The two ...

History

Susquehecka 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 1189115. The creek is also known as Freeburg Creek or Freeburg Run. The former variant name appears in a 1953 United States Geological Survey map. However in 1965, USGS agent William L. Cain discovered that no locals had heard of the name "Freeburg Creek", and that every local he spoke toincluding the then-mayor of Freeburg, a postmaster, a farmer, and a retired manknew the creek as "Susquehecka Creek", though only two people he spoke to knew how to spell it. The name "Susquehecka Creek" had already been in use for many years by 1965. A concrete

tee beam A T-beam (or tee beam), used in construction, is a load-bearing structure of reinforced concrete, wood or metal, with a -shaped cross section. The top of the -shaped cross section serves as a flange or compression member in resisting compressiv ...

bridge carrying State Route 2003 over Susquehecka Creek was built in 1937, south of Freeburg and is long. A prestressed box beam or girders bridge carrying

across the creek was built in 2008, east of Fremont and is long. This bridge replaced a steel bridge built over the creek in 1952.

Biology

The drainage basin of Susquehecka Creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. The creek has been officially proposed for future listing as a 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 ...

stream.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Snyder County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Susquehanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania