Trexler 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 ...

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Roaring Creek Township in Columbia County and Union Township in Schuylkill County. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The stream is considered to be a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and

Class A Wild Trout Waters Class A Wild Trout Waters are the highest biomass class given to streams in Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. They are considered to contain the highest-quality naturally reproducing trout populations in Pennsylvania. Th ...

. The main rock formations in the stream's watershed are the Mauch Chunk Formation, the Pocono Formation, and the Pottsville Formation and the main soil is the Leck Kill soil. Both

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 ...

and

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

inhabit the stream, as do several other species of fish.

Course

Trexler Run begins in a valley on Little Mountain in Roaring Creek Township, Columbia County. It flows south-southeast for several tenths of a mile, exiting Roaring Creek Township and Columbia County. Upon exiting Columbia County, Trexler Run enters Union Township, Schuylkill County. It continues south-southeast, crossing State Route 4036, for a short distance before receiving an unnamed tributary and turning east in a valley. After some distance, it crosses State Route 4036 again and continues east and slightly north. The stream eventually turns north for a short distance before turning east-northeast. After slightly more than a mile, it reaches its confluence with Little Catawissa Creek. Trexler Run joins Little Catawissa Creek upstream of its mouth.

Hydrology

Trexler Run is infertile and slightly

acid 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 ...

ic. It has the potential to be affected 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 concentration of alkalinity in Trexler Run was measured to be 4 milligrams per liter in 1985. More recently, in 1997, it was measured to be 10 milligrams per liter. The pH of the stream was measured to be 6.4 in 1985 and 6.6 in 1997. 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 15 milligrams per liter. At 1:10 P.M. on June 30, 1997, the air temperature in the vicinity of Trexler Run upstream of its mouth was . The water temperature of the stream at this location 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 the stream's waters is 43 umhos. 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 Trexler Run near Ringtown has been measured by the United States Geological Survey several times. The discharge of the stream ranged from 0.210 to 1.70 cubic feet per second in these measurements. The average discharge was 0.60 cubic feet per second. The peak annual discharge of the stream between 1959 and 1980 ranged from 8.80 cubic feet per second in 1965 to 487 cubic feet per second in 1972. The

gauge height Water level, also known as gauge height or stage, is the elevation of the free surface of a sea, stream, lake or reservoir relative to a specified vertical datum.ISO 772: 1996. Hydrometric determinations – Vocabulary and symbols. See also * ...

during the peak annual discharges ranged from in 1967 to in 1972.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of Trexler Run is above sea level. The elevation of the creek's source is approximately above sea level. Most of the length of Trexler Run is on rock of the Mauch Chunk Formation. However, the headwaters of the stream are on rock of the Pocono Formation. The Pottsville Formation is in the southern part of the watershed and the Spechty Kopf Formation and the Buddys Run Member of the Catskill Formation occur in the northwestern part of the watershed. The southern and central parts of the watershed, including most of the stream's length, are on Leck Kill soil. The northern part of the watershed, including the stream's headwaters, are on Hazleton soil. The headwaters of Trexler Run are on a mountain known as Little Mountain. The watershed is surrounded by

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

s. It also contains valleys. A till-capped deposit of sand known as the Hill runs from the flank of Little Mountain to Trexler Run. The Hill has forced the stream southwards and the stream makes a wide loop around it. Near this geographical feature, the stream has a narrow

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 ...

that cuts into

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

. The Hill was formed by glacial activity. There are a few small areas that are prone to flooding scattered throughout the watershed of Trexler Run. Trexler Run is a small stream, with a width of . It has a low gradient of 12.6 meters per kilometer.

Watershed

The watershed of Trexler Run has an area of . The watershed of mostly in Union Township, Schuylkill County, but a substantial portion of it is in Roaring Creek Township, Columbia County. Trexler Run flows through

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 ...

lands throughout much of its length. These lands are mostly on the valley floors of the watershed. Forests are found on the ridges that surround the watershed. There is some land belonging to Nature Conservancy Priority Forest Hubs found in the northern part of the watershed. Major roads in the watershed of Trexler Run include Little Mountain Road. 64 percent of the stream's length is within of road. 89 percent of its length is within of a road and the entire length of the stream is within of a road. The population density of the watershed in 1990 was 23 people per square kilometer. 50 percent of the length of Trexler Run is on private land that is open to fishing. The remaining 50 percent is on private land that is closed to fishing. Trexler Run is in the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Ashland.

History

Trexler Run has been surveyed by 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 ...

three times. The first was performed by Shoemaker in 1932 and advised against stocking the stream on account of its small size. A second survey was carried out in 1939 by Lech. This survey also suggested not stocking the stream because public access was restricted by posting. However, it was stocked with fingerling

and

by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission five times between 1940 and 1957. The third survey was carried out by Daniels in 1985. A prestressed slab bridge was built over Trexler Run in 1989. It is long and carries Pine Swamp Road.

Biology

Trexler Run is considered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to be a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery, although it was historically a Coldwater Fishery instead. Additionally, it is considered by the

to be Class A Wild Trout Waters. A 1997 report advised against stocking the stream. There are seven species of fish inhabiting Trexler Run. These species include brook trout, brown trout, pumpkinseeds, and largemouth bass. However, the largemouth bass originate from nearby

farm pond A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

s. Six of the seven species of fish living in the stream were present before 1997. In 1984, the

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

of wild trout was 85.19 kilograms per hectare. This included 81.18 kilograms per hectare of brown trout and 4.01 kilograms per hectare of brook trout. By 1997, the wild trout biomass decreased to 50.85 kilograms per hectare. This included 39.66 kilograms per hectare of brown trout (including 5.72 kilograms per hectare of brown trout less than 175 millimeters long and 33.94 kilograms per hectare of brown trout that are more than 175 millimeters long) and 11.19 kilograms per hectare of brook trout (including 4.45 kilograms per hectare of brook trout that are less than 175 millimeters long and 6.74 kilograms per hectare of brook trout that are less than 175 millimeters long. The brook trout inhabiting Trexler Run range from 50 to 249 millimeters in length. The brown trout inhabiting the stream range from 25 to 349 millimeters in length. There are 354 wild trout per kilometer that are less than 175 millimeters long, including 254 brook trout and 100 brown trout. There are 97 wild trout per kilometer that are more than 175 millimeters long, including 27 brook trout and 70 brown trout. The stream has 1143 wild trout per hectare that are less than 175 millimeters long, including 820 brook trout and 323 brown trout. It has 312 wild trout per hectare that are more than 175 millimeters long, including 86 brook trout and 226 brown trout. A 1997 report stated that Trexler Run was an excellent site for angling. Trexler Run is one of two streams in the watershed of Catawissa Creek with a significant population of brown trout.

References

External links

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