Twomile Run is a tributary of Kettle Creek in

Clinton County, Pennsylvania Clinton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,450. Its county seat is Lock Haven. The county was created on June 21, 1839, from parts of Centre and Lycoming Counties. Its name is ...

, in the United States. It is long. Tributaries of the stream include

Huling Branch Huling may refer to: * Daniel Huling (born 1983), American steeplechase runner * Dong Huling (1918–1992), Chinese t'ai chi ch'uan teacher * James Hall Huling (1844–1918), American politician * Lorraine Huling (1897–1971), American actress * T ...

and Middle Branch Twomile Run. The stream flows through Leidy Township and Noyes Township. The stream's watershed has an area of approximately 9 square miles. Coal is mined in the watershed. Most of the acid mine drainage in Kettle Creek comes from Twomile Run. 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 Twomile Run at its mouth ranges from 200 to 10,000 gallons per minute. There are 2.1 to 11.7 milligrams per liter of

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

in the waters at this location. In 2007, the average pH at the mouth of the stream was 3.52, with a range of 3.4 to 3.9. By 2011, the stream's pH had increased slightly upstream of Huling Branch. Rock formations in the watershed include the

Huntley Mountain Formation The Huntley Mountain Formation is a late Devonian and early Mississippian mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, in the United States. Description The formation is composed of relatively soft grayish-red shale and olive-gray sandstone. It is lo ...

, the

Burgoon Sandstone Burgoon is a village in Sandusky County, Ohio, United States. The population was 172 at the 2010 census. Geography Burgoon is located at (41.266832, -83.250024). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , ...

, the Allegheny Group, and the

Pottsville Group The Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, western Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, and Alabama. It is a major ridge-former in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the eastern United States. The Pottsville Fo ...

Course

Twomile Run begins in

Sproul State Forest Sproul State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #10. The main offices are located in Renovo, Pennsylvania in Clinton County in the United States. The forest is located in western Clinton County an ...

in Leidy Township, Clinton County. The stream flows south and slightly east, leaving Sproul State Forest and Leidy Township and then entering Noyes Township. Soon after entering Noyes Township, it receives the tributary Middle Branch Twomle Run and continues south. The Twomile Run valley begins to get deeper at this point. The stream turns southwest, then southeast, and then southwest again. Shortly after the final bend, it receives the tributary Huling Branch and not long afterwards enters Kettle Creek.

Tributaries

Named tributaries of Twomile Run include Middle Branch Twomile Run and Huling Branch. Robbins Hollow joins Twomile Run downstream of Middle Branch Twomile Run. Huling Branch has an unnamed tributary of its own and is significantly longer than Middle Branch Twomile Run, about the same length as Twomile Run. Other tributaries of Twomile Run include Pecking Patch Hollow and MackIntosh Hollow.

Hydrology

The watershed of Twomile Run experiences significant

acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weathering ...

, with of the stream being affected by it. The acid mine drainage flows in the watershed have a pH of 2.5 to 3.5, an

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

concentration of 20 to 50 milligrams per liter, and an aluminum concentration of 20 to 70 milligrams per liter. The

acidity 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 ...

concentration in these flows ranges from 200 to 600 milligrams per liter. The stream is the only significant source of acid mine drainage to enter Kettle Creek on its eastern side. Thirty to fifty percent of the acid mine drainage in the Twomile Run watershed comes from

baseflow Baseflow (also called drought flow, groundwater recession flow, low flow, low-water flow, low-water discharge and sustained or fair-weather runoff) is the portion of the streamflow that is sustained between precipitation events, fed to streams by d ...

. Above the

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

on Twomile Run, the

of the stream is 511 gallons per minute. Upstream of Middle Branch Twomile Run, the discharge is 618 gallons per minute and downstream of Robbins Hollow, the discharge is 1402 gallons per minute. Downstream of the sampling site KC121,A drainage from the west at the discharge is 1893 gallons per minute and upstream of Huling Branch, the discharge is 2258 gallons per minute. The discharge at the mouth of Twomile Run ranges from 200 to 10,000 gallons per minute, which is between 0.6 and 2 percent of the discharge of Kettle Creek. Upstream of the swamp on the stream, the daily load of

is and the load is per day upstream of Middle Branch Twomile Run. Downstream of Robbins Hollow, the daily iron load is per day and downstream of KC121, it is per day. The load of

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

above the swamp on Twomile Run is and the load is per day upstream of the stream's middle branch. Below Robbins Hollow, the load is per day and below KC121, the daily load is . Downstream of Huling Branch, the daily load is . The

concentration at the mouth of Twomile Run ranges from 2.1 to 11.7 milligrams per liter. The average concentration is 5.6 milligrams per liter. Upstream of Middle Branch Twomile Run, the concentration is 6.83 milligrams per liter and the daily load is . Above Pecking Patch Hollow, the concentration of manganese is 6.43 milligrams per liter and the daily load is . Downstream of Huling Branch, the manganese concentration is 6.44 milligrams per liter and the load is per day. The daily load of

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 ...

above the swamp on Twomile Run is . The load of acid above Middle Branch Twomile Run is per day. Below Robbins Hollow, the daily load is ; below KC121, the load is per day. Downstream of Huling Branch, the daily load is per day. The pH of Twomile Run at its mouth ranged from 3.4 to 3.9 and the average pH at this location was 3.52 in 2007. However, by 2011, the pH upstream of Huling Branch had increased by 0.4 and the acidity concentration of Twomile Branch had halved. The

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 ...

concentration in Twomile Run above Middle Branch Twomile Run is 0.37 milligrams per liter and the daily load is . The concentration of alkalinity in Twomile Run upstream of Pecking Patch Hollow is 1.03 milligrams per liter. The daily load is at this location. There is no alkalinity downstream of Huling Branch. The

sulfate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ar ...

load upstream of the swamp on Twomile Run is per day and upstream of Middle Branch Twomile Run, the daily load is . Downstream of Robbins Hollow and KC121, the sulfate load is and per day, respectively. Below Huling Branch, the load is per day. The

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 ...

load in the Twomile Run watershed is per acre per year. 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 ...

and

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 ...

loads are less than per acre per year and per acre per year, respectively. The

conductivity Conductivity may refer to: *Electrical conductivity, a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electric current **Conductivity (electrolytic), the electrical conductivity of an electrolyte in solution **Ionic conductivity (solid state), elec ...

of Twomile Run at its mouth ranges from 291 micro-Siemens to 1091 micro-Siemens, with an average of 663 micro-Siemens.

Geography, geology, and climate

There are a number of

surface mine Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...

s and

deep mine This list of deepest mines includes operational and non-operational mines that are at least , which is the depth of Veryovkina Cave, the deepest known natural cave in the world. The depth measurements in this list represent the difference in elev ...

complexes in the Twomile Run watershed. Some of the deep mine complexes extend into adjacent watersheds. There are several rock formations in the Twomile Run watershed which are visible on the surface. These include the

, the

and the Allegheny Group. The Huntley Mountain Formation is from

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

and Mississippian times and the Burgoon Sandstone is from Mississippian times. The other two formations are both from the Pennsylvanian times. The Upper Kittanning and Lower Kittanning

coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s are found in hills with the Allegheny Group. The Pottsville Group also contains coal seams. The elevation of the Upper Kittanning coal seam in the watershed ranges from to in the ridge between Middle Branch Twomile Run and Huling Branch. The watershed of Twomile Run runs in approximately the same direction as the nearby Clearfield-McIntyre Syncline. To the north of the Clearfield-McIntyre Syncline is the

Wellsboro Anticline Wellsboro is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. The borough was founded by Benjamin Wistar Morris. It is located northwest of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Williamsport. The population was 3,472 at the 2020 census ...

and to the south is the Hyner Dome. The Huling Branch valley is relatively straight and narrow. The elevation of Twomile Run at its source is , while the elevation at its mouth is . The first acid mine drainage discharge is at . The maximum elevation in the watershed is . The average basin

slope In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line is a number that describes both the ''direction'' and the ''steepness'' of the line. Slope is often denoted by the letter ''m''; there is no clear answer to the question why the letter ''m'' is use ...

is 8.32 degrees. At to white and orange metal

precipitate In an aqueous solution, precipitation is the process of transforming a dissolved substance into an insoluble solid from a super-saturated solution. The solid formed is called the precipitate. In case of an inorganic chemical reaction leading ...

forms on the banks of Twomile Run at its confluence with Kettle Creek because the waters of the former stream are acidic, while those of the latter are alkaline. The velocity-depth of Twomile Run is low, but there is an adequate frequency of

riffle A riffle is a shallow landform in a flowing channel. Colloquially, it is a shallow place in a river where water flows quickly past rocks. However, in geology a riffle has specific characteristics. Topographic, sedimentary and hydraulic indica ...

s in the stream. The

right bank 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 ...

of the stream is somewhat unstable. Between 1992 and 2005, the annual precipitation ranged from to at the nearby Alvin R. Bush Dam. The average rate of precipitation was per year.

Watershed

The watershed of Twomile Run has an area of 9.15 square miles. There are of streams in the watershed, of which are affected by acid mine drainage. Most of the watershed is forested land. However, there are some areas of

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

, parking areas, and roads. The watershed runs in a northeast-southwest direction. Most of the land in the watershed is owned by the

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 124 state parks and 20 state forests; pr ...

, the

Bureau of Forestry The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency incl ...

, and Sproul State Forest. There are some agricultural lands in the watershed, most of which are in the vicinity of Huling Branch. Roads in the Twomile Run watershed include Two Mile Run Road. There are between 15 and 20 stream crossings in the stream's watershed. Twomile Run, Huling Branch, and Middle Branch Twomile Run all have

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 ...

s in their upper reaches.

History and industries

The first

coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

s in the Twomile Run watershed were

s, but there are no surviving maps of them.

Surface mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...

of the Lower Kittanning and Upper Kittanning coals began after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, with the Lower Kittanning coal being mined to a depth of . By the 1970s, the surface mining had ended. Much of the coal mined in the entire Kettle Creek watershed was in the Twomile Run watershed. In the 1930s and early 1940s, there was a

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

located in the Twomile Run watershed. A draft for an

Operation Scarlift Operation Scarlift (also known as Project 500 or The Bond Issue Program) was a program carried out by the Pennsylvania government in the 1960s and 1970s. Its mission was to repair environmental damage caused by abandoned mine lands, acid mine draina ...

report was written in 1973 for Kettle Creek (which Twomile Run is a tributary of), but was never approved. A number of

passive treatment system A passive treatment system is a method for removing metals from acid mine drainage. There are several types of passive treatment systems, each of which may be used on their own or in combination to treat effluents. The type of system selected is dep ...

s were installed in the tributary Robbins Hollow in 2004 and nine have been installed in the main stem.

Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

is produced in the watershed of Twomile Run. Some coal reserves remain in the watershed.

Biology

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 ...

are found in the upper reaches of the tributary Middle Branch Twomile Run, upstream of the acid mine drainage discharges in its watershed. There are brook trout above the acid mine drainage discharges on Twomile Run, but none below the discharges. The brook trout population is considered to be a "Class A population" and is increasing. The concentration of

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 ...

at one location on the tributary Huling Branch is per hectare and at another location the concentration is per hectare. The confluence of Twomile Run with Kettle Creek was completely devoid of fish in 1967, but by 1997, 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 ...

observed two species of fish,

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 ...

and smallmouth bass in this location. Twomile Run has the highest potential fish

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of all streams in the Kettle Creek watershed, with a Potential Species Richness of 232 to 241 in places. ''

Plecoptera Plecoptera is an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to be one of the mo ...

'', ''

Trichoptera The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the b ...

'', ''

Odonata Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. Members of the group first appeared during the Triassic, though members of their total group, Odonatoptera, first appeared in Late Carboniferous. The two comm ...

'', and ''

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

'' have all been observed on Huling Branch. The

stonefly Plecoptera is an order of insects, commonly known as stoneflies. Some 3,500 species are described worldwide, with new species still being discovered. Stoneflies are found worldwide, except Antarctica. Stoneflies are believed to be one of the mo ...

and

caddisfly The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the b ...

populations on Middle Branch Twomile Run are increasing. The confluences of Middle Branch Twomile Run and Huling Branch with Twomile Run were considered to be "poor" or "marginal" habitats 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. ...

in 2001. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission assessed the mouth of the stream as 2 out of 10 on their habitability scale in the same year.

Recreation

Most of the land in the Twomile Run watershed is used for recreation.

Deer hunting Deer hunting is hunting for deer for meat and sport, an activity which dates back tens of thousands of years. Venison, the name for deer meat, is a nutritious and natural food source of animal protein that can be obtained through deer hunting. ...

and

bear hunting Bear hunting is the act of hunting bears. Bears have been hunted since prehistoric times for their meat and fur. In addition to being a source of food, in modern times they have been favoured by big game hunters due to their size and ferocity. B ...

are often done in the area. There is also a series

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

trails known collectively as the Whiskey Springs ATV trail complex. These are located in the sub-watersheds of Huling Branch and Middle Branch Twomile Run.

Notes

References

External links

Kettle Creek Watershed Association website
{{authority control Rivers of Clinton County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the West Branch Susquehanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania

Course

Tributaries

Hydrology

Geography, geology, and climate

Watershed

History and industries

Biology

Recreation

See also

Notes

References

External links