THE SPRING CREEK WATERSHED ATLAS

Virtually all the potable water consumed in the Centre Region is drawn from the groundwater reservoir. Even residents in the Bellefonte area depend on groundwater that emerges naturally in the Big Spring. But the movement of water on and beneath the surface is controlled by the rocks and structures that shape the valley. Figure 1. Paleogeographic globe with present-day North America superimposed on the American landmass of c. 450 Ma. (White dashed line is the equator; north is at the top.) (U.S. Geological Survey) About 500 million years ago the land that is now North America was part of a large landmass that included much of Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland. The land we call centra

If you live or work in ‘Happy Valley’ or another area of the Spring Creek Watershed, you are almost certainly drinking and using groundwater every day, because groundwater is the source of more than 99% of all of our watershed’s public and private water supplies. This means that life as we know it would be impossible without groundwater. It is our watershed’s (and the world’s) most extracted resource. About 85% of the total annual runoff water in Spring Creek is groundwater, and thus it is responsible for the ecosystem in Spring Creek and its tributaries that provides the high-quality trout habitat. Until it comes out of your faucet, groundwater is invisible to you, unless you tour Penn’s

I fly fish a lot…locally, regionally, and nationally. Some view my commitment as an obsession, but for me, it’s a passionate, near-amorous experience. My favorite target fish are the cold water species comprised of brook, rainbow, brown, and cutthroat trout. Of course, I have favorite destinations, and some secret ones too, where I spend anywhere from 100 to 150 days a year suited-up and coaxing trout to fur and feathered flies. However, when tethered in State College, I steal away to romance Spring Creek, my home water sweetheart. For the past fifteen years, I “paid my dues” learning many of the secrets of this true limestone stream (characterized by hard water). Over the years, I

Overview The Susquehanna River Basin Compact was signed into law by the U.S. Congress and the states of New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania in 1970. The intent of the compact was to provide a mechanism to guide the water resource management of the Susquehanna River Basin. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) is that mechanism. It promotes sustainable water resource management through regulatory authority over water withdrawals and consumptive water use (water that does not return to the water resource, such as that used in manufacturing or agriculture). It also has non-regulatory functions related to monitoring and supporting water quality, working to reduce damage from floods, an

Water Demand Water is essential to life as we know it. We can survive for weeks without food, but for just a few days without water. Municipal water providers, even in communities as small as a few thousand inhabitants, deliver potable water to our homes for just a few dollars per thousand gallons. Because it is inexpensive and seems abundant, we are profligate in its use. A typical Pennsylvania family consumes between 50 and 60 gallons of water per person each day. (In State College, daily consumption of 40 gallons per person is somewhat below average. In some areas of the United States, average daily consumption is nearly 200 gallons per person.) Although water providers take great car

The Pennsylvania State University owns and operates a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) that is located at 501 University Drive in State College Borough, Centre County. Penn State’s WWTP has been in operation since the early 1900’s, and provides sanitary sewer service to a majority of the University Park Campus and a small portion of the State College Borough in the College Heights District. Map 1 shows the current Sewer Service Area for the Penn State WWTP. Map 1. Sewer Service Area for Penn State WWTP The WWTP has a hydraulic capacity to treat up to 4.0 million gallons per day (MGD) of wastewater, and a design organic capacity of 9,500 pounds of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) per day (P

When someone in the watershed runs water into a sink, turns on a washing machine, or flushes a toilet, this wastewater is conveyed to an on-lot septic system or to a series of pipes that eventually connect to a wastewater treatment plant. Most of the homes and businesses in the watershed are within one of five Sewer Service Areas. Potter Township operates the Country Club Park Sewer Plant, which discharges a relatively small volume (<20,000 gallons per day - gpd) of treated wastewater into the headwaters of Cedar Run. The University Area Joint Authority (UAJA) serves most of the Centre Region and discharges on average more than 5 million gallons per day (mgd) of treated effluent into Spri