Nescopeck Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.Gertler, Edward. Keystone Canoeing, Seneca Press, 2004. The creek is in the Coal Region of Pennsylvania. The meaning of the creek's name is "deep black waters". The waters of Nescopeck Creek have difficulty ratings between Class I and Class III. However, during parts of the year, Nescopeck Creek is impossible to navigate due to rapids, flooding, and tight bends. Nescopeck Creek is home to a number of species of trout, although the waters are not always optimal for them. Nescopeck Creek's water is acidic, with a pH as low as 3.6 in some studies.
Much of the land in the Nescopeck Creek's watershed is forest. Farmland is common in the lower portions of the Nescopeck Creek watershed and the Little Nescopeck Creek watershed, while coal mines are more common on Nescopeck Creek's tributaries Black Creek, Stony Creek, and Cranberry Creek. A portion of Nescopeck Creek is considered a cold-water fishery of high quality. There are also seven natural areas in the creek's watershed, some of which contain rare species of plants and animals. On the Hilsenhoff Biotic Index, the streams in the watershed range from 0 to 18. There are 51 genera of macroinvertebrates in the creek's watershed. The habitats in the watershed primarily include mixed forest.
Nescopeck Creek's watershed is in area and lies in parts of three counties. Slightly over half of the land in the watershed is deciduous forest. The rest is perennial herbaceous vegetation, mixed vegetation and annual herbaceous vegetation, and barren land. Some sub-watersheds contain as much as 80 percent forest. Almost all of the streams in the watershed are within of a road. Most of the land in the watershed has a slope of 0 to 3 percent, although there are areas with a slope of 8 percent or more.
There are five main soil series in the Nescopeck Creek watershed. These are the Hazleton-Dekalb-Buchanan series, the Wellsboro-Oquaga-Morris series, the Leck Kill-Meckesville-Calvin series, the Udorthents-Urban Land-Volusia series, and the Lackawanna-Arnot-Morris series. There are also coal veins in the watershed. The creek discharges aluminum, iron, and manganese, nitrogen, and phosphorus. The pH of the streams in the Nescopeck Creek watershed range from 4.2 to 7.2. The main stem's discharge ranged from between 1919 and 1926. There are 10 dams in the watershed.
Course
Nescopeck Creek begins in Dennison Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, at the confluence of an outlet of Olympus Pond and Creasy Creek.Stewardship Report, p. 2 The creek's source is also on the eastern edge of Mount Yeager. It flows northwest for a short distance before passing through Olympus Pond and turning west. For the next several miles the creek continues in this direction, running through Pennsylvania State Game Lands #18 and receiving tributaries such as Reilly Creek and Little Nescopeck Creek A. Eventually, the creek passes the northwestern edge of Mount Yeager and continues into Butler Township. Here, the creek heads southwest at a more southerly angle, crossing Interstate 80, receiving Oley Creek, and passing an area of strip mines. A few miles later, the creek turns west-southwest and crosses Pennsylvania Route 309. Continuing onwards, it passes the communities of Rumbels and St. Johns and then crosses Interstate 81. Several miles later, the creek leaves Butler Township and enters Sugarloaf Township. It continues west in this township, receiving the tributary Little Nescopeck Creek B, crossing Pennsylvania Route 93, and making several meanders. After a number of miles, the creek meanders into Black Creek Township, where it turns north and picks up the tributary Black Creek right before crossing Interstate 80 and flowing through a gap in Nescopeck Mountain. In the gap, the creek crosses from Black Creek Township into Nescopeck Township, where it meanders northwest, passing the borough of Nescopeck and entering the Susquehanna River on the border between Nescopeck Township and Columbia County.
Tributaries Nescopeck Creek has more than of tributaries. This consists of of named streams and of unnamed ones. Major streams include Black Creek, two tributaries named Little Nescopeck Creek, Oley Creek, Creasy Creek, and Long Run. There are 13 named streams in the Nescopeck Creek watershed.Stewardship Report, p. 57
The portion of Nescopeck Creek from its mouth upstream to the mouth of Black Creek has a Strahler number of 5. This makes up of the streams in the watershed. Most of Black Creek and almost all of Nescopeck Creek upstream of Black Creek has a Strahler number of 4. These make up of streams in the creek's watershed. Eight smaller tributaries in the watershed have Strahler number of three. These make up of the creek's watershed. A total of 25 streams in the creek's watershed have a Strahler number of 2. They make up of the creek's watershed. One hundred thirteen very small streams in the Nescopeck Creek watershed have a Strahler number of 1. Such streams make up of the creek's watershed.
Little Nescopeck Creek A is one tributary of Nescopeck Creek. Its source is at the very northwestern edge of the creek's watershed, and it joins the main stem of Nescopeck Creek slightly downstream of Olympus Pond. Little Nescopeck Creek B is in the south of the watershed and is slightly longer than Little Nescopeck Creek A. Little Nescopeck Creek B joins Nescopeck Creek at Sybertsville. Black Creek is the longest tributary of Nescopeck Creek, with a length of . Reilly Creek is a tributary of Nescopeck Creek in the extreme east of the creek's watershed. Only long, it is the shortest named tributary of Nescopeck Creek.Stewardship Report, pp. 57, 59
Kester Creek in Luzerne County is listed Class A Wild Trout Waters.
Hydrology
Discharge From 1919 to 1926, the discharge of Nescopeck Creek at St. Johns was . The month with the highest average discharge during this time was March, when there was a discharge of . The month with the lowest average discharge during this time was September, when there was an average discharge of . The highest discharge in a single month was in March 1920. The lowest discharge in a single month was in September 1922.Stewardship Report, p. 88 The average discharge of Nescopeck Creek from 1995 to 2002 is . From 1996 to 1998, the Jeddo Tunnel discharged an average of of water into Little Nescopeck Creek.
Dams There are ten dams on Nescopeck Creek's watershed. The impoundments behind these dams have surface areas of . Nine of the dams in the Nescopeck Creek watershed are made from earthen-fill. The tenth is an unnamed dam constructed of masonry. The dams range from in height and in length. Their drainage areas are between .Stewardship Report, p. 60
pH and contaminants In 2005, a study was done on the pH of the waters of Nescopeck Creek and its tributaries. At three sites, its pH averaged 5.06, 4.85, and 4.49. However, the pH at Nescopeck Creek's headwaters is between 6.5 and 7. The lowest pH level in the Nescopeck Creek watershed is 4.2, which is on some parts of Black Creek. Creasy Creek is the most alkaline tributary of Nescopeck Creek, with a pH ranging from 6.9 to 7.2. Other relatively alkaline streams in the creek's watershed include Long Run (6.6), Reilly Creek (6.4), Long Hollow (6.4), Oley Creek (6.4), Conety Run (6.2), and Little Nescopeck Creek A (5.8 to 7).Stewardship Report p. 96 Brook trout are able to tolerate pHs down to 4.8 and the ideal pH range for freshwater fish is 6.5 to 9.0.
At these sites, the study also found averages of 1.7, 2.23, and 5.56 parts per million of aluminum, respectively. Concentrations of aluminium higher than 100 to 200 parts per million can cause suffocation of fish by accumulating in their gills. The toxicity of aluminum to fish is increased by a water pH of below 4.5 to 6.5. There were also 0.65, 0.81, and 1.84 parts per million of iron in these sites, and 0.96, 1.15, 0.03, and 2.65 parts per million of manganese. There were 91.37, 114.27, and 274.1 milligrams per liter of sulfates in the waters of Nescopeck at these sites.
A total of of nitrogen per year are discharged from Nescopeck Creek. Thirty-three percent of this came from land, 60 percent from groundwater, and 6 percent from leaking septic tanks. Its Black Creek tributary adds toxic amounts of copper, lead, and zinc to Nescopeck Creek's watershed. In most parts of Nescopeck Creek and its tributaries, the concentration of phosphorus is slightly lower than the concentration of nitrogen. However, at St. Johns and Conyngham, the phosphorus level is considerably higher than the nitrogen level. Most phosphorus contributed to Nescopeck Creek comes from sub-watersheds instead of the main stem of the creek. The total amount of phosphorus in Nescopeck Creek is . Cropland and quarries are the largest land sources of phosphorus in the watershed, each contributing (43.6 percent of land sources) and . The smallest sources of phosphorus in the watershed are unpaved roads, contributing (0.1 percent) and mixed forest, contributing (0.2 percent). Groundwater contributes and septic systems contribute . Point source pollution in the watershed does not release any phosphorus.
Stony Creek's water is the hardest water in the Nescopeck Creek watershed, with a concentration of over 100 milligrams per liter of dissolved minerals. Other streams in the watershed with hard water are Reilly Creek (28 milligrams per liter) and Long Run (21 milligrams per liter). Some of the least hard waters in the Nescopeck Creek watershed are those of Little Nescopeck Creek A (3 to 8 milligrams per liter), Conety Run (5 milligrams per liter), and Oley Creek (7 milligrams per liter). However, the largest source of pollution in the Nescopeck Creek watershed is acid mine drainage (AMD).Stewardship Report pp. 69–71
Above Little Nescopeck Creek B, Nescopeck Creek's iron concentration is 110 micrograms per liter and the creek's aluminum concentration is 40 micrograms per liter. Below Little Nescopeck Creek B, however, these values increase to 1260 micrograms per liter for iron and 7450 micrograms per liter for aluminum.
The vulnerability of groundwater to pollution in the Nescopeck Creek watershed has been measured using the DRASTIC system. It is lowest in the headwaters, as well as patches near the creek's mouth, with a value of 69 to 90. Values of 91 to 104 occur in the northern part of the watershed, as well as in scattered patches in the western part. Values of 105 to 115 occur in the southern, southwestern, and part of the central part of the watershed. Some areas with values 116 and higher are scattered throughout the watershed except near the headwaters.Stewardship Report, p. xxi
Geology Nescopeck Creek has coal veins near its source. These coal veins first appeared 300 million years ago. The thickness of these coal seams ranges from in the Tracy Bed up to in the Mammoth Bed. Nearly all of the Eastern Middle coal field is in the watershed of Nescopeck Creek.Stewardship Report, p. 42 Sugarloaf Mountain is near Nescopeck Creek. Nescopeck Creek has a number of rapids. At its mouth, Nescopeck Creek carries of aluminum, of iron, and of manganese per day.
Nescopeck Creek is in the geological region known as the Ridge and Valley region. This region is characterized by fertile valleys and steep ridges. However, the eastern reaches of the Nescopeck Creek watershed are near the border of the Appalachian Plateau region.Stewardship Report p. 30