Abandoned Mine Posts

by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

Do you have a stream that you think has improved due to a pollution abatement project? If you do, we need your help. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Non-point Source Program has enlisted the aid of WPCAMR to help them find those improved streams.

The information you provide will assist PA DEP biologists in their efforts to target specific streams for a biological reassessment. If the stream or a segment of the stream has indeed improved, PA DEP could consider it for removal from the list of impaired waterways in the Commonwealth.

The list of impaired waters (formerly known as the 303(d) list) is now part of what is called the “Integrated List”. Impaired waters are those waterways that are not meeting their “designated use”, in other words, the biological community in those streams is adversely affected by AMD, sediment, or any number of other pollutants.

Designated uses are those uses specified in the state’s water quality standards for each water body or segment whether or not they are being attained. An example of a designated use in Pennsylvania is “CWF”, meaning a Cold Water Fishery, capable of sustaining a healthy cold water biological community (eg. a stream where trout can live and reproduce).

Removal of a stream or stream segment from the impaired waters list is a concrete way of showing that pollution reduction projects are having a positive impact on our streams.

If you think you have a stream or a segment of a stream that was impaired and is now not, we invite you to share what you know by filing out the information form at the WPCAMR “Improved PA Streams” page. By sharing your information, you can help direct state efforts to locate recovered streams.

by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

WPCAMR’s Video Diaries takes you to Armstrong County to see how a group of dedicated conservationists have been using water coming from an abandoned mine borehole for an unusual purpose. 

Click the play button on the player below to watch the video.

by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

In this last installment of the Life in Our Streams series, we leave the stream and emerge into the green world of streamside vegetation. A world that is inextricably tied to our aquatic environment.

Vegetation along rivers and streams, called riparian vegetation, plays an important part in maintaining and improving the quality of our rivers and streams. The type, density and width of riparian vegetation provide a crucial link between terrestrial and stream ecosystems.

Native vegetation along the streambank provides food and shelter, while also providing a corridor for the movement of wildlife. Riparian vegetation provides vegetable matter, which breaks down and provides food for aquatic invertebrates. Shade from riparian vegetation helps maintain cool water temperatures in pools. In addition, fallen branches, large woody debris and aquatic plants provide habitat for fish and invertebrates.

Riparian vegetation is important in the prevention of stream bank erosion. Vegetation binds soil and and creates a “roughness” that reduces stream flow rates, particularly during floods. Vegetation at the base of riverbanks is especially important to riverbank stability, particularly on outside bends of meanders and on other banks where flow is deflected.

Vegetated riparian zones maintain water quality by filtering sediment and nutrients, and reducing the amounts of water entering a water course. Any vegetation that provides a dense cover at ground level will be an effective filter. Riparian vegetation of course, has an inherent aesthetic and intrinsic worth that is difficult to value in monetary terms.

Wetlands are another type of highly valued vegetated area. Wetlands can be found adjacent to streams or in isolated pockets. A wetland is land that is seasonally or permanently covered by shallow water, as well as land where the water table is close to or at the surface. In either case, the presence of abundant water has caused the formation of what is called “hydric soil”. Hydric soil is one that is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions. Hydric soil is one of the key characteristics of a wetland. This type of soil favors the growth of either water loving (hydrophilic) or water tolerant plants. These unique areas represent a combination of terrestrial and aquatic characteristics, and are further categorized by type as marsh, swamp, fen and bog.

A wetland with different types of plants.

Wetlands are very productive ecosystems and can be thought of as “biological supermarkets.” Wetlands provide large amounts of food, which attract many different animal species. In addition to being “biological supermarkets” for other animals, wetlands produce a number of natural products used by humans, including fish and shellfish, cranberries, timber, wild rice, blueberries, as well as medicines that are extracted from wetlands soils and plants.

There are several types of wetland plants depending on where they live in the wetland:
Emergent plants are those that, although rooted under the water, emerge through the water’s surface (eg. sedges)
Submerged plants are those that stay submerged in the water column (eg. bladderwort)
Floating plants are those which live entirely on the water’s surface (eg. duckweed)

Wetland plants that require water and proper hydric soils at all times are termed “Obligates”. Those that are a little more forgiving in their environmental requirements are termed “Facultative”. Often, both can be found in a wetland.

Wetlands also absorb and retain stormwater helping to slow flooding. Wetlands are also useful in filtering out pollutants from Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD). Long a part of passive treatment technology, wetlands can capture and retain metals from AMD that would otherwise settle out in a stream.

For more information:

The Value of Wetlands from the World Wildlife Fund

by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

Since the “Life in Our Streams” series began, our journey has taken us through a myriad of life forms inhabiting our underwater world. From the bacteria, smallest of the small, to the bottom dwelling creatures known as benthic invertebrates, all form an important part of the aquatic food web. As we leave the relative protection of the stream bottom and journey into the expanse of the water column travelling toward the surface, other life forms begin to become apparent.

Aquatic organisms are often categorized by where they live in the water. As we’ve already seen, benthic organisms live in or on the stream bottom and feed on plant and animal material that collects on the bottom. Crayfish, mussels, and stonefly and mayfly larvae are examples of benthic organisms.

Pelagic organisms are those that live within the water column. These organisms may float or swim and include everything from tiny plants and animals known as plankton, to fishes, frogs, turtles, and a wide variety of insects.

Fishes are probably the best-known pelagic inhabitants of our streams and rivers.  The fish’s ability to live in the water column depends upon the speed at which it can swim and how long it can sustain that speed. Of course, this ability often varies greatly between species. Continuous swimming expends a tremendous amount of energy, so fishes tend to spend only short periods in full current. Instead, individuals remain close to the bottom or the banks, behind obstacles, sheltered from the current, often swimming in the current only to feed or change locations. Some fish species have adapted to living primarily on the stream bottom, rarely venturing into the open water column. These fishes are flattened top to bottom to reduce resistance to the current and often have eyes on top of their heads to see what is happening above them. These types of fishes are known as “demersal” fishes. An example of a demersal fish is the sculpin.

Other vertebrates that inhabit streams include amphibians, such as salamanders, reptiles (e.g. snakes and turtles) various bird species, and mammals (e.g. otters and beavers). With the exception of a few species, these vertebrates are not tied to water as fishes are and spend part of their time in terrestrial habitats.

Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) is just as dangerous for inhabitants of the water column as it is for benthic organisms. Fish in particular are susceptible in several ways. The primary causes of fish death in acid waters are through loss of sodium ions from the blood and loss of oxygen in their tissues. Sodium loss interferes with the process known as osmoregulation, the way in which fish maintain the concentration of their body fluids. As a result of a sodium loss, there is a constant influx of water into the body and loss of salts and ions from the blood outwards. The end product is that the fish would rapidly accumulate water and die. Acid water also attacks the fish’s gills, increasing the gills’ permeability to water, adversely affecting gill function and reducing the amount of oxygen they can absorb.

Low pH levels that are not directly lethal adversely affect fish growth rates and reproduction . Some fish, such as brook trout, are tolerant of low pH. However, it’s the presence of dissolved metals found in many AMD discharges, that decreases the fish’s ability to tolerate low pH. Finally, metals precipitating out in the water column, collects on the gill structures, further restricting oxygen absorption into the blood.

AMD impacts on Pennsylvania’s native brook trout populations for example, are localized. But where it happens, it’s generally severe. In fact, if we were to total up the entire area of brook trout habitat in Pennsylvania that’s impacted by AMD, it would be larger than the state of Connecticut.

For more information:
Conserving the Eastern Brook Trout by the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture

Gallery of PA Fishes by the PA Fish and Boat Commission