What are the 6 major watersheds in Pennsylvania?
What are the 6 major watersheds in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania has 6 major watersheds: the Ohio, the Genesee, the Susquehanna, the Delaware, the Erie, and the Potomac.
What is Pennsylvania’s smallest watershed?
Gunpowder River Basin
The largest portion of Pennsylvania lies within the Susquehanna River Basin (20,960 square miles) while the Gunpowder River Basin contains the smallest portion (11 square miles).
What are three factors that affect the quality of Pennsylvania’s watersheds?
These include diverse geographic and geologic features as well as major differences in historical settlement, economic and land use patterns.
What watershed does Pa live in?
Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay Pennsylvania contains two major rivers that are part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: the Susquehanna, with 21,000 square miles, and the Potomac, with 1,600 square miles. Together, they total 40 percent of the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed.
What is the 3rd largest watershed in Pennsylvania?
Delaware River
Pennsylvania’s third largest major watershed has the same name as the river that is our eastern border. The city of Philadelphia sits on this river. Do you know its name? It is the Delaware River.
What watershed is Harrisburg PA in?
The Susquehanna River Watershed encompasses almost half of the state’s land area—more than any other river basin in the commonwealth—while Pennsylvania makes up more than three-quarters of the basin’s total area.
What is the main source of impairment for Pennsylvania streams?
As described above, the major causes of surface water quality impairment within the state of Pennsylvania are (1) acid mine drainage, (2) agriculture, (3) urban and stormwater runoff, and (4) wastewater.
What is the only PA watershed that flows to the north?
It is the Genesee Watershed. This watershed is in the northern part of Potter County, and water starts its trip in Pennsylvania and flows up into New York state.
What watershed is Pittsburgh in?
Ohio River Watershed
The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers flow into the Ohio River. All of Pittsburgh is in the Ohio River Watershed, which is part of the Mississippi River Watershed. See Pittsburgh and where it is located as part of those watersheds here.
What is the most polluted river in PA?
The Conestoga River, one of the most agriculturally polluted streams in the state, now has nearly 40 of its 62 miles no longer impaired for aquatic life.
What is the major cause of river impairment in the US?
The two largest sources of impairments specified are abandoned mine drainage (4,040 miles impaired) and agriculture (3,903 miles impaired). Three sources related to runoff (urban runoff, road runoff, and small residential runoff) account for an additional 3,007 miles impaired.
Pennsylvania has 6 major watersheds: the Ohio, the Genesee, the Susquehanna, the Delaware, the Erie, and the Potomac. Conservation districts are actively working to protect Pennsylvania’s watersheds. Click on a watershed below to learn more.
What are the water quality standards in Pennsylvania?
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) develops water quality standards for all surface waters of the state. These standards, which are designed to safeguard Pennsylvania’s streams, rivers and lakes, consist of both use designations and the criteria necessary to protect those uses.
What are the Commonwealth waters protected for?
All commonwealth waters are protected for a designated aquatic life use as well as a number of water supply and recreational uses. The use designation shown in the water quality standards is the aquatic life use. These uses are Warm Water Fishes (WWF), Trout Stocking (TSF), Cold Water Fishes (CWF) and Migratory Fishes (MF).
