W. Branch Susquehanna River, PA

Abandoned Mine Drainage

Trout Unlimited has expanded its successful abandoned mine drainage (AMD) planning and remediation efforts for the Kettle Creek Home Rivers Initiative into a West Branch Susquehanna AMD Restoration Initiative. The comprehensive assessment, strategic planning, and prioritized remediation program that Trout Unlimited and its partners have developed for the Kettle Creek watershed over the past five years will be used as a model for this new initiative. Similar to our role in the Kettle Creek Home Rivers Initiative, our main objective is to act as a catalyst and work with the West Branch Susquehanna River Task Force toward establishing a comprehensive, prioritized watershed plan aimed at the restoration of coldwater streams and the ultimate recovery of the West Branch.  Furthermore, through recent funding by the PA Growing Greener Grants Program and the R.K. Mellon Foundation, TU will provide targeted technical assistance to TU chapters, watershed groups, and others that are working to address AMD problems within the West Branch.

The West Branch Susquehanna River basin contains some of the most scenic forestland in Pennsylvania and is dominated by public state forest and game lands, with a few small urban centers scattered throughout. The West Branch watershed, home to three distinct ecoregions (Northern Appalachian Plateau Uplands, North Central Appalachians, and Central Appalachian Ridges and Valleys), is truly a gem nestled in the Commonwealth's interior that has the tremendous potential to provide a mecca of outdoor recreational opportunities - at least this is what would be available if it were not for the pollution left behind from historic unregulated coal mining activities that once provided a boon to local industry and economics.  Unfortunately, the legacy that remains today is in the form of AMD, which is the source for 94% of the West Branch's pollution. Nearly eight-hundred miles of streams within the West Branch have been rendered essentially lifeless due to toxic concentrations of metals and acidity from the AMD.

The potential for fishery restoration on all AMD impacted streams throughout the West Branch is phenomenal due to the fact that each stream has been assessed as a potential trout-stocking, high quality coldwater fishery, or exceptional value stream and the headwaters of most streams above the AMD are classified as Class A wild trout fisheries. As seen in the Kettle Creek watershed, water quality degradation is the only source of impairment throughout most of the West Branch watersheds and the physical stream habitat is already in relatively good condition. Nevertheless, removing the high concentrations of toxic metals and neutralizing the pH of the AMD polluted water is without doubt an expensive proposition that could easily translate into the hundreds of millions. At the same time, successful restoration efforts of the West Branch will yield positive economic benefits that in turn will translate into a better way of life for the local communities.

For more information:

Amy Wolfe
Director, Abandoned Mine Programs & Kettle Creek Home Rivers Initiative
P.O. Box 27
Mill Hall, PA 17751
(570) 726-3118
Email Amy Wolfe

Rebecca Dunlap
West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Initiative Project Manager
P.O. Box 27
Mill Hall, PA 17751
(570) 726-3118
Email Rebecca Dunlap