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Additional information on this topic provided below. |
Cowanshannock Creek Watershed Association
By
Kelly Meinhart
hey said it wouldn’t last – but 25 years have come
and gone, and the Cowanshannock Creek Watershed Association
(CCWA) is still together and still making an impact in their
hometown watershed, located in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
“Watershed groups
began to form back in the 1980’s, mostly with the intent
of solving one specific problem. We had a broader view than
that, and today we have a vibrant organization with over 200
members and a core group of board members and volunteers who
have worked together to treat abandoned mine drainage, restore
fish populations to once-dead streams, develop recreational
trails, and preserve land.”
— Pam Meade, President of Cowanshannock Creek Watershed
Association
he group is unique not only in that they’ve been together
for 25 years, but also in that they are truly a community group.
They work for the community, through the community and with
the community. Pam recalls how she got started with the board;
“I went to my first meeting, and basically the rest is
history – they just sucked me in!” They’ve
been like a family ever since.
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White
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ike many areas throughout Western Pennsylvania, Armstrong County,
and the Cowanshannock watershed area in particular, was once
heavily mined and strip-mined for its valuable coal. The remnants
of the coal industry have left the area burdened with streams
that run red from abandoned mine drainage and run off, piles
of spent coal (also known as gob piles), not to mention waters
that cannot support life.
ut thanks to the efforts of the watershed association, these
problems are becoming scarcer in the watershed. Back when the
group got started their goal was to clear up the abandoned mine
drainage that was polluting Cowanshannock Creek, and to be able
to stock fish.
o they got started by working with the PA Fish Commission, who
instructed them along the way. Their first step was to reclaim
the strip mines and gob piles that were located mostly in the
Yatesborough/ Rural Valley/New Mine areas. They installed treatment
ponds, removed the gob piles, planted thousands of shrubs and
trees, and spent countless volunteer hours – and eventually
helped the waters to recover.
“Every year we’d
go to the Fish Commission to have them test the water to see
if it was healthy enough for fish. It took us 9 years but
we were finally able to stock fish. We had quite a party!”
– Pam Meade
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long with restoring the health of the Cowanshannock, the group
manages a recreational walking and biking trail called The Great
Shamokin Path. It’s a converted railroad bed that stretches
4.5 miles through the watershed. They originally acquired the
money to develop the trail by working with then PA Department
of Environmental Resources (Pa DER), to have some of the fine
monies paid to Pa DER by the mining companies be returned to
the area where the transgression happened – Armstrong
County. That’s how the Great Shamokin Trail got started,
and the work continues today. They’re currently in the
process of extending the trail an additional 8 miles.
ne of the unique stops along the trail is a fish hatchery that
the group constructed in the 1980’s. The fish raised in
the hatchery are later stocked in to the Cowanshannock Creek,
with over 20,000 fish being set free each season. Now, I might
be remiss in saying that they are ‘set free’ because
some of them are later caught at the group’s annual ‘Fish
Fry’ event. “It’s a great way for people to
get together, enjoy the creek, do a little fishing, a little
tubing, and just enjoy our natural resources.” Pam Meade.
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Great
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t doesn’t stop there for the CCWA. They recently completed
a Rivers Conservation Plan, and a Fluvial Geomorphology (FGM)
Assessment for the entire watershed. Pam comments; “The
FGM study was a very exciting project. We’re now taking
one of the hot spots identified in the assessment and repairing
the area through the process of natural stream design. We’re
also working with the Armstrong School District to create an
outdoor environmental classroom at the Rurally Valley/New Mine
Area High School.”
“They've done some
tremendous work throughout the years. From maintaining the
Great Shamokin Path hiking and biking trail to completing
a fluvial geomorphology assessment and River Conservation
Plan to working with citizens within the watershed, this group
sets an example for others to follow."
– Nick Pinizzotto, Director, Western Pennsylvania
Conservancy’s Watershed Assistance Center
y visit with Pam spanned two days of trekking throughout both
the Cowanshannock Creek and Crooked Creek watersheds. These
watersheds border one another in Indiana and Armstrong Counties,
and cover some of the most beautiful rural countryside in Pennsylvania.
I’d have to say that after tooling about with Pam, and
visiting just a portion of the project sites they’ve got
under their belt that the word for the CCWA is ‘supercharged.’
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Fish Hatchery |
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long with this feature, I also wrote about my adventures in
the Crooked
Creek Watershed. Be sure to check it out!
nd just to top off the month of December, we’d also like
to congratulate Pam Meade for being named this month’s
Watershed Hero. Go to the Watershed Hero feature of the website
to learn more about Pam and what motivates her to be so active
in her community.
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For more information:
Cowanshannock
Creek Watershed
PO Box 307, Rural Valley, PA 16249
Armstrong
County Conservation District Office
Western
Pennsylvania Conservancy’s Watershed Assistance Center
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