The Montour Run Watershed Association strives to improve the Montour Run Watershed through remediation, restoration and conservation activities.

 

MRWA seeks solutions to water quality issues in cooperation with private landowners, state and local governments, businesses and other organizations and individuals with an interest in the watershed.

 

 

Specific issues in the watershed include abandoned mine drainage, flooding, and erosion. A small, but dedicated group of volunteers, the Montour Run Watershed has earned a reputation with state, federal and local municipal, regulatory and funding agencies, as well as with other local watershed groups as an organization that takes a non-political common sense approach to finding solutions and obtaining results.

 

The MRWA has made significant strides towards the improvement of the water quality of the watershed through streambank stabilization projects and AMD treatment systems.

 

Over $1 million in grant funding has been secured for these projects, resulting in nearly 10 miles of stream water quality directly improved by the removal of nearly 40 tons/year of acidity and 10 tons/per year of metals. Indirect improvement throughout the watershed is possible by improved baseline conditions.

 

The Montour Run Watershed Association was incorporated in March of 2000, formalizing and extending the work of the Montour Valley Alliance. The Montour Valley Alliance was formed in 1995 under the direction of the Hollow Oak Land Trust. Shortly after its formation, the MVA retained the US Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, to conduct an in-depth study of water quality impairment and highlight opportunities for remediation.

 

The MRWA has partnered with numerous agencies and conducted the following projects:

 

--Water Quality and Aquatic Life Resources- The study published in 1997 for the Montour Valley Alliance, identified areas of significant water quality impairment and highlighted opportunities for remediation of many of the problems. Problems identified included water quality degradation attributable to drainage from deep and surface mines, runoff laden with deicing agents from the Pittsburgh International Airport, untreated sewage, development of large tracts of formally wooded areas, and urban runoff.

 

--River Conservation and Land-Use Planfor the Montour Run Watershed was developed. The watershed plan, which enabled the Montour Run Watershed to be listed on the Pennsylvania Rivers Conservation Registry of the Department of Conservation of Natural Resources, included recommended actions to protect aquatic, biological, land, cultural, educational, and recreational resources within the watershed. An early recommendation was that portions of the lower watershed, previously thought to be too polluted for a trout fishery, were able to be stocked by PA Fish and Boat Commission and has since become a popular fishing area.

 

--Attacking Abandoned Mine Drainagein the Montour Watershed community workshop (May 2000 in cooperation with the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation).

 

--Streambank Stabilizationof eroded streambank at various locations along Montour Run with rock, brush mats and shrub plantings, reducing sediment loads and improving the water quality (December 2000 in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Mining and Reclamation and 2006 with Duquesne Light, inc.).

 

--Abandoned Mine Drainage Cleanup Planwhich identified and prioritized treatment options for 12 abandoned discharges in the watershed. (Biomost, Inc., September 2003, funded by the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Program).

 

--PA Stream Signage Program, in cooperation with the Penns’ Corner Resource Conservation & Development Program, Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers, PA Growing Greener, and PENNDOT to place stream identification signs at three location in the watershed to raise public awareness of the stream and watershed issues.

 

--Americorps Stream Cleanup– MRWA facilitated the arrival of an Americorps crew in the watershed in the spring following Hurricane Ivan to conduct flood debris cleanup and removal of stream obstructions that would have contributed to localized flooding and stream erosion.

 

--Boggs Road Mine Drainage Remediation System, funded by DEP Growing Greener Program, US Dept of Interior, Imperial Land Corporation and BFI Landfill. This system is removing 3.5 tons per year of Iron and directly improving 2.5 miles of tributary stream as a result. Video Blog Story.

 

--Clinton Road Acid Mine Drainage Remediation System, funded by the Pennsylvania Growing Greener Program, Appalachian Clean Streams, and the Pittsburgh International Airport, and U.S. Filter Corporation. These two passive treatment systems improve about 3 miles of tributary stream and over 10 miles of the main stem of Montour Run by removing 20 tons per year of acid-producing materials and 2.5 tons per year of aluminum.

 

--North Fork Montour Run Restoration Project- Recently constructed system with Growing Greener funding and project partners including the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and Pittsburgh International Airport for construction of a passive treatment system on the North Fork of the Montour Run. This system is improving about 2 miles of the North Fork of Montour Run by removing 9.5 tons / year of acidity and 3 tons/year of metals.

 

--Act 167 Stormwater Management Plan Updates– Ongoing municipal coordination on the need for updated watershed-level stormwater plans reflective of current regulatory guidance and Montour watershed conditions.

 

--Fish Habitat Enhancement- Partnered with Forest Gove Sportsman’s Club and Fish and Boat Commission for the placement of habitat enhancement structures in trout stocked sections of the stream.