PA Environment Digest

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission Thursday released a data report on existing or baseline water quality conditions in small watersheds in the Marcellus shale region of the Susquehanna River Basin.

Prior to 2010 when SRBC began collecting the data through its state-of-the-art Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network, little to no water quality data existed for many smaller streams in northern Pennsylvania and southern tier New York.

SRBC’s data report lets people know what the “current” conditions are within the first 37 of 51 watersheds that SRBC is monitoring through the RWQMN.

“One of the objectives of the RWQMN is to determine if natural gas development and or other activities are causing adverse impacts on water quality,” said SRBC executive director Paul Swartz. “As with any rigorous, data-based monitoring effort, this is not a short-term process, and so we have been letting the science dictate our schedule.”

Swartz said, “By letting the scientific process play out, we now have good, solid baseline water quality data on 37 of the 51 monitoring stations. As a result, if water quality conditions change in the future, the comparative data will help us determine if the changes are within normal ranges or likely caused by pollution-events related to natural gas drilling or other activities.”

The data report outlines the process SRBC used for grouping like watersheds into ecoregions and determining what natural settings and/or man-induced activities can affect particular streams in terms of the water quality parameters SRBC is tracking.

Each RWQMN station is equipped with sensors that can continuously detect subtle changes in water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, conductance (ability to conduct electricity, which typically increases as levels of dissolved solids increase) and turbidity (water clarity). Each station is also recording water depth to establish a relationship with streamflows.

The parameters of primary interest in areas of natural gas drilling are conductance and turbidity since they are most likely to rise if local streams are being impacted by associated activities. SRBC also periodically collects on-site samples for more than 20 other parameters for lab analysis.

Of the 37 watersheds covered in this data report, SRBC has determined that six of them will require more in-depth analysis due to anomalies in certain data results, including elevated pH readings at two stations and conductance spikes at two stations.

Those watersheds – listed on page 12 of the report – are Blockhouse Creek in Lycoming and Tioga Counties, Kitchen Creek in Luzerne and Sullivan Counties, Trout Run in Clearfield County, Meshoppen Creek in Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties, Starrucca Creek in Susquehanna and Wayne Counties, and Bobs Creek in Blair and Bedford Counties.

In addition to studying the six watersheds in greater detail, the next steps for SRBC are to analyze the baseline data for the remaining 14 RWQMN stations in Pennsylvania and to issue a future report that will include findings and conclusions if changes in water quality conditions are observed.

SRBC’s overarching objective of the RWQMN is to apply good science to track changes in water quality conditions over time and to allow for timely responses in the case of pollution events. Other objectives are to reduce the cost of data collection by using advanced technologies, enhance water supply protection through source water monitoring and be responsive to public concerns.

The water quality parameters are measured at 5-minute intervals and transmitted to SRBC headquarters in Harrisburg every 2 to 4 hours. The raw, unadjusted data are then made available to the public online. A user-friendly map, graphs and charts are key features for viewing and understanding the data.

A copy of the report is available online. A Question/Answer fact sheet on the monitoring network is also available.

Share this: