STONYCREEK RIVER

The Stonycreek River has made a radical comeback from being a highly polluted stream to one that is net alkaline and now stocked with trout and bass in different sections.

The Stonycreek is 43 miles long, drains 466 square miles, and meets the Little Conemaugh River at Johnstown to form the Conemaugh River.

Many of its tributaries originate high on Allegheny Ridge to the east at elevations that reach 2,993 feet and on Laurel Ridge to the west with elevations that reach 2,908 feet. Elevation of "the Point" in Johnstown -- at the mouth of the Stonycreek River -- is 1135 feet, so it's little wonder that Johnstown has historically had problems with flooding. Population in the Stonycreek subbasin is about 87,000 people in Somerset and southern Cambria counties.

Headwaters and Upper Gorge

The Stonycreek River starts in Berlin, south of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. For the first nine miles, the stream flows through plateau pasture land with limited vegetative cover, so although part of the stream here is stocked with trout, the water gets too warm to be a good fishery.

Then the Stony takes its first plunge -- dropping about 500 feet in elevation over its next nine miles. This area, called the Upper Gorge, is by many estimates the best fishery in the Upper Kiski Basin. In years past, it suffered from mine drainage, but in recent years has been featured in national fishing magazines and books as one of the nation's best reclaimed fisheries. This area is stocked with fingerlings only, and has holdover trout up to 16 or 18 inches long.

STONYCREEK RIVER:

     AMD Study
     Fishery Study
     Places to Fish
     Headwaters/Gorge
          Wells Creek
          Lamberts Run
          Farm Runoff
     Stonycreek Canyon
         Oven Run Project
     Quemahoning Creek
          Jenners Project
          Boswell Project
     Shade Creek
          Site 16
          Small Shade Projects
     Paint Creek
     Bens Creek
          Rock Tunnel Project
           Hillman Mine Remdiation
     Lower Stonycreek

Some upper tributaries have had AMD problems that killed their fisheries and threatened the Stonycreek Gorge, but most of these problems are being addressed with the Wells Creek and Lamberts Run projects.

In addition, the Upper Stonycreek, Quemahoning Creek and other areas have had farm runoff problems that were addressed in part with an Agricultural Best Management Practices grant.

Stonycreek Canyon

Until about 1999, the trout fishery ended at Oven Run and Pokeytown Run four miles upstream of Hooversville. A partnership of federal, state and local groups developed the Oven Run Project, a $5 million effort to treat six separate discharge areas. The project was spearheaded by SCRIP, the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, PA Department of Environmental Protection, Somerset Conservation District, Congressman John Murtha and others. The first project was completed in 1995, and the last project was in construction in 2002. Even before all six sites were done, the fishery was extended about seven miles -- through Hooversville to the mouth of Shade Creek inside the Stonycreek Canyon. The project also greatly improved the public water supply in Hooversville, which gets it water from the river.

Stonycreek Canyon below Hollsopple is five miles long and one of the most continuous-pool rapids in the Eastern United States. It was the site of an Olympic whitewater qualifying race in 1972, and whitewater enthusiasts say it's a better run than the Youghiogheny River at Ohiopyle when it's high in the spring. Kayakers also run Shade Creek, Clear Shade and Dark Shade creeks, as well as Paint Creek, Bens Creek and Quemahoning Creek -- all Stonycreek tributaries close to the Canyon -- giving the area great potential for spring activity focused on whitewater.

Water quality in the Canyon has been tremendously improved because of the Oven Run project. It is now a fishery in the upper part of the Canyon down to the mouth of Shade Creek, the tributary with the largest load of mine-related pollution entering the Stonycreek. The Stonycreek has four main tributaries, three of which enter in the Canyon.

Quemahoning Creek

Quemahoning Creek drains 99 square miles and also enters the Stonycreek River in the Canyon. The Jenners AMD Project has been done and the Boswell AMD Project began construction in 2002 in the Que drainage. The first project restored water quality through a section of the stream that now is stocked by local sportsmen.

Quemahoning Reservoir is the second largest lake in the Kiski Basin, containing 12 billion gallons of water and covering 900 acres. It was recently acquired publicly from Bethlehem Steel Corp. and now is owned by the Cambria-Somerset Authority. It is used primarily as an industrial water supply, though some water is sold to the Greater Johnstown Water Authority for public consumption. As part of the sale, a conservation release was put in place and is improving water quality downstream in the Stonycreek. A proposal to release additional water on spring and summer weekends to support whitewater boating downstream in the Stonycreek Canyon is being studied.

Shade Creek

Shade Creek drains 98 square miles and has two main tributaries, Clear Shade and Dark Shade Creeks. Ironically, Clear Shade Creek runs through a state natural area on Allegheny Ridge and is one of the better trout streams in the region. But the worst single discharge in the entire Stonycreek subbasin is on Dark Shade Creek, known as Site 16 in Central City, which is a high priority for treatment.

SCRIP developed a conceptual plan for a major initiative to clean up Dark Shade and Shade Creeks. Then AMD&Art received a Brownfields grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to look at land re-use in addition to watershed restoration. Soon the Dark Shade Creek Watershed Association formed, and three small Dark Shade projects have been done in the stream's upper reaches.

As further work is done, Dark Shade and Shade Creek will become far more attractive for kayakers, and another big section of the Stonycreek Canyon will be restored with a potential direct economic impact from fishing and whitewater boating that could approach $1 million a year. Shade Creek flows through totally undeveloped area and has the highest flow of all Stonycreek tributaries, which would make it a great draw for whitewater enthusiasts. Shade and Dark Shade also could be excellent fisheries.

Paint Creek

A third significant tributary enters the Stonycreek River in the Canyon: Paint Creek carries the second-highest load of pollution into the river. Paint Creek drains about 37 square miles and flows through Windber. It has some beautiful waterfalls and in the 1860s through 1900s attracted a Pittsburgh-based group of artists called the Scalp Level Painters headed by George Hetzel. Park and recreation development in the Canyon is being explored, including the possibility of redeveloping a site that the City of Johnstown operated in the 1930s known as Carpenter's Park and extending the Jim Mayer Trail out from Johnstown.

Bens Creek

Bens Creek drains 42 square miles and enters the Stonycreek just above Ferndale and the City of Johnstown. It is a productive trout fishery and is the site of SCRIP's first mine-drainage project -- the Rock Tunnel or Hillman Mine Project, which was rebuilt in 2002. The 70-mile Laurel Ridge Trail follows the dividing line between the drainage of Bens Creek and Quemahoning Creek to the east, and Loyalhanna Creek to the west.

Lower Stonycreek

Below the Canyon, the river flattens out as it flows under Route 219 McNally Bridge and past Greenhouse Park, where pavilions and recreation facilities are being developed after a flood-prone greenhouse was enticed to relocate. In addition, Bens Creek Canoe and Kayak Club has proposed to place boulders in the rock near this park to create a short stream section that would enable kayakers to play in even when the water level is low.

The lower Stonycreek quality is poor due to Shade and Paint Creeks upstream, but it improves substantially with the addition of Bens Creek.

Since completion of the Oven Run Project, the Stonycreek below the mouth of Bens Creek has made a dramatic recovery and now is a recovered fishery. SCRIP joined sportsmen's groups in stocking the area with Largemouth Bass and Rock Bass, and now the Fish & Boat Commission is stocking bass here. The commission elected to stock bass rather than trout because the water in this area gets too warm to be ideal for trout. Nonetheless, fishermen have been catching trout that may at times run up Bens Creek if the water gets too warm.

In the City of Johnstown, the Stonycreek passes through a heavily urbanized area, a steel mill and other industry. In addition, the stream has been channelized by the Army Corps of Engineers to reduce flooding.

Two short trails in the lower Stonycreek are the Jim Mayer Riverswalk Trail near Johnstown, a rail-trail, and the Sculpture Trail on the hillside next to the Johnstown Inclined Plane -- the world's steepest vehicular inclined plane built to open an area above Johnstown's flood plain for residential development after the 1889 flood. The Jim Mayer Trail should eventually connect to downtown Johnstown. It was recently extended upstream to Benscreek, and plans are under way to extend it to the new Greenhouse Park, which has picnicking and, under development, a mountain bike trail and the whitewater park.

SCRIP Contact List:
SCRIP
PO Box 153
Johnstown PA 15907-0153
cccd@co.cambria.pa.us
somersetcd@wpia.net
scrip@pa-conservation.org