Yellow Creek- a lil green on the bottom

[westpaflyfisher]

Anyone notice the green "stuff" growing on the rocks recently at Yellow Creek ? It's been a while since I fished it but I don't remember there being any kind of green vegetation in the stream bed.

Anyone shed some light on this?

 

[McSneek]

Decaying leaf matter?

Fewer leaves on the trees. More sunlight penetrating to the stream bottom prompting an algae bloom of some sort?

 

[StarvinMarvin]

which stream, there are two?

 

[McSneek]

Since he is WestPA I assumed he meant YC in Bedford County.

 

[dryflyguy]

Actually, the YC in Indiana County is closer to western pa.
But the Bedford County YC is certainly more popular - and that would be my guess too

 

[Acristickid]

The last several years it's been running a lot lower flow. There is also a bigger freestone stream in Indiana PA.

 

[Fishidiot]

In threads like this, it is almost entirely pointless to proceed without specific information - not only with respect to which actual stream is in question (which is one reason we use counties in the Reports forum) but also about the issue or problem in question. Good, photos from different angles help too.

 

[westpaflyfisher]

yellow creek, Bedford County. I was no smart enough to get photos, I apologize.

 

[pcray1231]

I haven't noticed for that stream specifically.

But, FWIW, green streambottom growth is common and peaks in fall right after the leaves come off the trees but before it gets too cold, and again in the spring after the water warms some, but before the trees leaf out. It's about sunlight and temperature.

With the warm fall we've been having, it's probably worse this year than most.

It's generally the same "stuff" that forms that brown slimy layer on all the rocks in the later spring. It "blooms" green, the leaves come out and shade it, and it dies or goes dormant or whatever and turns brown.

 

[troutbert]

It is probably filamentous green algae.

 

[rrt]

It is probably due to manure run-off. The excess nitrates that the manure pumps into the stream causes this growth. Not far from Yellow Creek, the borough of Martinsburg had to install equipment to minimize this problem with its water supply. I suspect that this is the cause of the problem on YC, too.

Some ecologically conversant people believe this problem will eventually pollute the entire aquifer in the area. Already, a number of wells have been polluted due to excessive manure run-off.

Also, the hatches on several creeks appear to have been affected as well.

With the CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) in this central PA area, the problem is likely to worsen.

 

[JackM]

Thanks Debbie Downer!

 

[Fishidiot]

westpaflyfisher wrote:
yellow creek, Bedford County. I was no smart enough to get photos, I apologize.

Not a problem - no need to apologize. My comments were meant as general guidelines to our readership about situations involving streams. We often get threads describing problems on waterways - posted land, pollution, poaching, whatever - and requests for help or opinions. Nothing wrong with that - just that specific info is usually needed.

As others have pointed out, algae is prevalent this time of year and the relatively low flows can exacerbate this. And as also pointed out, sometimes such growth is also exacerbated by agricultural run-off which is prevalent in our central PA valley areas. I agree that filamentous algae is a likely culprit. It was heavy in the small river I was fishing today.

 

[Maurice]

Filamentous algae is more likely to be present in still or stagnant like ponds, lakes, or backwaters of larger rivers/streams.

Green algae blooms are are exacerbated by sunlight, true, and "leaf off" in spring and fall when water temps are still up over 50 increases the presence of algae but the main contributing factor to algae blooms in moving water is nutrient loading.

So I would bet the Manure is a bigger part of this than the leaves or sun.

 

[JackM]

Green algae does not constitute a "problem" If you are just wondering why, you have been given several options to choose from. Algae is food to aquatic insects and other non-insect forage and cover. A balance is best, but "out of balance" need not signal calamity.

 

[Maurice]

Oh yes it does.....

 

[laszlo]

Is the green growth just covering the rocks, or is it more of a plant (weed) looking growth?

 

[Chaz]

Green algae on a stream bottom can be caused by more sunlight reaching the stream bottom during the no leaf season of fall and spring. Streams are warm enough that algae will grow and the algae gets plenty of sunlight.
Drop the temperature it dies off, increase the shade on the stream, the algae dies off. But this doesn't mean this is happening in YC. It could be getting overloaded with nutrients. It is best to call DEP and report it.