Saucon Creek, Northampton County, 8/30/2011

[troutbert]

Mike wrote:

If you look around, you may also find an advancing wave of gravel, sand, and other loose, eroded material that will completely bury the natural stream bottom like an advancing gravel/sand glacier. This is typical in some streams like the Saucon that are constantly battered by stormwater runoff. Codorus went through that phase and may still be doing so for all I know. What you are seeing on the Saucon and what has occurred on Valley Ck is what most people call the unintended result of "progress."

Good description of "Urban Stream Syndrome." I've seen the same thing on many urban streams. All that gravel that buries the cobble-size rocks, where does it come from?

My theory is that it's coming from gravel driveways. Every time it rains hard the water carries the gravel from the driveways down the streets, into the storm drains, and down to the creeks.

Also, many paved roads have gravel berms.

If they spread gravel in the winter when it snows, that may add to the gravel loading of the streams too.

 

[Maurice]

By and large it comes from soils eroded from stream banks. The soil separates from the pebbles and flushes out and settles in areas further off the current. Sedimentation and bedload deposits distribute themselves according to stream velocities during rising and settling of flood events.

Gravel driveways typically are crushed limestone and angular in shape. Smaller particle gravel deposits typically have smooth surfaces because the were likely bedload deposits themselves in floodplains where channels had been straightened or modified during progress decades ago. Poor bank grading and intentional entrenchment causes streams to recreate a stream length more suitable for storage when they cannot access the floodplain. The result is the excavation of stream banks by high velocity flows.

 

[1wt]

Maurice,
Last year when I mentioned that Muddy Creek FFO was getting too shallow and some silt showing up on the bottom, you went berserk and called me a "piece of work"
Others on here said that I was too lazy to fish the better areas, and only fished by the hemlocks because it was easy walking!!! LOL
Things are changing with all the Muddy Creeks....... I'm so glad that you are starting to see that!!! All it needs is a little rock work on the sides from TU! You are a TU sponsor.......why won't you see what they will do?

Also..... a few years ago, I mentioned that the Susquehanna was going downhill fast for us fly guys. I used a different screen name then, but you still had the same attack mode with me!!
How did ya do a couple weeks ago at Wrightsville??

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
The scrubbed appearance is because the rocks rolled along with the high water, crushing most macros attached to them and in their path and grinding off the diatoms. Additionally, the surface rocks were replaced with those from beneath the surface from upstream locations or by being released from the eroding stream banks. The loose feeling to the rocks under foot is also an indication that they have not "settled in" yet. If you look around, you may also find an advancing wave of gravel, sand, and other loose, eroded material that will completely bury the natural stream bottom like an advancing gravel/sand glacier. This is typical in some streams like the Saucon that are constantly battered by stormwater runoff. Codorus went through that phase and may still be doing so for all I know. What you are seeing on the Saucon and what has occurred on Valley Ck is what most people call the unintended result of "progress."

I agree, it is amazing how Valley changes after high flows like the shifting sands in a desert.