Loyalsock Creek and Its Tributaries

Elaine Langone Center, Terrace Room

Loyalsock Creek is a 64-mile long (495 square mile basin size) tributary to the West Branch Susquehanna River. Although its headwaters are in Wyoming County, the creek mainly flows in Lycoming and Sullivan counties. The Loyalsock Creek was named by DCNR as PA River of the Year in 2018. There are 15 tributaries into Loyalsock Creek. In this pilot project on stream flow, data loggers were placed in five tributaries and one site on the main stem of the creek. Monitoring of the Loyalsock Creek tributaries allows comparison of water quality of streams feeding into Loyalsock Creek as well as comparison to the main branch. Through the use of level, temperature, and conductivity dataloggers, as well as water chemistry tests (nitrogen and phosphorus series, alkalinity, pH, turbidity, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen) and stream flow data, a sizable amount of data is collected. Tributaries running north to south that were examined were Ogdonia Creek, Plunketts Creek, Big Bear Creek, Little Bear Creek and Mill Creek (west). A site on the main stem below the confluence of Little Loyalsock at Forksville was also monitored. These data are also compared to USGS flow and depth data for Loyalsock Creek taken by a gauge in Loyalsockville. The loggers were deployed from August of 2017 to June of 2018. Level data is corrected after adjusting for barometric pressure also recorded by a logger at the Mill Creek site. Heavy rain this summer resulted in loss of several loggers after re-deployment.