Streamwatch Project
East Branch of White Clay Creek: Site 25
Trout Run is a small tributary that enters the East Branch of White Clay Creek below the town of Avondale and its sewage treatment plant. This was the smallest stream sampled. Compared to other sampling locations in this study this site had the smallest forest area and the highest impervious surfaces (paved roads and parking lots made up 9% of the landscape) and developed open space in the watershed. As of 2000, there was a high number of people in this watershed compared to the other sites, with the density doubling within a 10-year period. Several mushroom operations have existed on Trout Run for many decades. DEP has reported diazinon and DDT (insecticides) in this stream (Boyer 1997).
Trout Run was only sampled in 2005. Three locations within ≈300 m reach were sampled and their averages were combined. It was the worst site in the study. Total Density was 40,700 individuals/m2 and EPT taxa made <0.1% of this total. Most (99%) of the taxa were oligochaetes (61 % of the total) and chironomid midges (38% of the total). Total Richness was only 4 taxa/200individuals. Pesticide contamination from the mushroom industry is a likely reason for present conditions, but other explanations have not been ruled out.
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Site number | 25 |
| Description | Trout Run, a tributary upstream of Site 18 near Route 41 in Avondale |
| Lat Long (hr min sec) | 39°49.280’ N, -75°46.897’ W |
| Land Use | |
| Watershed area above site (km2) | 3 |
| Population density in 2000 (#/km2) | 248 |
| % Population increase from 1990 to 2000 | 56 |
| Percent pasture/hay | 32 |
| Percent cultivated crops | 17 |
| Percent forest | 10 |
| Chemistry* | |
| Nitrate (mg/L) | n/a |
| Ammonium (mg/L) | n/a |
| Total Dissolved Phosphorus (mg/L) | n/a |
| Soluble Reactive Phosphorus (mg/L) | n/a |
| Sulfate (mg/L) | n/a |
| Alkalinity (as mg/L CaCO3) | n/a |
| pH | n/a |
| Conductivity (μmhos) | n/a |
| Dissolved organic carbon (mg/L) | n/a |
| Macroinvertebrate Data | |
| years sampled | 2005 |
| MAIS score | 0.4 |
| water quality based on MAIS score | poor |
 Click on macroinvertebrate name to view a photo | |
| 1st most abundant macroinvertebrate | Oligochaeta (aquatic worms) |
| 2nd most abundant macroinvertebrate | Chironomidae (midges) |
| 3rd most abundant macroinvertebrate | Simuliidae (black flies) |
| 4th most abundant macroinvertebrate | Empididae (dance flies) |
| 5th most abundant macroinvertebrate | Ephemerellidae (spiny crawler mayflies) |
*See Methods for number of years each chemistry variable was measured.