PROJECTS:
Watershed Improvements
Fourmile Creek Stream Improvements
Fourmile Creek is a stream on the east side of the Erie urban area which flows through the municipalities of Greene, Harborcreek, Wesleyville, and Lawrence Park. From its headwaters to its mouth, this stream reaches approximately eight miles in length. Its watershed is calculated to encompass 11.93 square miles and includes densely developed area from Route 5 southward to 38th Street. From that point southward, the Fourmile Creek watershed becomes much more rural in character.
The Pennsylvania-Lake Erie Watershed Association (PLEWA) has recently completed a Strategic Action Plan for Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie drainage basin which ranks water quality in 22 streams flowing into Lake Erie. Fourmile Creek is ranked as having the 4th lowest quality of these streams. The report goes on to say that Fourmile has slightly degraded or poor conditions in its lower reaches, however the benthic macroinvertebrate communities in its upper reaches are in good condition due largely to the fact that there is little or no nonpoint source pollution problems there.
With this diagnosis in mind, a PLEWA subcommittee for Fourmile Creek has been working to improve various characteristics of this stream. Sea Grant is one of the groups represented on this subcommittee and has been instrumental in addressing the following list of projects within Fourmile Creek that support water quality improvements and removal of impediments to fish passage:
- Penn State Behrend Erosion Control, Harborcreek Township
- Removal of Impediments to Fish Passage, Lawrence Park Township
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