March 2 meeting addresses concerns about groundwater, ripple effect

DEP hydrogeologist Mark Stephens, right, speaks with Lucy Heggenstaller, a member of the Sugar Valley Watershed Association, at a recent DEP gathering. Stephens will be one of two experts sharing at the March 2 watershed meeting in Clinton County.

The rustic country beauty was hard to ignore while traveling along Route 880 near Loganton, PA, earlier this week.
Small farms surrounded by large, well-kept fields and swaths of diverse woodlot habitat made this region seem, on the surface, like many rural regions of the state.
However, there is growing concern about the groundwater within the Sugar Valley Watershed, and a meeting on Monday, March 2, will investigate some of the potential issues impacting the region and the renowned angler-friendly Big Fishing Creek that runs through it on its way toward the Tylersville trout hatchery.

The 7 p.m. meeting, hosted by the Sugar Valley Watershed Association at the Trinity Church along Campground Road near Greenburr, will look at the region's groundwater situation through the lens of two experts.
Hydrogeologist Mark Stephens, of the Department of Environment Protection, and John Clune, a hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey, will talk about aquifers in the region that have a direct impact on residential wells, public water systems and industrial needs. Among the concerns is how much local groups pull from the underground aquifers and what long-term impact that may have.
The discussion will include the water quality of the Big Fishing Creek and a joint venture underway to create a watershed implementation plan for the waterway.
The watershed association will conclude the meeting with an election of officers for the next term.
While the meeting is focused on the groundwater in this rural Clinton County community -- the impacts of any potential issues here can have a ripple effect throughout the greater Susquehanna watershed, especially when factoring in the proximity of the Tylersville trout hatchery, a main source of stocked trout throughout the tributaries of the Middle Susquehanna region. After the Tylersville hatchery, the creek flows through the Lamar narrows and eventually empties into the Susquehanna River's West Branch.
For more information on the meeting, visit the Friends of a Livable Sugar Valley Facebook page by clicking here.