Connoquenessing Creek Watershed Conservation Plan - Western ...

Connoquenessing Creek Watershed Conservation PlanOn page 3-2, Little Connoquenessing Creek is included in theMiddle Connoquenessing watershed discussion, but in Table3-1, it is included in the Lower Connoquenessing Creek.On page 3-3, the heading “Important Components of WaterQuality” should be “Important Components of WaterResources.” These components are not just for water quality,but also water quantity.Under “Important Components,” a brief discussion of thehydrologic cycle, including the relative amounts of water ineach part, would be appropriate. For Statewide, that can begotten in our Educational Series 3 booklet on the Geology ofPennsylvania’s Groundwater. There may be information morespecific to the watershed in our Water Resource Reports 35,36, and 39, which are groundwater summaries for Allegheny,Butler, and Beaver counties, respectively.Under “Important Components,” groundwater should be beforesurface water in the Water Resources section, because 1.)groundwater is the much larger resource (estimated 30 times asmuch groundwater as surface water) and 2). Groundwater isthe single largest source of surface water, probably 60 to 70percent of stream flow, not 50 percent as noted on page 3-5.Most surface water is basically where the water table intersectsthe land surface. The fact that groundwater and surface waterare a single resource and should NOT be considered separatelyin any planning is a crucial principal that is not understood bymany planners. This principal should be reiterated at everyopportunity, as you will see in later comments.In order to understand the groundwater system better, PAGeological Survey’s water well database (PaGWIS) provides alarge, spatially distributed source of water well data. Startingin June 2009, all records for new wells drilled in Pa willrequire coordinates determined by an approved method(preferably GPS), but most records currently in the system doNOT have accurate coordinates. We would like to work withlocal watershed groups in getting accurate locations for thesewells. We do not have sufficient staff in the water well section(one part-time person) to locate all of these hundreds ofthousands of wells statewide. It would be to everyone’s benefitto have accurate locations.Page 3-15, the definitions of perennial, intermittent, andephemeral should be on page 3-3 under “Streams and Rivers,”where it is explained that a surface water body is simply areflection of where the water table intersects the groundsurface. This is another reason why the surface water sectionshould be after the groundwater section. It helps to explain thatgroundwater and surface water are a single system, not twoseparate systems. While the benthic macroinvertebratecommunity is a good indicator for classifying streams asperennial, intermittent, or ephemeral in the absence of detailedwater table fluctuation data, the actual definition is based onUpdated and correctedChanged as suggestedHydrologic Cycle section was addedThe subheadings under “ImportantComponents” were rearranged accordingly;The percentage of groundwater contributionto surface streams was changed to 60–70percent; Comment on groundwater andsurface water being identified as a singleresource was clarified and incorporatedthroughout the plan in appropriate sectionsRecommendation addedChanged and clarified as suggestedAppendix J. Public Comments Page 8 of 12