The Conemaugh River is a long

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

of the

Kiskiminetas River The Kiskiminetas River (commonly referred to as the Kiski by locals) is a tributary of the Allegheny River, approximately long, in Western Pennsylvania in the United States. The region stretching from the northern side of Harmar Township, Pennsy ...

in Westmoreland,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

, and

Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity). It emerged later, in the medieval period, ...

counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. The name means 'Otter Creek', originating from the Unami-Lenape language word ''kwənəmuxkw'' 'otter'.

Course

The Conemaugh River is formed at Johnstown (site of the

Johnstown Flood The Johnstown Flood (locally, the Great Flood of 1889) occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsy ...

) in southwestern Cambria County by the confluence of the Little Conemaugh and Stonycreek rivers. It flows generally west–northwest, in a winding course through the mountains along the northern edge of Laurel Hill and Chestnut Ridge. Northwest of Blairsville it is joined by Blacklick Creek. At

Saltsburg Saltsburg is a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its location is in western Pennsylvania, in the southwestern corner of Indiana County near its border with Westmoreland County. The town was based on the construction of salt ...

it is joined from the south by Loyalhanna Creek to form the Kiskiminetas River. Along much of its lower course, the Conemaugh forms part of the boundary between Westmoreland and

counties.

Watershed

The Kiskiminetas-Conemaugh river basin flows through scenic mountainous country that forms the heart of the historic

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

-producing areas of western Pennsylvania. Before the Dam was constructed, the town of Livermore served the area between Blairsville and Saltsburg as an important stop along the former canal, as well as the railroad. The watershed is considered among the most degraded in the state, largely from abandoned mine drainages. The recovery of the river has been an important ongoing

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their biophysical environment, physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosy ...

management project of state and private agencies.

References

External links

U.S. Geological Survey: PA stream gaging stationsConemaugh Dam picturesSCRIP-river improvement projectConemaugh Valley Conservancy
{{authority control Rivers of Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Kiskiminetas River Rivers of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Cambria County, Pennsylvania

Course

Watershed

See also

References

External links