Fall Brook is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...

of the

Lackawanna River The Lackawanna River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of t ...

in Susquehanna County and

Lackawanna County Lackawanna County (; ) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It had a population of 215,615 in 2022. Its county seat and most populous city is Scranton. The county is part of the Northeast region of the commonwealth. The county was ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Clifford Township in Susquehanna County and Fell Township, Carbondale Township, and Carbondale in Lackawanna County. The watershed of the stream has an area of , making it one of the largest tributaries of the Lackwanna River. It is not designated as impaired, but does experience flow loss. The stream begins on the Allegheny Plateau and passes through the Fall Brook Gap. It also flows over the Fall Brook Falls, which are high. Fall Brook is situated within the

Coal Region The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite, anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons. The region is typically defined ...

. The upper reaches of the watershed of Fall Brook are mainly forested. However, some disturbed land is in the watershed's lower reaches. Lakes in the watershed include Fall Brook Lake. A number of sawmills were built along the stream in the 19th century and a number of bridges were constructed across it in the 20th century. Projects such as channelization and riprapping have been done on reaches of the stream in the second half of the 20th century. Fall Brook is a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. Wild trout naturally reproduce within it.

Course

Fall Brook begins in a

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

near Birchtown in Clifford Township, Susquehanna County. It flows south-southwest for a few tenths of a mile before crossing Pennsylvania Route 247 and turning south. The stream then turns south-southwest again for several tenths of a mile, receiving an unnamed tributary from the

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

and exiting Clifford Township and Susquehanna County. Upon exiting Susquehanna County, Fall Brook enters Fell Township, Lackawanna County. It continues south-southwest for more than a mile, passing through another wetland and receiving several more unnamed tributaries: three from the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

and one from the right. The stream then turns south-southeast for several hundred feet before turning south-southwest again. After more than a mile, it turns southeast for a short distance and receives another unnamed tributary from the right before turning east-northeast. For the next several tenths of a mile, the stream flows east-northeast alongside Pennsylvania Route 106. The stream then turns east-southeast, entering a

water gap A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a pract ...

and passing through Fall Brook Lake. After several tenths of a mile, it begins meandering south through the water gap for more than a mile, crossing Pennsylvania Route 106 several times. At the southern end of the water gap, it turns south and very briefly passes through Carbondale Township before entering Carbondale. A few tenths of a mile further downstream, the stream turns south-southeast. After several tenths of a mile, it turns south-southwest and receives an unnamed tributary from the right. The stream then turns south and reaches its confluence with the Lackawanna River. Fall Brook joins the Lackawanna River upriver of its mouth.

Tributaries

Fall Brook has no officially named tributaries. However, it has a number of unofficially named tributaries. These include "Mountain Mud Pond Run", "Sandy Banks Run", "Unnamed trib 1", "Unnamed trib 2", "Finch Hill Run", "Crystal Lake Creek", and "Unnamed trib 3".

Hydrology

Fall Brook is not designated as an impaired stream. However, the stream experiences flow loss to underground mine pools in Carbondale. The flow loss is caused by past deep mining and

surface mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in whic ...

. In the summertime, reaches of the stream are completely dry in low flow conditions. Additionally, the lower reaches were affected by

acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines and coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weatherin ...

as of the early 1990s. Around this time, the pH was found to be 6.9. At its mouth, the peak annual discharge of Fall Brook has a 10 percent chance of reaching per second. It has a 2 percent chance of reaching per second and a 1 percent chance of reaching per second. The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching per second. In the early 1900s, waste water from Murrins Colliery was discharged into Fall Brook. However, most of the stream's length was fairly clear at that time, despite having one culm deposit in its vicinity. The city of Carbondale has had an NPDES permit to discharge

stormwater Stormwater, also written storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed lan ...

into Fall Brook.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

of Fall Brook is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The elevation of the stream's

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...

is between above sea level. Fall Brook begins on the

Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau ( ) is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divided into the unglacia ...

. It passes through a

known as the Fall Brook Gap, which cuts through West Mountain (also known as the Lackawanna Range). The Fall Brook Falls are on Fall Brook in the Fall Brook Gap in Carbondale Township. These falls are the largest

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

in the Lackawanna River watershed, with a height of . Additionally, the Fall Brook Glade is in the stream's watershed in Fell Township. Up to downstream of the Fall Brook Falls, steep slopes with drops of are present. Various groundwater seeps and ponds feed into the stream from Greenfield Township and Carbondale Township. Fall Brook flows through an artificial

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

lined with

riprap Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...

in some reaches. The stream enters

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

-bearing rock formations at the Fall Brook Falls, approximately above sea level. The stream is in the

anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a lustre (mineralogy)#Submetallic lustre, submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy densit ...

. Its substrate mainly consists of boulders and

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

deposits from historic mining operations.

Watershed

The

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

of Fall Brook has an area of . The mouth of the stream is in the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

quadrangle of Carbondale. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Clifford. Not counting the East Branch Lackawanna River and the West Branch Lackawanna River, Fall Brook is the fifth-largest tributary of the Lackawanna River. Most of the watershed is in Fell Township, Lackawanna County and Greenfield Township, Lackawanna County. Smaller areas of the watershed are in Carbondale Township, Lackawanna County; Carbondale, Lackawanna County; and Clifford Township, Susquehanna County. The upper reaches of the watershed of Fall Brook are mainly

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

ed. However, there are also open fields,

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

s, residential land, and

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

s in this reach of the watershed. The Fall Brook Reservoir is located in the middle reaches of the watershed, near Pennsylvania Route 106. It is owned by Pennsylvania American Water. Before its creation, the lake was planned to have an area of and a volume of 1400 acre-feet. It was to have an

earth fill An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

dam with a length of and a height of . In its lower reaches, the stream flows through highly disturbed

strip mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...

land.

History

Fall Brook was entered into the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...

on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1174575. The first graveyard in the area of Fell Township was built near Fall Brook. Additionally, the first

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

in Fell Township was built on Fall Brook in 1824 by George Reynolds. The mill, which was in the southwestern part of the township, was destroyed by

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing, but later rebuilt. Several sawmills were later built along the stream as well, but in 1862, they were destroyed in a dam failure. The Sunrise Colliery, which was owned by the Sunrise Coal Company, historically operated on Fall Brook northwest of Carbondale. The

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...

drained into the stream. A prestressed

box beam A box girder or tubular girder (or box beam) is a girder that forms an enclosed tube with multiple walls, as opposed to an - or H-beam. Originally constructed of wrought iron joined by riveting, they are now made of rolled or welded steel, alu ...

or girders bridge carrying T570B was constructed across Fall Brook in 1956. It is long and is situated in Fell Township. A concrete

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 106 over the stream was built in 1959. This bridge is long and is also in Fell Township. A prestressed box beam or girders bridge carrying the same highway across the stream in Fell Township was built in 1959 and repaired in 2007. This bridge is long. Another bridge of the same type and carrying that highway was built over the stream in 1959 in the same township and repaired in 2007. This bridge is long. A concrete culvert bridge carrying State Route 1009 was built across the stream in 1962. This bridge is also in Fell Township and is long. A prestressed box beam or girders bridge was built over the stream in Carbondale in 1984 and repaired in 1992. This bridge is long and carries State Route 6006. Channelization work was done on of Fall Brook in Carbondale by the

United States Bureau of Mines The United States Bureau of Mines (USBM) was the primary Federal government of the United States, United States government agency in the 20th century that conducted scientific research and disseminated information on the extraction, processing ...

in 1965. In the 1960s and 1970s, Fall Brook and one of its tributaries were relocated to help with the Carbondale mine fire project. In the 1980s, a reach of the stream near the Carbondale High School was riprapped to counter

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

. By the early 2000s, a

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

project had been proposed to alleviate flow loss in the stream.

Biology

The drainage basin of Fall Brook is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. Wild

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

naturally reproduce in the stream from its headwaters downstream to Fall Brook Lake, a distance of approximately . However, in a February 1992 field survey, the stream was found to be devoid of finned fish, despite having conditions that could support them. There is a successional

riparian buffer A riparian buffer or stream buffer is a vegetated area (a " buffer strip") near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent land uses. It plays a key role in increasing water quality ...

on Fall Brook in Carbondale. However, due to soil conditions, there are no large trees in this riparian buffer.

Recreation

In the early 2000s, the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan recommended constructing a greenway and/or connecting trail along Fall Brook. Such a trail would be known as the Fallbrook Trail. A greenway along the stream's corridor could link Carbondale to the Merli-Sarnoski Park and possibly the watershed of Tunkhannock Creek. In 2015, the trout fishing season for Fall Brook in Susquehanna County opened on April 18.

References

External links

Image of the Fall Brook Falls
{{authority control Rivers of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Lackawanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania