Rush 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 ...

Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Lackawanna County (; ) is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It had a population of 215,615 in 2022. Its county seat and most populous city is Scranton, Pennsylvania, Scranton. The c ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Greenfield Township, Scott Township, Carbondale Township, Mayfield, and Jermyn. The watershed of the stream has an area of . The stream is not considered to be impaired and all but its lower reaches are mostly undisturbed. However, Pennsylvania Route 107 is in its vicinity. The stream 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 ...

and flows through a water gap. It is a perennial stream. Lakes in the watershed of Rush Brook include Heart Lake and the Rush Brook Reservoir. The stream is the main source of flooding in the borough of Jermyn. A number of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s have been constructed across the stream. The drainage basin 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 a portion of the stream's length.

Course

Rush 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 ...

in Greenfield Township. It flows south for a short distance before turning southwest for a few tenths of a mile. The stream then turns south-southwest for several tenths of a mile, entering Scott Township and crossing Pennsylvania Route 107, which it begins to flow alongside. It eventually turns southeast for a few miles, entering Carbondale Township. In this reach, the stream enters 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 ...

through Cary Mountain and possibly another mountain and passes through the Rush Brook Reservoir. It continues flowing alongside Pennsylvania Route 107. Near the end of the water gap, it passes through Mayfield and enters Jermyn and continues flowing southeast for a short distance before crossing Pennsylvania Route 107 and US Route 6. It then turns east-southeast and flows through the streets of Jermyn alongside Pennsylvania Route 107. Several tenths of a mile further downstream, it reaches its confluence with the Lackawanna River. Rush Brook joins the Lackawanna River upriver of its mouth.

Tributaries

Rush Brook has no named tributaries. However, it does have a number of unnamed tributaries. These are known as "Unnamed trip 1", "Unnamed trib 2", and "Unnamed trib 3".

Hydrology

Rush Brook is not considered to be an impaired stream. It is also a

perennial stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large stream ...

. The peak annual discharge of Rush Brook has a 10 percent chance of reaching 840 cubic feet per second. It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 1780 cubic feet per second and a 1 percent chance of reaching 2360 cubic feet per second. The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 4600 cubic feet per second.

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 Rush 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 creek'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. Rush Brook begins on the

. It flows through a

known as the Rushbrook Gap. This water gap cuts through the Lackawanna Range. The headwaters of the creek are in a series of

s in Greenfield Township. It drains a number of small ponds, bogs, and wetlands. The corridor of Rush Brook is largely undisturbed, except for its lower reaches, which are in Jermyn. The stream flows alongside Pennsylvania Route 107 for a substantial portion of its length. There are a few homes and businesses on this highway, but they have little impact on the stream's channel. The impacts that do occur are likely at points where the stream crosses Pennsylvania Route 107 and where

stream bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

has been stabilized. From a spur of

US Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbered Highway System. While it ...

downstream to its mouth, Rush Brook's stream banks have been stabilized and/or channelized. They are stabilized 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 a 0.2-mile (0.3-kilometer) stretch of the stream near the residential part of Jermyn. As it enters the residential part of Jermyn, the stream flows through gabbion baskets and concrete

floodwall A floodwall is a freestanding, permanent, engineered structure designed to prevent encroachment of floodwaters. Floodwalls are mainly used on locations where space is scarce, such as cities or where building levees or dikes (dykes) would in ...

s. However, the streambed is not stabilized and consists of

cobbles Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct from a ...

and

boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

s. Backyards,

parking lot A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdi ...

s, and streets border the stream's corridor in this reach. Further streabank stabilization possibilities are being considered in Jermyn. Rush Brook was described as a "small brook" in the late 1800s. A

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

on the stream is on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's list of "dams of special concern", as of 2008.

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 Rush Brook has an area of . The stream is entirely within 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. Rush Brook is a

second-order Second-order may refer to: Mathematics * Second order approximation, an approximation that includes quadratic terms * Second-order arithmetic, an axiomatization allowing quantification of sets of numbers * Second-order differential equation, a d ...

stream. It is one of the major tributaries of the Lackawanna River.

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s in the watershed of Rush Brook include Heart Lake and the Rush Brook Reservoir. The latter is a former

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

reservoir. A

beaver dam A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers; it creates a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, alligators, cougars, foxes, eagles, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify th ...

is located at the inflow of the Rush Brook Reservoir and creates a wetland system. Rush Brook is the main source of

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 in the borough of Jermyn. However, there are no major flooding problems, according to the borough officials. However,

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 ...

and

sedimentation Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to th ...

can occur to some extent during periods of long or heavy rainfall. The only flooding damage caused by Rush Brook in Jermyn has been to adjacent lots and yards; no structures have been damaged.

History and recreation

Rush 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 1185636. Jermyn was formerly known as Rushdale, a name that is derived from Rush Brook. A

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

tee beam A T-beam (or tee beam), used in construction, is a load-bearing structure of reinforced concrete, wood or metal, with a capital 'T'-shaped cross section. The top of the T-shaped cross section serves as a flange or compression member in resisti ...

bridge carrying Lincoln Avenue over Rush Brook was constructed in 1930. It is long and is situated in Jermyn. 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 Pennsylvania Route 107 was constructed across the stream in 1931 and repaired in 1984. It is long and is situated in Scott Township. A steel truss bridge carrying US Route 6 over Pennsylvania Route 107 and Rush Brook was constructed in Mayfield in 1938 and repaired in 1986. This bridge is long. Another bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 107 was built across the stream in Mayfield. This bridge is long and was built in 1988. In the early 2000s, the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan recommended that Greenfield Township, Scott Township, Carbondale Township, Mayfield, and Jermyn include the protection of Rush Brook in their comprehensive plans, zoning plans, and other plans. The Department of General Services, Bureau of Engineering and Architecture once requested a permit to carry out a

flood protection Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

project, known as the Rush Brook Creek Project, in Jermyn. This project entailed removing

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 ...

s and stream enclosures along of the stream, constructing and maintaining of concrete walls, constructing and maintaining of stream channel, and other projects. The old

New York, Ontario and Western New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

rail line crosses Rush Brook. In the early 2000s, the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan proposed creating a pedestrian bridge along the rail line over the stream. The original

abutments An abutment is the Bridge#Structure types, substructure at the ends of a bridge Span (architecture), span or dam supporting its Bridge#Structure types, superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end that provide vertical and l ...

still remain at this site. The conservation plan also recommended allocating a tract of land at the stream's mouth for use as a

greenway Greenway or Greenways may refer to: * Greenway (landscape), a linear park focused on a trail or bike path * Another term for bicycle boulevards in some jurisdictions * European Greenways Association, an association for sustainable transport Peopl ...

linking to the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail. Rush Brook flows through Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 307. The area along the stream is the lowest point in these game lands.

Biology

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

naturally reproduce in the creek from the Rush Brook Reservoir downstream to its mouth, a distance of . In its upper reaches, Rush Brook tends to have a stable

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 ...

consisting of

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

trees and

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the Canopy (biology), forest ca ...

. However, there are a few disturbances to the riparian buffer. In its lower reaches, the stream is flanked by invasive vegetation, some of which even grows within the stream channel. In its last few hundred feet, the corridor is overgrown with successional vegetation.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Lackawanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania