Sterry Creek (also known as Storrs Creek) 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 Jessup and Olyphant. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek is impaired by flow and habitat alterations along with flow loss. The O'Conner Dam is on Sterry Creek and impounds a six-acre reservoir. The creek is a major source of flooding in the borough of Jessup. It is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery.

Course

Sterry Creek begins on a mountain in Jessup. It flows west for a short distance before turning northwest for a few tenths of a mile. The creek then turns southwest and enters the O'Conner Reservoir. From the northwestern corner of the reservoir, it turns west-northwest for a few tenths of a mile. The creek then turns west-southwest for several tenths of a mile, crossing

Pennsylvania Route 247 Pennsylvania Route 247 (PA 247) is a state highway located in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Susquehanna, and Wayne County, Pennsylvania, Wayne counties in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is ...

, receiving an unnamed tributary from the

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, and entering Olyphant. In Olyphant, it turns north-northwest for several tenths of a mile and crosses

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 ...

before turning northeast and reentering Jessup. The creek then turns north-northwest again and reenters Olyphant, where it turns north-northwest again for several tenths of a mile and reenters Jessup. In Jessup, it turns due west for a few tenths of a mile before turning north-northwest for a few hundred feet and reaching its confluence with the Lackawanna River. Sterry Creek joins the Lackawanna River upriver of its mouth.

Hydrology

Sterry Creek experiences total flow loss. It begins to lose flow by the time it reaches the Mid Valley Industrial Park. There are also deposits of culm and

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

from mining operations along the creek's banks and

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

. Sterry Creek is considered to be an impaired stream. The cause of the impairment is flow alterations and habitat alterations. The likely source of the impairment is

abandoned mine drainage Abandoned mine drainage (also known as AMD) is a form of water pollution involving water that has been polluted by contact with mines, typically coal mines. Although it is sometimes called "acid mine drainage", not all abandoned mine drainage is ...

. The peak annual discharge of Sterry Creek at its mouth has a 10 percent chance of reaching 320 cubic feet per second. It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 380 cubic feet per second and a 1 percent chance of reaching 410 cubic feet per second. The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 460 cubic feet per second. The peak annual discharge of Sterry Creek at a ponding area upstream of the

Delaware and Hudson Railroad The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP, which would it ...

crossing has a 10 percent chance of reaching 560 cubic feet per second and a 2 percent chance of reaching 560 cubic feet per second. It has a 1 percent chance of reaching 1490 cubic feet per second and a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 2640 cubic feet per second. Approximately upstream of Lane Street, the peak annual discharge has a 10 percent chance of reaching 410 cubic feet per second. It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 890 cubic feet per second and a 1 percent chance of reaching 1220 cubic feet per second. The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 2480 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 Sterry Creek 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

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is between above sea level. The headwaters of Sterry Creek are in the vicinity of the Valley View Business Park and the Moosic Mountain ridgetop barrens. It is impacted by abandoned mines by the time it reaches the

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 ...

under

. From

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its river mouth, mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometre, kilometers is the river kilometer. They are an ...

3.5 downstream to its mouth, most of its length is impacted by abandoned mines. One reach of the creek is in a concrete U-channel. The creek lacks any

riffle A riffle is a shallow landform in a flowing channel. Colloquially, it is a shallow place in a river where water flows quickly past rocks. However, in geology a riffle has specific characteristics. Topographic, sedimentary and hydraulic indica ...

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

systems and is highly disturbed by coal fines and

. Sterry Creek receives runoff from hills to its east. Water from culm banks also drains into the creek, carrying

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 ...

with it. Part of the

Moosic Mountains The Moosic Mountains is a mountain range in Northeastern Pennsylvania that stretches from Scranton to Mount Pleasant Township, a distance of roughly 32 miles. The high point of the range is in Jefferson Township, at an elevation of above se ...

are in the eastern part of the creek's watershed. The O'Conner Dam is in the watershed of Sterry Creek in Jessup. This dam is in the creek's upper reaches and impounds a

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 with an area of . In the early 1900s, several

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

s were in the watershed.

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 Sterry Creek has an area of . The creek 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 Olyphant. The watershed is in the eastern part of the Lackawanna River watershed. It occupies parts of three municipalities: the boroughs of Jessup and Olyphant and Jefferson Township. Sterry Creek is a large first-order stream. The creek is one major 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 Jessup. Debris gathering at culverts on the creek causes it to back of and flood nearby properties and basements. The creek is a "mostly quiet stream" that is usually "little more than a trickle". However, once every ten years, it overflows its banks and damages nearby properties. Development in the watershed's upper reaches may impact the creek. As of the late 20th century, approximately 10 percent of the watershed of Sterry Creek consists of residential development. Much of this was near the Lackawanna River. More than half of the watershed contained

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 land.

History and recreation

Sterry Creek 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 1199619. The creek is also known as Storrs Creek. This name appears in Patton's Philadelphia and Suburbs Street and Road Map, which was published in 1984. A channelization project was carried out on of Sterry Creek by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources in 1990 in Jessup. Sterry Creek was given a stream ranking of "Low" in the Lackawanna Valley Industrial Highway Project's Environmental Impact Statement in 1992. In the early 2000s, 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 ...

conservation and recreation area along Sterry Creek was proposed in the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan. The conservation plan also recommended that the boroughs of Olyphant and Jessup include protection of the creek in their zoning plans. Additionally, the creek was on the Watershed Restoration Priority List of the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan. The

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT ...

is studying the creek to investigate flooding problems. The study is slated to be complete in June 2015.

Biology

The drainage basin of Sterry Creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. As of the early 1990s, it contains no

macroinvertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum V ...

s or

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

. Sterry Creek was described as a "low-quality" aquatic resource in a 1992

Environmental Impact Statement An environmental impact statement (EIS), under United States environmental law, is a document required by the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for certain actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment". An E ...

References

External links

Google Street View image of Sterry Creek
{{authority control Rivers of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Rivers of Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Lackawanna River