When it comes to streams, size doesn’t matter

By Nick Spinelli

A few years ago I was talking about the Delaware River with a group of young campers when a particularly intuitive camper asked where the river started. Without batting an eye I replied, “Hancock, New York.” But continuing with my talk, I realized the answer is much more complex than one geographical location.

Few of us are aware that Pennsylvania is second only to Alaska in number of stream miles. Pike County alone holds over 1,750 of Pennsylvania’s 83,000-plus stream miles. Of these, an estimated 80 percent are “headwater” streams. More often having a width measured in inches rather than feet, a headwater stream drains a relatively small area and may only flow during wetter times of the year. In Pennsylvania, activities that encroach on even the smallest of streams are regulated, and despite the lack of perennial flow in some of these reaches, they should be treated as any typical larger stream. It’s in these sinuous brooks and tiny rivulets that our rivers are born, and it’s here we need to pay special attention in our efforts to protect them.

The size of these small tributaries in no way dictates the extent of their influence. Their contributions are anything but minor and their condition greatly influences the quality of downstream waters. If intact, these streams provide numerous services to the natural world and humans alike. Along with associated small wetlands, these streams have the ability to provide natural flood control, recharge groundwater supplies, trap and filter pollutants, process nutrients, and provide nutrition and habitat for hundreds of plant and animal species. When disturbed, however, the benefits and services provided by these streams are greatly reduced or eliminated entirely. For example, headwater streams provide for extensive interaction between surface and ground water sources. This allows for infiltration of surface water and recharge of aquifers. The microbial communities and geological materials existing in the stream beds and banks are thereby enabled to process and filter this water as it’s exchanged. When a headwater stream is rerouted, filled, re-graded, or piped, there are significant reductions in natural processes resulting in negative impacts to water quality. Land-use changes including development, resource extraction and agriculture in our headwater regions are the main culprits, ultimately leading to degraded water quality in downstream aquifers, rivers and lakes. In River Reporter country, approximately 60 to 80 percent of the water flowing in streams is provided by groundwater. The overwhelming majority of us enjoy the luxury of withdrawing our drinking water directly from ground water aquifers without the need for treatment. It’s therefore paramount to protect our surface and ground water resources as one and the same.

These consumptive uses are not the only reason to protect our headwater streams and their environments. The tiny streams, expansive forestlands and rolling fields of the Upper Delaware River region are what make it such a wonderful and beautiful place to live, work and recreate. It is, indeed, our duty as stewards of the environment and good neighbors to maintain our watercourses in a way that guarantees their endurance for centuries to come. Remember, we all live downstream.

(Nick Spinelli is the Watershed Specialist at the Pike County Conservation District. A lifelong resident of the area and an outdoor enthusiast, Nick can often be found paddling the Upper Delaware River in search of new and exciting things.)