First State of the Stream Report:
A Tool for French Creek Watershed Communities
by Todd Sampsell
Director, Northwest Conservation Programs
Comprehensive watershed assessments provide information on the health of streams, rivers and lakes. The French Creek Watershed, a priority project area for WPC, has undergone intense scrutiny over the past two years by WPC scientists to determine the condition of its water resources and how we residents can work to protect this valuable natural treasure. Partner organizations, including Edinboro University, The Nature Conservancy, French Creek Project and numerous volunteers have assisted in the study of French Creek. Our goal is to identify threats to the unique natural resources and biodiversity that the watershed holds and develop publicly supported solutions to dealing with those threats. The watershed assessment was funded in part through a Growing Greener grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The Western Pennsylvania Watershed Protection Program and Sansom-Eligator Foundation also provided funding. 
French Creek begins in southwest New York and flows through Erie, Crawford, Mercer and Venango counties before emptying into the Allegheny River at Franklin, Pa. French Creek’s watershed covers over 1200 square miles and is a diverse mixture of woodlots, agriculture and urban land uses. The threat of introduction of high levels of nutrients and sediment to this stream system prompted the recommendation in the French Creek Watershed Conservation Plan to assess these threats and develop strategies to work with the public to minimize them. Nutrient loading and streambed sedimentation threaten the over two-dozen freshwater mussel species and nearly 90 species of fish that call French Creek home.
As a first step in assessing the health of the French Creek watershed, WPC scientists initiated a watershed assessment in 2002 to document water quality conditions and prioritize areas in the watershed most impacted by pollution and improper land uses. The resulting 1st Annual State of the Stream Report on French Creek documents land use activities throughout the watershed, water quality tested at over 100 sites, aquatic insects sampled at 50 sites and used as indicators of pollution, and riparian and instream habitat conditions throughout the watershed. This information will allow WPC, French Creek Project, county conservation districts and other agencies to prioritize and focus funding to assist landowners in addressing sources of nutrients and sediment to French Creek. It is hoped that this information will be valuable in addressing pollution sources through cooperative means with landowners.
The next phase of WPC’s research efforts on French Creek include comprehensive inventories of freshwater mussels and fish throughout the watershed. This work began in 2003 and will continue for the next several years. The initial efforts are funded through a Pennsylvania State Wildlife Grant. Project partners include Edinboro University, Clarion University, The Nature Conservancy and French Creek Project. The current inventory work builds on information from the initial watershed assessment and incorporates information on instream and riparian habitat conditions, water quality, aquatic community health and surrounding land use. Results will be documented in the 2nd Annual State of the Stream Report in early 2005.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and our partners in conservation are better able to collaborate with our neighbors in the French Creek community when our efforts are guided by sound science. We are working with those partners to provide funding and support for farmers, landowners, and communities to take steps to minimize impacts to French Creek. Working together, we are achieving our mission of saving this place we care about by connecting people to French Creek’s natural wonders.
Recently, WPC received funding from the USFWS Private Stewardship Grant Program to assist landowners to implement conservation projects in the Muddy Creek watershed, a tributary of French Creek. As a new addition to our Northwest Conservation Staff, Curtis Stumpf, Watershed Resource Specialist, will work with our partners in the French Creek Project, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, and Crawford County Conservation District to collaborate with the Muddy Creek communities and assist landowners in wetland and streambank restoration, habitat improvement, and invasive species management.
