Stream Redesignation Evaluation Report
Water Quality Standards Review

Crum Creek
Chester and Delaware Counties

Segment: Basin, From Source to Springton Reservoir
Drainage list: G
Stream code: 00692

Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Section (DSB)
Division of Water Quality Assessment And Standards
Bureau of Water Supply and Wastewater Management
Department of Environmental Protection
January 2001
Revised October 2002

GENERAL WATERSHED DESCRIPTION

Crum Creek flows through Chester and Delaware Counties and is a tributary to the Delaware River (Figure 1). Only the portion of the basin upstream of the Springton (Geist) Reservoir was the subject of this evaluation. This candidate basin covers an area of 11.6 square miles and contains 35.5 stream miles. It is located in Easttown and Willistown Townships and Malvern Borough in Chester County and Edgemont and Newtown Townships in Delaware County. The Crum Creek basin currently has the protected water use designation of High Quality-Cold Water Fishes (HQ-CWF) from the source to the junction of the Newtown, Edgemont, and Willistown Township borders and Cold Water Fishes (CWF) from there to the Springton Reservoir. As a result of a petition submitted by the Willistown Conservation Trust, the candidate basin was evaluated for redesignation as Exceptional Value Waters (EV). This report is based on field surveys conducted in May and December of 2000.

Land use in the candidate basin is mostly a mixture of low density residential and pasture with a limited amount of second growth hardwood forest. The northern portion of the basin contains the boroughs of Green Tree and Malvern. State Route 3 traverses the lower portion of the watershed.

WATER QUALITY AND USES

Surface Water
No long-term water quality data were available to allow a direct comparison to water quality criteria. Grab samples were collected at 6 stations in the Crum Creek basin during the December 2000 survey (Table 1 & Table 2). These samples indicated that water quality was generally good; however, the instantaneous nature of grab samples precludes a direct comparison to applicable water quality criteria. The indigenous aquatic community is a better indicator of long-term conditions than one-time grab samples and is used as a measure of ecological significance.

There are no surface water withdrawals for public water supply in the candidate basin. Four NPDES permitted discharges are located in this watershed (#'s: PA00 - 51667, 51659, 55051, and 55034). These are all single-family residences with permitted discharges under 400 gallons/day (gpd). In addition a permit has been issued to Joyfor Joint Venture (PA0057924) for a discharge into Unnamed Tributary 00716 (Figure 1) with a permitted flow of 50,000 gpd. This facility had not been constructed at the time the field survey was conducted and this report was written.

Aquatic Biota:
Habitat assessment and biological sampling was conducted at 6 locations during the May 2000 survey. An evaluation of physical habitat assessments revealed that Station 2CC and reference Station R2 scored in the Optimal category while the rest of the stations received Suboptimal habitat scores for benthic macroinvertebrates and fish (Table 3). Habitat scores ranged from 167 to 198 for the Crum Creek stations. Low scoring parameters included lack of an adequate riparian zone, vegetative cover and disruptive pressure on the banks, and limited velocity/depth regimes. Station R2 scored somewhat higher than Station R1 mainly because of better bank and riparian zone conditions.

Benthic macroinvertebrate samples were collected at 6 stations (Table 4) using sampling techniques adapted from the EPA Rapid Bioassessment Protocols. Taxonomic diversity was good with a mean of nearly 28 total taxa per station. Individuals from several genera that are sensitive to water quality degradation were common. In June 1999 the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) collected a total of 21 species of fish at 4 stations (Figure 1 & Table 5). Wild brown trout were present at all stations including a biomass of 34 kg/ha at Station 104. The other species collected were a mixture of cold, cool, and warm water species. Waters in all portions of the candidate basin were found to support their designated uses.

BIOLOGICAL USE QUALIFICATIONS

The biological use qualifying criterion applied to Crum Creek was the integrated benthic macroinvertebrate score test described at § 93.4b(a)(2)(i)(A). This score is calculated from a subsample of approximately 100 individuals which were randomly selected from each total sample and enumerated following EPA's RBP III protocols (Table 6). Selected benthic macroinvertebrate community metrics generated from these subsamples were compared to a reference station with a comparable drainage area (Table 7). Both reference stations are located in the French Creek (01548) basin, one on the main stem and the other on Birch Run (01563), a small tributary. Both stations are located on EV waters. All sampling was conducted over a two-day period to minimize the effects of seasonal variation. This comparison was done using the following metrics which were selected as being indicative of community health: taxa richness; modified EPT index (total number of intolerant Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa); modified Hilsenhoff Biotic Index; percent dominant taxon; and percent modified mayflies.

Based on these five metrics, Station 3WB, located on the West Branch Crum Creek (a small tributary) had a biological condition score greater than 92% of the reference station score that qualifies for an EV designation under the Department's regulatory criterion found at
http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/025/chapter93/s93.4b.html § 93.4b(b)(1)(v). The remaining stations all had scores less than 83% of the reference station score which does not meet the threshold required for designation as High Quality Waters http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/025/chapter93/s93.4b.html (§ 93.4b(a)(2)(i)(A)).

None of the other antidegradation qualifying requirements listed in § 93.4b applies to this watershed.

PUBLIC RESPONSE AND PARTICIPATION SUMMARY

The Department provided public notice of this redesignation evaluation and requested any technical data from the general public through publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on April 22, 2000 (30 Pa.B 2071). A similar notice was also published in the Philadelphia Inquirer on April 21, 2000. In addition, Easttown, Edgemont, Newtown, and Willistown Townships along with Malvern Borough were all notified of the evaluation in a letter dated April 19, 2000. The Delaware County Planning Department and the Chester County Planning Commission were also notified at the same time. No data on water chemistry, instream habitat, or the aquatic community were received in response to these notifications.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on applicable regulatory criteria, the Department recommends that the use designation of the West Branch Crum Creek (00728) basin be changed from HQ-CWF to EV based on biological condition scores greater than 92% of the reference station score. This upgrade would affect 5.88 stream miles. The remainder of the candidate basin should retain the current use designations. This recommendation provides less protection for the majority of the basin than the EV designation requested by the petitioner.


Tables and Figures

Figure 1, Crum Creek Map in Chester and Delaware Counties showing DEP and PFBC stations

Table 1, Crum Creek Station Locations
Table 2, Crum Creek Water Chemistry
Table 3, Crum Creek Habitat Assessment Summary
Table 4, Crum Creek Benthic Macroinvertebrate Taxa List
Table 5, Crum Creek Fishes
Table 6, Crum Creek Semi-Quantitative Benthic Macroinvertebrate Data
Table 7, Crum Creek RBP Metric Comparison


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