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
June 2000
Revised July 2001
GENERAL WATERSHED DESCRIPTION
Oysterville Creek is a tributary to Manatawny Creek in the Schuylkill River watershed. This basin covers an area of 12.2 square miles and contains 14.7 stream miles. It is located in District, Earl, Oley, and Pike Townships, Berks County. The Oysterville Creek basin currently has the protected water use designation Cold Water Fishes (CWF) and was evaluated for redesignation as High Quality (HQ) or Exceptional Value (EV) waters as a result of a petition submitted by the Berks County Conservancy and the District Township Supervisors. This report is based on field surveys conducted in June and August of 1999.
Land use in the candidate basin is mostly a mixture of low density residential, agriculture, and second growth hardwood forest. State Route 73 traverses the lower portion of the watershed. The borough of Shanesville is located along this road.
WATER OUALITY 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 5 stations in the Oysterville Creek basin during the August 1999 survey (Table 2). These samples indicated that water quality was generally good. Because the instantaneous nature of grab samples precludes comparison to applicable water quality criteria, the indigenous aquatic community is a better indicator of long-term conditions and is used as a measure of ecological significance.
Aquatic Biota:
Habitat assessments and biological samplings were conducted at 2 locations during the June 1999 survey. An evaluation of physical habitat assessments revealed that Station 1OC and reference station R1 scored in the Optimal category and Station 5OC scored in the Suboptimal category for benthic macroinvertebrates and fish (Table 3). Habitat scores ranged from 177 to 190 for the Oysterville Creek stations. Low scoring parameters included lack of an adequate riparian zone, vegetative disruptive pressure, and limited velocity/depth regimes. The reference station habitat score was 199, with the channel flow status category scoring lowest overall.
Benthic macroinvertebrate samples were collected at two stations (Table 4) using sampling techniques adapted from the EPA Rapid Bioassessment Protocols. Taxonomic diversity was good with a mean of 33.5 total taxa per station. Individuals from several genera that are sensitive to water quality degradation were common. Between both DEP and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commision a total of 16 species of fish were collected at three stations (Table 5). Wild brown trout were present at all stations, but the PFBC concluded that only the headwaters remain cool enough during the summer months to support a low-density wild population of this species. The other species collected were a mixture of cold, cool, and warm water species. Waters in all portions of the basin were found to support their designated uses.
NATIONAL, STATE, REGIONAL, OR LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE
No portion of the Oysterville Creek basin possesses attributes that qualify as outstanding, national, state, regional, or local resource waters under the Department's regulatory criteria.
ECOLOGICAL OR RECREATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
Selected benthic macroinvertebrate community metrics were compared to a reference station with a comparable drainage area (Table 7). Both Oysterville Creek and the reference stream, Pine Creek, are located in the Reading Prong (58h) subecoregion. Pine Creek is a cold water fishery with an Exceptional Value (EV) designation in Chapter 93. All sampling was conducted on the same day 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 1OC in the headwaters of the basin had a biological condition score greater than 92% of the reference station score which qualifies for an EV designation under the Department's regulatory criteria. Station 5OC near the mouth of the stream had a score of 87% of the reference station score. This score exceeds the 83% threshold required for designation as High Quality Waters.
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 December 25, 1999 (29 Pa.B 6524). A similar notice was also published in the Reading Eagle Times on December 27, 1999. In addition, District, Pike, Earl, and Oley Townships were all notified of the evaluation in a letter dated December 23, 1999. The Berks County Planning Commission was also notified at the same time. No data on water chemistry, instream habitat, or the aquatic community were received in response to these notifications.
The Department sent copies of this draft report along with a cover letter dated May 17, 2001 requesting comments within a 30-day period, to Joseph Hoffman, Director of the Berks County Conservancy, the Berks County Planning Commission, and District, Earl, Oley, and Pike Townships. The only response received by the Department was from the Berks County Planning Commission, which concurred with the proposed recommendation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on applicable regulatory criteria, the Department recommends the following changes to Chapter 93:
Oysterville Creek basin (source to T634 crossing at RMI 2.6)
Oysterville Creek basin (T634 crossing to mouth) – except UNT 01680
Unnamed tributary to Oysterville Creek (01680) basin
This designation provides less protection for the lower half of the basin than the EV designation requested by the petitioner.
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