Река Лаквана: История, География и Экология

The Lackawanna River is a 42 mile (68 km) tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of the northern Pocono Mountains that was once a center of anthracite coal mining in the United States. It starts in north Wayne County, Pennsylvania and ends in east Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in Duryea, Pennsylvania. The lower reaches of the river flow through the urban areas of Scranton, which grew around its banks in the 19th century as an industrial center. Its name comes from a Lenape word meaning "stream that forks". The river rises in two branches, the West and East branches, along the boundary between Susquehanna and Wayne counties. The branches, each about 12 mile (19 km) long, flow south, closely parallel to each other, and join at the Stillwater Lake reservoir in Union Dale. The combined river flows southwest past Forest City, Carbondale, Mayfield, Jermyn, Archbald, Jessup, Blakely, Olyphant, Dickson City, Throop, Scranton, Taylor, Moosic, Old Forge, and Duryea. It joins the Susquehanna River at the northern boundary of Pittston about 8 mile (13 km) west southwest of Scranton. As part of the Susquehanna River, it ultimately flows to Chesapeake Bay. By the mid 20th century, the river was severely polluted from mine drainages in its watershed. The decline of industry in the region, as well as federal, state, and private efforts, have improved the water quality. Still, the Lackawanna River is the largest point source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. The upper reaches of the river are a popular destination for fly fishing of trout. It was designated as an American Heritage River in 1997.

The Lackawanna River begins at the confluence of the East Branch Lackawanna River and the West Branch Lackawanna River in Stillwater Lake in Clifford Township, Susquehanna County. It flows south southeast for a few miles in a deep valley, crossing Pennsylvania Route 171 and passing through Forest City. The river then enters Clinton Township, Wayne County. Here, it flows south for more than a mile before turning southeast for several tenths of a mile. It then turns south southwest for a few miles, meandering into Vandling, in Lackawanna County. The river only flows through Vandling for a few tenths of a mile before entering Fell Township. The western side of its valley becomes steeper again and the river continues meandering south southwest for a while before turning west for several tenths of a mile and into Simpson, where its valley broadens again. In Simpson, it turns southwest and crosses Pennsylvania Route 171 again before receiving the tributary Wilson Creek from the right. After receiving the tributary Wilson Creek, the Lackawanna River continues flowing southwest alongside Pennsylvania Route 171 and soon enters Carbondale. After flowing for several tenths of a mile through Carbondale, the river turns south for a few tenths of a mile, receiving the tributary Racket Brook from the left and crossing Pennsylvania Route 106 and a spur of US Route 6. It then turns west southwest for several tenths of a mile and receives the tributary Fall Brook from the right before turning southwest for several miles. In this reach, the river passes through Carbondale Township and enters Mayfield. It eventually enters Jermyn, where it crosses Pennsylvania Route 107 and receives the tributary Rush Brook from the right. The river then turns south for a few miles, receiving the tributary Aylesworth Creek from the left and entering Archbald. In Archbald, it continues flowing south, receiving the tributaries White Oak Run and Laurel Run from the left. Several tenths of a mile downstream of the latter tributary, it enters Jessup and turns abruptly west.

The Lackawanna River has 33 named direct tributaries and another 32 sub tributaries and sub sub tributaries. The Lackawanna River has a perennial flow. Nevertheless, it experiences low flow conditions during warm weather.

The elevation near the mouth of the Lackawanna River is 522 feet (159 m) above sea level. The elevation of the river's source is between above sea level. The headwaters of the Lackawanna River are in the glaciated plateau physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains. However, the Lackawanna Valley is in the northernmost part of the ridge and valley physiographic province. The river also flows through a portion of the Coal Region. The Lackawanna Valley is part of the Lackawanna/Wyoming Syncline, which is a large syncline in the Allegheny Front and is the main geological feature of the watershed. The syncline is canoe shaped, with a length of 70 mile (113 km) and a width of 5 mile (8 km). The crests of the anticlines on both sides have been eroded away. An escarpment known as Campbells Ledge is located near the river's mouth, where the Susquehanna Valley enters the 55 mile long Lackawanna/Wyoming Valley. In general, riffles and pools on the river form a "watery stairway". The pools can be as short as a few hundred feet or as long as several thousand feet, with larger ones mainly correlating to broad floodplains. Rapids mainly occur in reaches such as Panther Bluff (in Fell Township), the Winson area (in Archbald and Jessup), near Cliff Street (in Scranton), and at the Moosic anticline (in Old Forge). Large parts of the Lackawanna River watershed, including its upper reaches in the Moosic Mountains, West Mountain, and the North Pocono Plateau, are largely forested. However, large areas of urban and suburban development occur in the river's valley from Pittston to Carbondale, with some urban sprawl reaching as far as halfway from the river to the ridge tops. Abandoned mining land lies between many of the developed areas in this part of the watershed. Such land contains at least of culm banks, overburden piles, silt basins, non vegetated soil, and degraded waterways. One of the main owners of forested land in the watershed is the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, which owns the Lackawanna State Forest that straddles the border between the Lackawanna River and Lehigh River watersheds. The Pennsylvania Game Commission also owns more than several thousand acres of Pennsylvania State Game Lands in the watershed. Additionally, there are more than of wetlands in the watershed and another historically existed. All of the minor tributaries of the river begin in wetlands in the West Mountains or the Moosic Mountains. Riparian wetlands occur along the lower reaches of the river and a feature known as the Duryea Swamp is located in former mining pits at the river's mouth. Wild trout naturally reproduce in the river from its headwaters downstream to the Lackawanna County/Luzerne County line, a distance of 35.60 mile (57 km). Five sections of the river are designated by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission as Class A Wild Trout Waters for brown trout. The sections are adjacent to each other and run from the upper Carbondale city line downstream to Green Ridge Street, a distance of 17.4 mile (28 km). Both brook trout and brown trout inhabit the river, but only the former are native. In addition to trout, smallmouth bass, sunfish, carp, suckers, crappies, darters, and dace have been observed in the river. The fishery was nearly destroyed by 150 years of anthracite mining, but has recovered since the 1970s. The Lackawanna River was historically a "vibrant" brook trout fishery. Shad may have also occurred in the river until the 1820s, when dam construction on the Susquehanna River closed off access by anadromous fish. There is anecdotal evidence that the river was able to function as a trout fishery in the early 1900s, though the habitat had experienced significant degradation by then. Recovery began in the once the coal mining industry had ended in the 1960s and 1970s, and continued into the 1980s and 1990s due to the efforts of local groups and fishing clubs. A number of waterfowl species are common in the watershed of the Lackawanna River. The most common duck species are black ducks, mallard ducks, and wood ducks. Other birds in the watershed include belted kingfishers, great blue herons, and green backed herons. Birds of prey that have been observed in the area include ospreys, barred owls, coopers hawk, red tailed hawk, and sharp skinned hawk. Amphibians such as spotted salamanders and green frogs inhabit the watershed, as do reptiles such as rattlesnakes and snapping turtles. Various other fauna, including a number of game animals, inhabit the Lackawanna River watershed. Common mammals include beavers, black bears, foxes, minks, muskrats, raccoons, and white tailed deer. A few river otters are occasionally observed in the river. Substantial reaches of the Lackawanna River have a healthy and diverse macroinvertebrate population.

Successional forest cover and forested wetlands occur in the upper reaches of the Lackawanna River watershed. Even in more urban parts, the river and many of its major tributaries have substantial riparian buffers. However, the riparian buffer is less substantial below Scranton. The watershed contains a temperate mixed forest with a high level of biodiversity. In the south, there are oak and chestnut trees, while in the north, the forests contain maple, ash, and hickory. However, the elevations and soils in the watershed also allow several arctic and boreal species to grow in the watershed. Appalachian heath barrens occur on the Moosic Mountains and West Mountains, with communities of scrub oak and pitch pine give way to sedges and lichens. Boreal plants such as tamarack, black spruce, and paper birch inhabit wetlands in the watershed's upper reaches, as well as wetlands in the watersheds of Roaring Brook and Spring Brook. Pitcher plants, lady's slipper, rhododendron, huckleberry, mountain laurel, and leatherleaf also occur in these wetlands. Virtually all of the forests in the Lackawanna River watershed are second growth forests or third growth forests. As of the early 2000s, 88 percent of the river's riparian buffer is intact or recovering. The stretches that lack any riparian buffering are most commonly on flood control levees in Dickson City, Duryea, Mayfield, and north Scranton. Property encroachments, coal dumps, and historic buildings in Archbald, Carbondale, Olyphant, and Scranton also detract from the river's riparian buffer.

There are numerous recreational facilities in the Lackawanna River watershed. These include state parks, state game lands, county and municipal parks, golf courses, Montage Mountain, and others. Since the 1980s, the Lackawanna River has developed into a well known "outstanding Class A coldwater fishery". The river is also a fly fishing destination. It has Trophy Trout regulations from Blakely Corners to White Oak Run, forbidding live bait except in limited circumstances. About 38.4 mile (62 km) of the Lackawanna River are navigable by canoe during snowmelt and within three to seven days of hard rain. It is typically navigable when the United States Geological Survey gauge at Archbald reads over 2.5 feet (1 m), though navigation becomes difficult when the gauge height is over 4 feet (1 m). However, even in the summer, when the gauge height is often , a few pool reaches in Dickson City and Scranton are still navigable. The difficulty rating of the river from Stillwater Lake to Carbondale ranges from 1 to 3. From Carbondale to the river's mouth, the difficulty rating is mostly 1, but there is one class 4 rapid formed by a complex ledge system at Moosic. The scenery above Carbondale is described as "good to poor" in Edward Gertler's book Keystone Canoeing. The scenery below Carbondale is "fair to poor". However, Gertler also described the area as "a place that most of us associate with ugliness, with a capital U". A few of the larger tributaries are also seasonally navigable by canoe or kayak. The Lackawanna River Canoe a thon has been conducted on the Lackawanna River annually since 1973. It was originally hosted by the Luzerne–Lackawanna Environmental Council and the Jaycees, but the Lackawanna River Corridor Association took over the role in 1988. The race was postponed once due to flooding and cancelled once due to drought. A land sale of land in the Lackawanna River watershed to the private Theta Corporation generated some controversy. The sale caused many previously use hunting lands to become restricted. However, the Theta Corporation and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission announced a cooperation to permit hunting on the lands was announced in 2001. At that point, the Theta Corporation owned of land in the watershed, including large tracts in the Spring Brook and Roaring Brook sub watersheds.