About CRC
Creeks
News
Events
Resources
Join Us
ContributeSources of Pollution
Sources of Pollution Impacting Crum Creek
Sediment, excess nutrients, increasing stream temperatures, and significant alteration and reduction of stream flows are all causes of stream impairment that have had an impact on Crum Creek’s uses as a drinking water source, habitat resource, and recreational asset.
Sediment Pollution
Sediment, with the corresponding nutrients that bond to it, is the largest single pollutant threatening Crum Creek.
The leading source of this sediment is excessive stormwater runoff during rain events resulting from increased impervious surfaces and reduced tree canopy. This increased stormwater runoff leads to increased bank erosion, which releases nutrients into the stream flow and deposits sediment downstream, smothering desirable aquatic habitat and leading to further streambank destabilization downstream. Construction runoff is another cause of sedimentation.
CRC is working with a number of municipalities and landowners under the TreeVitalize grant program, which aims to reestablish lost tree canopy along stream corridors and in urbanized neighborhoods in the Southeast region.
Nutrient Pollution
Nitrogen and phosphorus levels are presently generally low in the Upper Crum Creek. However, the Source Water Assessment for Crum Creek sites nutrients carried by sediment into the Springton Reservoir, as well as contributions from geese and other nonpoint sources, as responsible for episodic blue-green algae blooms. These algae blooms cause dips in oxygen levels, which create stress for fish and have also been responsible for taste and odor problems at the water treatment plant. These unfavorable conditions in the reservoirs, along with flow reduction, are in part responsible for decreased water quality in the Lower Watershed.
Temperature Pollution
Crum Creek above the Springton Reservoir is the coldest of all three streams and has been designated “Cold Water Fishery” by DEP. Below the Springton Reservoir, the stream is redesignated as a Warm Water Fishery, reflecting elevated temperatures which make the Lower Crum Creek generally unsuitable for cold water fish. Lower summer temperatures are important to pollution sensitive organisms ("bugs") which feed cold water fish, since more dissolved oxygen can be retained at lower temperatures.
What are temperature standards?
Reduction in Stream Flow
The reduction in stream flow of Crum Creek resulting from the surface water withdrawals of over 19 million gallons per day is one cause of degraded water quality in the lower watershed, particularly during summer months. There is no flow gauge located in the lower watershed.
To learn the recent flow of Crum Creek at the USGS (United States Geological Survey) gauge site located at the Castle Rock Bridge over Route 3 in Edgmont/Newtown, click here.