The Lackawanna River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map , accessed August 8, 2011 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 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 west-southwest of Scranton. As part of the Susquehanna River, it ultimately flows to the 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.
Course 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.
After flowing west for several tenths of a mile, the Lackawanna River receives the tributary Grassy Island Creek from the left and continues flowing in a generally westerly direction for several miles. The river begins flowing along the border between Blakely and Olyphant. In this reach, it crosses Pennsylvania Route 247 and receives the tributaries Sterry Creek and Wildcat Creek from the left and right, respectively. Further downstream, the river crosses Pennsylvania Route 347 and receives the tributary Hull Creek from the right. It then begins flowing in a southwesterly direction along the border between Olyphant and Dickson City, though it makes several sharp turns along the way. After some distance, it receives the tributary Eddy Creek from the left and begins flowing along the border between Dickson City and Throop. After a few miles, the river enters Scranton and crosses US Route 6/Interstate 81. It then turns south for several tenths of a mile, receiving the tributary Leggetts Creek from the right before turning southwest. After a few tenths of a mile, it abruptly turns north, and then west-southwest before turning south. After more than a mile, it crosses US Route 11/Pennsylvania Route 307 and passes the Steamtown National Historic Site before turning south and receiving the tributary Roaring Brook from the left.
After receiving the tributary Roaring Brook, the Lackawanna River flows in a southwesterly direction for several miles, alternating between flowing south and flowing west. In this reach, it receives the tributary Stafford Meadow Brook from the left and eventually begins flowing along the border between Scranton and Taylor before receiving Keyser Creek from the right and beginning to flow alongside the border between Taylor and Moosic. After some distance along the latter border, the river crosses Interstate 476 and turns south, now flowing along the border between Old Forge and Moosic. After more than a mile, it begins meandering west, receiving Spring Brook and Mill Creek. Several tenths of a mile further downstream, it receives the tributary Saint Johns Creek from the right and turns west-southwest. After several tenths of a mile, the river exits Lackawanna County and enters Duryea, in Luzerne County. It continues flowing west-southwest through Duryea for a few miles before reaching the border between Duryea and Pittston. The river flows along this border for the remaining several tenths of a mile to its confluence with the Susquehanna River.
The Lackawanna River joins the Susquehanna River upriver of its mouth.
Tributaries
The Lackawanna River has 33 named direct tributaries and another 32 sub-tributaries and sub-sub-tributaries. Of the eight tributaries that drain an area of more than , Spring Brook and Roaring Brook are the largest, with watersheds than drain and , respectively. They join the Lackawanna River and , respectively. The East Branch Lackawanna River drains an area of and joins the Lackawanna River upriver of its mouth. Leggetts Creek drains an area of and joins the river upriver of its mouth. The West Branch Lackawanna River drains an area of and joins the river upriver of its mouth. Other tributaries that drain an area of more than include Stafford Meadow Brook, Fall Brook, and Mill Creek.
Hydrology The Lackawanna River and its tributaries are in "good-to-excellent" condition in its upper reaches. The river deteriorates slightly as it approaches Scranton, but becomes considerably more degraded downriver of Scranton. A large number of mine seeps, outfalls, and boreholes occur within the watershed. The aquatic habitat in the last is nonexistent due to acid mine drainage from the Old Forge Borehole, which discharges 100 million gallons of acid mine drainage into the river every day. Another 40 million gallons of acid mine drainage per day come from the Duryea Outfall. Other impacts include combined sewer overflows and urban stormwater. The stormwater discharges begin to become more common as the river reaches the Mid Valley region, and their frequency rapidly increases in the Down Valley region. The lower have a yellow-orange color due to iron oxide contamination. There are a total of 158 combined sewer overflows on the river.
Several reaches of the Lackawanna River have been designated as impaired between 1996 and 2004. The causes of impairment include pH, metals, siltation, and flow alteration. The source of impairment include abandoned mine drainage and resource extraction.
The Lackawanna River has a perennial flow. Nevertheless, it experiences low flow conditions during warm weather. The discharge of the river near Forest City was observed to range from 3904.83 to 69,568.83 gallons per minute, with an average of 35,584.83 gallons per minute. The river's discharge near Archbald ranged from 3976.60 to 323,158.40 gallons per minute, with an average of 97,130.90 gallons per minute. Below the Broadway Street Bridge, it ranged from 34,560 to 586,397 gallons per minute and averaged 222,732.46 gallons per minute. Near Coxton Road, the discharge averaged 266,478 gallons per minute.
Chemical hydrology In 2002, the concentration of iron in the Lackawanna River near Forest City was less than 0.3 milligrams per liter. The manganese concentration ranged from less than 0.05 to 0.175 milligrams per liter, with an average of 0.1103 milligrams per liter. The concentration of aluminum ranged from less than 0.5 to 0.692 milligrams per liter, with an average of 0.6255 milligrams per liter. The pH ranged from 6.1 to 7.4 (with an average of 6.7), the acidity concentration ranged from 0 to 10.4 milligrams per liter (with an average of 1.73 milligrams per liter), and the alkalinity concentration ranged from 16.4 to 32 milligrams per liter (with an average of 22.3 milligrams per liter). The sulfate concentration ranged from less than 20 to 30.7 milligrams per liter, with an average of 28.4 milligrams per liter.
The iron concentration in the Lackawanna River near Archbald ranged from less than 0.3 to 0.794 milligrams per liter, with an average of 0.5 milligrams per liter. The amount of manganese ranged from less than 0.083 to 0.16 milligrams per liter, with an average of 0.12 milligrams per liter. The amount of aluminum ranged from 0.4 to 0.742 milligrams per liter, with an average of 0.57 milligrams per liter. The pH ranged between 6.5 and 7.2, with an average of 6.7. The concentration of acidity was 0 milligrams per liter and the alkalinity concentration ranged from 17 to 38 milligrams per liter (with an average of 27.57 milligrams per liter). The sulfate concentration ranged from less than 20 to 136 milligrams per liter, with an average of 59.55 milligrams per liter.
The amount of iron in the Lackawanna River below the Broadway Street Bridge was typically less than 0.3 milligrams per liter, but once reached 0.348 milligrams per liter. The manganese concentration ranged from less than 0.067 to 0.139 milligrams per liter, with an average of 0.09 milligrams per liter. The aluminum concentration ranged from less than 0.5 to 0.753 milligrams per liter, with an average concentration of 0.63 milligrams per liter. The pH of the river at this point ranged from 6.7 to 7.3 (with an average of 6.95) and the acidity concentration was 0 milligrams per liter. The alkalinity concentration ranged from 19 to 36 milligrams per liter (with an average of 28.17 milligrams per liter). The concentration of sulfate ranged from less than 30.5 to 66.8 milligrams per liter, with an average of 46.25 milligrams per liter.