This summer was a dry one. On the rare rainy day, I would see a few toads out and about, enjoying the wet grass in front of my flower beds. I’ve recently started to take interest in the frogs, salamanders, …
What is MWA? A quick breakdown.
How it all began… The Mountain Watershed Association (MWA) is a grassroots community-based organization with its roots in the Indian Creek Watershed (a sub-basin of the Youghiogheny River), located in Westmoreland and Fayette Counties. Like so many grassroots groups, it …
The Story of Kalp
As those of us doing the work of mine drainage remediation know, our projects need a whole lot of oversight and maintenance, repair and refurbishment. We do not necessarily expect them to fail. The Kalp Project (Anna and Steve Gdosky …
Why is Indian Creek Flowing Red?
Photo shows the path of the rogue discharge immediately after it enters a clean Indian Creek. In June, MWA received several complaints of visibly polluted water in Indian Creek, seen approximately from our Sagamore AMD treatment system downstream all the …
What’s Happening with Hellbenders?
The Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) The Eastern Hellbender is the largest North American salamander and happens to be the Pennsylvania State Amphibian. The Hellbender is directly related to species that lived 65 million years ago. Although denied protections under the …
Passive Treatment—Active Maintenance: When Mine Drainage Treatment Systems Need Fixed
If you saw this along the Indian Creek Valley Trail during the first couple months of 2020, you may have thought something was awry. You would have been correct. That discharge depositing orange sludge on everything it touches and flowing …
That Familiar Stream-side Tune
I thought I heard a song I’ve just been dying to hear lately. It was getting a little chilly outside as the sun sets on the tree line but that’s alright, I threw on another top layer and a hat …
Source Water in the Highlands
The sources of water throughout our area seem abundant. In fact, Pennsylvania has the highest stream density and second only to Alaska for total stream miles in the country with 83,260 miles of streams and rivers! By many, all of …
Economic Study of the Value of Water in the Laurel Highlands
“When the well is dry, we’ll know the worth of water.” Benjamin Franklin. Unfortunately, many people do not fully understand the value of water, but a partnership of organizations in south western Pennsylvania has set out to make that change. …
Public Meeting Held for the Indian Creek River Conservation Plan Update
A lot of great feedback was given during the Public Information Gathering Session for the Indian Creek River Conservation Plan update. Community members joined together on Thursday, March 28 to share their visions for the future of the Indian Creek …