Schuylkill Watershed

General Information:

The Schuylkill River Watershed is located in southeast Pennsylvania, includes portions of 11 counties, and encompasses an area of approximately 2,000 square miles. The river travels approximately 130 miles from its headwaters at Tuscarora Springs in Schuylkill County to its mouth at the Delaware River in Philadelphia. The Schuylkill River is the largest tributary to the Delaware River and is a major contributor to the Delaware Estuary.

The Schuylkill River and its tributaries have long been recognized for the important role they play as a source of drinking water and fish habitat. The mainstem of the Schuylkill became the first scenic river designated in Pennsylvania and one-quarter of the watershed is designated as high quality or exceptional waters. Approximately 1.5 million people receive their drinking water from the Schuylkill River watershed.

Partnership:

The Schuylkill Action Network (SAN) is a groundbreaking partnership crossing multiple counties and municipalities. This network was initiated in the spring of 2003.

For information about the SAN, please visit: http://www.Schuylkillactionnetwork.org

Watershed Planning:

• A Source Water Protection Plan was completed by the Philadelphia Water Department in 2004
• A Schuylkill River Conservation Plan was completed in 2001 by the Natural Lands Trust; to view this plan, please visit: http://www.schuylkillplan.org/
• A Report on the State of the Schuylkill was completed in 2002 by the Conservation Fund; to view this plan please visit: http://www.conservationfund.org/pagespinner.asp?article=2294&back=true
• See Schuylkill River Source Water Assessments for a comprehensive list of Schuylkill plans and studies
• Please follow the link below to the USGS website to view real-time water quality data from USGS Gage Stations within this watershed. PWD-USGS Water Resources Monitoring website: http://pa.water.usgs.gov/pwd/.