With the assistance and support from the Hedin Environmental Group and the sponsorship of the Indiana County Conservation District, BCWA and partners received a Growing Greener Grant from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to do an assessment of the Yellow Creek sub-watershed of the Blacklick Creek Watershed.  The Yellow Creek flows southwest from its headwaters near Heilwood to its confluence with Two Lick Creek in Homer City.

Sampling for the assessment was conducted from late 2019 into 2021 and the final assessment report was issued by Hedin Environmental in January of 2022.  Hedin Environmental also produced a follow-up August 2022 report focusing on the abandoned mine hydrology in the Lucernes Mine area of lower Yellow Creek.  These reports and their associated data are available under the “technical documents” submenu of the “resources” menu on this website.

These reports support improving water quality and remediating environmental degradation by providing an updated, inclusive analysis of the AMD impacts in the watershed.  The focus of this project was to expand on the existing watershed plan and work closely with DEP staff to collect data, develop goals, and conduct cost/benefit analyses.  The goal was to assess what the current conditions are and prioritize which discharges are having the most impact on the stream.  We will use that information to seek funding to remediate those discharges.

Partners for the project included Indiana County Conservation District (ICCD), Kiski-Conemaugh Stream Team, Saint Frances University CWRS, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) students, GES and Hedin Environmental.  ICCD administered the grant and provided overall project oversight which included organizing meetings, preparing quarterly reports, reimbursement request and etc.  Kiski-Conemaugh Stream Team, Saint Frances University CWRS, and IUP students helped BCWA and the other partners conduct site reconnaissance and sampling.  Hedin Environmental was the technical lead on the project, organizing sampling events and compiling the data for plan writing.