JOHNSTOWN —
The Stonycreek River has been named Pennsylvania’s river of the year.
The state Department of Conservation & Natural Resources and Pa Organization for Watersheds and Rivers announced the news today following weeks of online voting, saying the river “has it all.”
Its certainly a Cinderella story for the Stonycreek, supporters said.
The once-thriving coal industry made the river its dumping ground for generations.
In the 1980s, it was almost void of underwater life.
Today - after years of treatment efforts - it supports more than a dozen species of fish, including trout, and is home to growing whitewater draws, including a whitewater park at Greenhouse Park, DCNR officials noted.
The Stonycreek Gorge - and planned regular whitewater releases - are also making the river a destination for rafters and kayakers.
“Our newest River of the Year has rebounded from abandoned mine drainage threats of the past to unlimited recreational potential of the future,” DCNR Secretary Richard Allen said.
The 46-mile Stonycreek topped the Middle Monongahela and Upper Juniata, among others, in a public, online vote.
“This demonstrates that clean water is our No. 1 asset,” Somerset Conservation Director Len Lichvar said. “We’ve seen how a lack of it has held us back in the past and now we’re seeing the benefits (cleanup efforts) can bring.”
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