Preliminary Results of Preimpoundment Water-Quality Studies in the Tioga River Basin, Pennsylvania and New York.

The Tioga River and its major tributaries were sampled monthly from September 1973 to May 1975. Water quality in the Tioga River is degraded by acid-mine drainage entering the stream near Blossburg from strip- and deep-mined areas. The stream supports few species of aquatic life from Blossburg to its confluence with Crooked Creek. Alkaline water of tributaries Mill Creek, Crooked Creek, and the Cowanesque River counteract the acidity carried downstream from Blossburg, and the Water-quality of the Tioga River gradually improves, supporting a more diversified population of fish and aquatic life. Relationships between selected water-quality parameters have been developed for the sampling stations throughout the basin. Downstream trends were also examined. The relationships will be further refined and implemented in predictive water-quality models as more data are collected. Author