Afield: How drought conditions in Centre County are affecting wildlife and waterways

We are fighting a plague, with COVID-19 killing thousands, making thousands more ill, and altering all of our lives. However, another plague of sorts is sweeping across the area — a protracted dry spell that is greatly affecting farms and wildlife.

Signs of the drought are all around us — stunted and shriveled fields of corn with their leaves curled and pointing toward the sky, brown lawns, dry streambeds and wetlands, dead wildflowers, wilted rhododendron and spice bush, and tree leaves yellowing and dropping early.

As I write this, the upper Bald Eagle Valley has had barely a sprinkle of rain since July 30. Streams flowing down Fowler, Ardery, Sunnyside, Reese, Miles, Steele and Williams hollows in Taylor, Worth and Huston townships are dry or nearly so. Sparrow Run in Bell Hollow and Laurel Run at Julian are mere trickles. The only stream adding a noticeable flow to the upper Bald Eagle Creek is Port Matilda’s Laurel Run (also called Flatrock Creek by some).

According to U.S. Geological Survey data on Friday, Bald Eagle Creek is so low that it is only flowing 3 cubic feet per second near Tyrone, as compared to Spring Creek’s 157 cfs. Spring Creek and most of its tributaries receive their flows from deep limestone aquifers, rather than the streams of the upper Bald Eagle Valley, which can only hold their flows with significant rain at regular intervals.

Last Sunday, I checked out a local wetland that was drying up — a victim of little to no rain. I was first attracted by the variety of birds working the newly exposed mud — spotted, solitary and least sandpipers, along with four killdeer. A great blue heron took to the sky, disturbed by my intrusion.

A few small puddles dotted the mud — a sad remnant of the several acres of water that gave life to this wetland only a month earlier. Then I noticed movement in the shallow puddles. Carp were stranded and thrashing about, their golden scales glistening in the piercing sunlight.

But something else was going on and I sat transfixed as a natural drama played out before me. The dinosaurs of the wetland — two huge snapping turtles — were moving about, killing and eating the trapped carp. Both snappers had carp in their mouths, and I watched with binoculars as the turtle closest to me abandoned his fish and charged at another carp. The carp attempted to evade the jaws of death, but the drought had left it no place to go.

I visited the following day, only to see that the puddles had receded even more. The sandpipers and killdeer were still around — taking advantage of the additional mud that had been exposed. Only a few kiddie-swimming-pool-sized puddles remained. The snappers were gone, but a few bull frog tadpoles remained in the dwindling water.

I visited again on Thursday to take more photos. Five great blue herons and a green heron were catching and eating the remaining tadpoles. The mud in some areas was already totally dry and cross crossed with deep cracks.

I have been watching with sad eyes as the days continue to pass with no precipitation and no mention of a drought. Part of the reason is that the worst-hit area — western Centre County — has had its drought data balanced with the rainfall that has been received in the remainder of the county. Even so, National Weather Service data for the 60-day period of June 13 through Aug. 11 put a bullseye on Centre County for having the greatest deviation below normal for that same period.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Friday declared a “drought watch” for 16 counties, including Centre and all of the counties that touch the western part of the county — Clearfield, Cambria, Blair and Huntingdon.

Centre County ended June with above average precipitation for the month and for the year. It has all been downhill since then. Much of July passed with no precipitation at all, and the temperatures were brutal — record or near record highs for most of Pennsylvania. I recorded 1.2 inches of rain for the month in my rain gauge in the upper Bald Eagle Valley, with only three days of measurable precipitation. AccuWeather reported 1.38 inches in July for State College — over 2 inches below normal precipitation for that month.

The last time July was this dry was in 2016. That year, however, the land’s thirst was quenched by greater than average rainfalls in August and September. August, thus far this year, has put only about a 0.15 of an inch in my gauge, while for State College, AccuWeather reported 0.23 of an inch over the first 21 days. Adding insult to injury, the hot daytime temperatures have continued.

What are the consequences of the drought?

The Bald Eagle Sportsmen’s Association, a cooperative trout nursery, lost several thousand trout in late July and early August — victims of the drought. Some wildflowers that normally produce pollen for butterflies and other insects are dying. Therefore, they will produce no seeds this fall. This will have a ripple effect through the biological community, affecting birds and mammals. Tree growth is stunted.

Wild trout need a good flow of cold water in order to survive, and many have died already as streams shrink and dry up. In addition, the danger of forest fires is heightened.

Like the carp and the snapping turtles, as the drought worsens, trout anglers are left with fewer and fewer places to fish. Spring Creek is one of these places, with its consistently cool water upwelling from limestone springs. It provides a safe haven for trout to survive, even during dry spells. This should remind everyone of the value of this stream to Centre County and just how much of a jewel Spring Creek is.

This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 2:50 PM.