Tioga River | |
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![]() The Tioga River near the Pennsylvania–New York state line | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | New York, Pennsylvania |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Armenia Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania |
• coordinates | 41°45′40″N76°51′39″W / 41.76111°N 76.86083°W [1] |
Mouth | Chemung River |
• location | Painted Post, Steuben County, New York |
• coordinates | 42°09′07″N77°05′25″W / 42.15194°N 77.09028°W Coordinates: 42°09′07″N77°05′25″W / 42.15194°N 77.09028°W [1] |
Length | 58 mi (93 km) [2] |
Discharge | |
• location | Lindley, New York [3] |
• average | 821 cu ft/s (23.2 m3/s) |
• minimum | 7.2 cu ft/s (0.20 m3/s) (September 1, 1939) [3] |
• maximum | 63,000 cu ft/s (1,800 m3/s) (June 23, 1972) [3] |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Crooked Creek, Cowanesque River, Canisteo River |
The Tioga River ( /ˈtaɪoʊɡə/ TY-o-gə) is a tributary of the Chemung River, approximately 58 miles (93 km) long, [2] in northern Pennsylvania and western New York in the United States. It drains a region of ridges in the northern Allegheny Plateau in the watershed of the Susquehanna River. It is a Northern flowing river
In the 19th century, trees logged in the Tioga Valley were extensively used in shipbuilding. Logs were floated up the Tioga to the Chemung and down to the Susquehanna River and on to the Chesapeake Bay and the shipyards of Baltimore.
The Tioga River rises in the mountains of western Bradford County and flows initially southwest into Tioga County, passing through Tioga State Forest. In southern Tioga County it turns north, cutting gaps in four separate ridges while flowing past Blossburg and Mansfield, then through Tioga Reservoir. North of Tioga it receives Crooked Creek from the west, then crosses into Steuben County, New York, near Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. It receives the Cowanesque River from the west approximately one mile (1.6 km) north of the state line, then receives the Canisteo River from the west in southeastern Steuben County, approximately 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Corning. It joins the Cohocton River at Painted Post, just west of Corning, to form the Chemung River, a tributary of the Susquehanna.
The Tioga River has one major impoundment, the Tioga Reservoir, formed by a dam just before the borough of Tioga, Pennsylvania. The lake has a surface area of 498 acres (2.02 km2) and is administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which built the Tioga Dam from 1973 to 1979. Built together with the adjoining Hammond Dam and Hammond Lake (on Crooked Creek), the total project cost $200 million.
The dam projects were initially authorized by the United States Congress in the Flood Control Act of 3 July 1958 (Public Law 85-500). Construction was begun in the aftermath of the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Agnes in June 1972, which resulted in widespread damage along the rivers. A channel connects the two lakes so that Hammond Lake (which has greater storage capacity) may be used to store excess (flood) water from Tioga Lake.
In addition to supporting flood control on the Chemung and Susquehanna rivers, the dams are also meant to help improve water quality by decreasing the acidity of water in the Tioga River downstream of the dams; it is diluted by addition of the more neutral waters of Crooked Creek. The Tioga River's acidity is caused by acid mine drainage.
The lakes also offer recreational opportunities, including camping, boating, fishing, swimming, and hiking on area trails.
The Susquehanna River is a major river located in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States. At 444 miles (715 km) long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the United States. It drains into the Chesapeake Bay. With its watershed, it is the 16th-largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the early 21st-century continental United States without commercial boat traffic.
Canisteo is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 3,391 at the 2010 census. The name was taken from a former Native American village located there, and is Iroquoian in origin.
The Chemung River is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately 46.4 miles (74.7 km) long, in south central New York and northern Pennsylvania in the United States. It drains a mountainous region of the northern Allegheny Plateau in the Southern Tier of New York. The valley of the river has long been an important manufacturing center in the region but has suffered a decline in the late 20th century.
The Juniata River is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately 104 miles (167 km) long, in central Pennsylvania in the United States. The river is considered scenic along much of its route, having a broad and shallow course passing through several mountain ridges and steeply-lined water gaps. It formed an early 18th-century frontier region in Pennsylvania and was the site of Native American attacks against white settlements during the French and Indian War. The watershed of the river encompasses an area of approximately 3,400 square miles (8,800 km2), approximately one-eighth of the drainage area of the Susquehanna. Approximately two-thirds of the watershed is forested. It is the second largest tributary of the Susquehanna after the West Branch Susquehanna.
Swatara Creek is a 72-mile-long (116 km) tributary of the Susquehanna River in east-central Pennsylvania in the United States. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains in central Schuylkill County and passes through northwest Lebanon County before draining into the Susquehanna at Middletown in Dauphin County.
The Lackawanna River is a 42-mile-long (68 km) tributary of the Susquehanna River in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It flows through a region of the northern Pocono Mountains that was once a center of anthracite coal mining in the United States. It starts in north Wayne County, Pennsylvania and ends in east Luzerne County, Pennsylvania in Duryea, Pennsylvania. The lower reaches of the river flow through the urban areas of Scranton, which grew around its banks in the 19th century as an industrial center. Its name comes from a Lenni Lenape word meaning "stream that forks".
The Cohocton River, sometimes referred to as the Conhocton River, is a 58.5-mile-long (94.1 km) tributary of the Chemung River in western New York in the United States. Via the Chemung River, it is part of the Susquehanna River watershed, flowing to Chesapeake Bay. The name "Cohocton" is derived from an Iroquois term, Ga-ha-to, meaning "log floating in the water" or "trees in the water".
The Canisteo River is a 61.0-mile-long (98.2 km) tributary of the Tioga River in western New York in the United States. It drains a dissected plateau, a portion of the northern Allegheny Plateau southwest of the Finger Lakes region, in the far northwestern reaches of the watershed of the Susquehanna River.
Muncy Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Sullivan County and Lycoming County, at Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 34.5 miles (55.5 km) long. The watershed of the creek has an area of 216 square miles (560 km2). The creek's discharge averages 49 cubic feet per second (1.4 m3/s) at Sonestown, but can be up to a thousand times higher at Muncy. The headwaters of the creek are on the Allegheny Plateau. Rock formations in the watershed include the Chemung Formation and the Catskill Formation.
Cayuta Creek (Kay-YOO-tuh) is a tributary of the Susquehanna River that flows through Schuyler, Chemung and Tioga counties in New York state, and Bradford County, Pennsylvania.
Lycoming Creek is a 37.5-mile-long (60.4 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States.
Larrys Creek is a 22.9-mile-long (36.9 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Lycoming County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A part of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, its watershed drains 89.1 square miles (231 km2) in six townships and a borough. The creek flows south from the dissected Allegheny Plateau to the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians through sandstone, limestone, and shale from the Devonian, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian periods.
Pine Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. The creek is 87.2 miles (140.3 km) long. Within Tioga County, 23.25 miles (37.42 km) of Pine Creek are designated as a Pennsylvania Scenic River.
Loyalsock Creek is a 64-mile-long (103 km) tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River located chiefly in Sullivan and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. As the crow flies, Lycoming County is about 130 miles (209 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 165 miles (266 km) east-northeast of Pittsburgh.
Harveys Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 14.5 miles (23.3 km) long and flows through Harveys Lake, Lake Township, Lehman Township, Jackson Township, and Plymouth Township. The creek's watershed has an area of 46.3 square miles (120 km2). The creek has four named tributaries, which are known as Bear Hollow Creek, Paint Spring Run, Pikes Creek, and East Fork Harveys Creek. The watershed is designated as a High-Quality Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery above Pikes Creek and as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery below it. The creek's source is Harveys Lake, the largest natural lake in Pennsylvania.
Crooked Creek is a 26.3-mile-long (42.3 km) tributary of the Tioga River located entirely in Tioga County, Pennsylvania in the United States.
Conewago Creek is an 80.2-mile-long (129.1 km) tributary of the Susquehanna River in Adams and York counties in Pennsylvania in the United States, with its watershed also draining a small portion of Carroll County, Maryland. The source is at an elevation of 1,440 feet (440 m), east of Caledonia State Park, in Franklin Township in Adams County. The mouth is the confluence with the Susquehanna River at York Haven in York County at an elevation of 259 feet (79 m).
The geography of New York state varies widely. Most of New York is dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. New York's Adirondack Park is larger than any U.S. National Park in the contiguous United States. Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River as it flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is a popular attraction. The Hudson River begins near Lake Tear of the Clouds and flows south through the eastern part of the state without draining lakes George or Champlain. Lake George empties at its north end into Lake Champlain, whose northern end extends into Canada, where it drains into the Richelieu River and then the St. Lawrence. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on the three islands at the mouth of the Hudson River: Manhattan Island, Staten Island, and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island.
Shickshinny Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in the Wyoming Valley in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 10.1 miles (16.3 km) long and flows through Ross Township, Union Township, and Shickshinny. Its watershed has an area of 35.0 square miles (91 km2) and its tributaries include Culver Creek, Reyburn Creek, and Little Shickshinny Creek. The creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. A sawmill and a gristmill were built on the creek in 1802 and 1804, respectively. Several bridges have also been constructed over it. The creek was historically polluted by culm near its mouth, but agriculture was the main industry in the watershed in the early 1900s. It was historically used as a water supply.