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6/06/2017 | 2:45 PM - 3:00 PM | VULNERABILITY OF BROOK TROUT STREAMS TO SHALE GAS DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENNSYLVANIA PORTION OF UPPER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN, USA. | 305B

VULNERABILITY OF BROOK TROUT STREAMS TO SHALE GAS DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENNSYLVANIA PORTION OF UPPER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN, USA.

Development of oil and gas from unconventional sources has dramatically increased over the past ten years in the Pennsylvania portion of the Upper Susquehanna River basin; a largely forested area that contains many of the state’s high quality Brook Trout populations. We developed a disturbance index based on 17 factors incorporating infrastructure (roads, pipelines, well pads), water withdrawal, gas and waste production, and violations associated with the extraction process at a catchment scale. We compared the disturbance index to high quality Pennsylvania Class A Brook Trout streams to assess their vulnerability to current development. We then related these streams to a published future build out scenario to assess future risk. Preliminary results indicate that 634 catchments (out of 16,715) had medium or high disturbance scores and five of the 262 Class A categorized Brook Trout streams in the study area were within these catchments. Of these 262 streams, 180 were in catchments with a moderate or high risk of future development. Our results can be used to identify at-risk Brook Trout populations and streams to existing and future stressors from all stages of shale gas development.

C22 Disturbance
C27 Landuse and Non-Point source Impacts
S01 Water Quantity and Quality Impacts of Unconventional Fossil Fuel Development on Our Freshwater Futures

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Presenters/Authors

Kelly Maloney (), U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) , kmaloney@usgs.gov;