Tea Creek

Tea Creek, a tributary to Kishacoquillas Creek, is located within the Kishacoquillas Valley , in Mifflin County , Pennsylvania . The Kishacoquillas Valley , bounded by Stone Mountain to the north, and Jacks Mountain to the south, makes up the whole northern portion of Mifflin County . As a tributary to Kishacoquillas creek, Tea Creek is a sub-watershed of the larger Kishacoquillas Creek watershed.

In the 1870’s the Reedsville Milling Company built a 14 foot high, 47 foot long dam on Tea Creek which created a 2 acre pond. The pond was locally referred to as the “duck pond” because of a large population of ducks, mostly domestic hybrids that lived there. Over the years the dam was not maintained properly and to keep its permit, was going to require a lot of costly repairs. The current owner of the dam decided to allow it to be removed and in September 2004 American Rivers and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission removed this dam.

 

One of Tea Creek’s attributes is that it is classified High Quality Cold Water Fisheries (HQCWF) and a 1.1 mile section is designated Class A Wild Trout Stream because it supports a wild population of Brown Trout (Salmo trutta). It was unknown how the dam removal was going to impact this wild population because the dam, an obstruction preventing fish movement, was located approximately one mile from the confluence of Tea Creek and Kishacoquillas Creek. Although the vast majority of Kishacoquillas Creek is designated Cold Water Fisheries (CWF), the section adjacent to the confluence with Tea Creek is designated Trout Stocked Fisheries (TSF). The impact that stocked trout may have on wild brown trout is unclear.

 

Contact:  

Cadie Pruss, Watershed Specialist

Mifflin County Conservation District

20 Windmill Hill, #4

Burnham, PA  17009

(717) 248-4695

  Download the Tea Creek Conservation Plan here