USGS Water-Year Summary for Site 01473169

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	Available Parameters
	00010 Temperature, water(Max.,Min.,Mean)
	00045 Precipitation(Sum)
	00060 Discharge(Mean)
	00095 Specific cond at 25C(Min.,Mean,Max.)
	63680 Turbidity, Form Neph(Max.,Mean,Min.)
	70387 Chloride, wu, by regression(Mean)
	80155 Suspnd sedmnt disch(Sum)
	80297 SS load, regres ss(Mean)
	99409 Susp sediment,wu,est(Mean)

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Water year 2024: 2024-10-01 to 2025-09-30

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USGS Water-Year Summary 2024

01473169 VALLEY CREEK AT PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE BRIDGE NEAR VALLEY FORGE, PA

LOCATION - Lat 40°04'45", long 75°27'40" referenced to North American Datum of 1927, Chester County, PA, Hydrologic Unit 02040203, on right bank 100 ft upstream from Pennsylvania turnpike bridge, 0.9 mi downstream from Little Valley Creek, 2.2 mi upstream from mouth, and 1.0 mi south of Valley Forge.

DRAINAGE AREA - 20.8 mi².

REVISIONS HISTORY - The monthly sum suspended sediment discharge for April 2013 is 110 tons/day. The number was mistakenly reported as 11 tons/day. As a result, the annual load should be increased by 99 tons.

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - October 1982 to current year.

GAGE - Water-stage recorder and crest-stage gage. Datum of gage is 108.62 ft above National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. Satellite telemetry at station.

COOPERATION - Station established and maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Chester County Water Resources Authority and the National Park Service.

REMARKS - Intermittent pumpage from quarry upstream. Records for water year 2014 are good except those for discharges greater than 400 ft³/s which are fair, and those for estimated daily discharges which are poor. Records for water year 2015 are good except those for discharges greater than 400 ft³/s which are fair, and those for estimated daily discharges which are poor. Records for water year 2016 are good except those for discharges greater than 400 ft³/s which are fair, and those for estimated daily discharges which are poor. Records for water year 2017 are good except those for discharges greater than 400 ft³/s which are fair, and those for estimated daily discharges which are poor. Records for water year 2018 rated good except those for discharges greater than 400 ft³/s which are fair, and those from Oct 1 - Mar 27 and those estimated discharges, which are poor. Records for water years 2019-2021 rated good except those for discharges greater than 400 ft³/s which are fair. Records for water year 2022 rated good except estimated discharge, which is poor.

CLIMATOLOGICAL RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - October 2005 to current year.

INSTRUMENTATION - Precipitation gage interfaced with data collection platform.

REMARKS - Precipitation records for water years 2014-2017 are fair. Precipitation records for water years 2018 are good. Since water year 2019, precipitation records are no longer rated.

ECOLOGICAL RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - November 1998 to current year.

REMARKS - Results of benthic surveys can be obtained by contacting the U.S. Geological Survey Pennsylvania Water Science Center, Exton Field Office.

WATER-QUALITY RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Water year 1984, 1999 to current year.

PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD - SUSPENDED- SEDIMENT DISCHARGE: October 2008 to current year. TURBIDITY: October 2007 to current year. WATER TEMPERATURE: October 2018 to current year. SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE: October 2018 to current year.

COOPERATION - Samples were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Chester County Water Resources Authority and the National Park Service.

REMARKS -

As of October 2013, results from discrete water quality samples collected at this site are available through the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System web interface on the "Water Quality for the Nation" webpage.

The reporting precision of the turbidity probe in low turbidity is +/- 0.3 FNU, therefore the lowest reportable value, 0.0 FNU, does not necessarily indicate a condition of zero turbidity. Interruptions in the record due to malfunction of the equipment. Water-quality samples were collected as part of the Chester County Biological Monitoring project. Some samples were collected as part of the Delaware River National Water-Quality Assessment program (DELR NAWQA).

Suspended- sediment discharge was computed using methods described in Sloto, R.A., and Olson, L.E., "Estimated suspended-sediment loads and yields in the French and Brandywine Creek Basins, Chester County, Pennsylvania, water years 2008-09: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5109. The equation for computing suspended-sediment concentration was "log SSC = 0.9727 log (Turbidity) + 0.2749" Suspended Sediment Discharge mistakenly published with wording "Mean" rather than "Total" tons/day for water years 2008 to 2013. The numbers represented in the tables are correct.

Records for water year 2014 turbidity are rated fair. Records for water year 2015 turbidity are rated fair. Records for water year 2016 turbidity are rated fair. Records for water year 2017 turbidity are rated fair. Records for water year 2018 turbidity are rated fair except for period Nov 10 to Jan 8, Mar 9 to 12, Jul 27 to Aug 1, Aug 23 to 28, Sept 1 to 6, and 10 to11, which are poor. Beginning in water year 2019, water quality records are not rated as "excellent", "good", "fair", or "poor".

Explanations of sample characteristics are available from the USGS NWISWeb Help System pages: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/help

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF DAILY RECORD - SUSPENDED- SEDIMENT DISCHARGE: Maximum daily, 1,050 tons/day, Oct 1, 2009; minimum daily, 0.03 tons/day, March 17, 2012. TURBIDITY: Maximum 1,467 FNU, Sep 1, 2021; minimum, 0.0 FNU, on many days. Maximum value exceeds manufacturer's accuracy specifications of 1,000 +/- 5%. SPECIFIC CONDUCTANCE: Maximum, 7400 microsiemens/cm (snowmelt), Feb 12, 2019; minimum, 48 microsiemens/cm, Sept 1, 2021. WATER TEMPERATURE: Maximum, 24.3°C, Jul 18, 2019; minimum, -0.1°C, Jan 30, 2022.