Chester County, Pennsylvania
Science Center Objects
Since 1969, the Pennsylvania Water Science Center has had a cooperative program with Chester County to measure and describe water resources. Cooperation has been primarily with the Chester County Water Resources Authority (CCWRA), with participation from the Chester County Health Department. This partnership provides Chester County with scientific information for water-resources management.
USGS scientist tests groundwater samples for water quality. (Laura Hallberg, USGS. Public domain.)
Chester County Monitoring Network Web App
The CCWRA was created in 1961, primarily for land acquisition and planning for flood-control and water-supply projects. With the backing of the Brandywine Valley Association, the CCWRA started its first cooperative project with the USGS in 1969. It was a study of the water-quality condition of Chester County streams with an emphasis on benthic-macroinvertebrates and stream chemistry.
The types of projects and data collection conducted by the USGS have changed with the needs of Chester County and the mission of the CCWRA. Chester County is experiencing rapid population growth resulting in considerable stress on water resources. In response, the CCWRA has broadened its focus from flood control to water-supply planning, water quality, and groundwater and surface-water management. The results of USGS studies are used by the CCWRA and other county agencies, including the Planning Commission, Health Department, and Parks and Recreation, for conducting day-to-day activities and planning for future growth. The results also are used by the CCWRA to provide guidance and technical assistance to municipalities, water suppliers, industrial dischargers, watershed and conservancy associations and other civic organizations, state and Federal agencies, river basin commissions, and the private sector.
The cooperative water-resources program benefits not only citizens of Chester County but also those in other states as the headwaters of several interstate drainages lie within the county. In addition, the program serves the interests of the Federal government as innovative studies conducted in Chester County provide methods and interpretations that often can be used nationwide. Major program thrusts include collection of surface-water, groundwater, and water-quality data and interpretive studies.
Find data online at the Chester County Monitoring Network web app.
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Date published: January 20, 2021Status: ActiveNext Generation Water Observing System: Delaware River Basin
The USGS Next Generation Water Observing System will provide high-fidelity, real-time data on water quantity and quality necessary to support modern water prediction and decision support systems for water emergencies and daily water operations. The Delaware River Basin pilot provides an opportunity to develop the NextGen observing system in a nationally important, complex interstate river...
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Date published: December 13, 2018Status: ArchivedPre-2013 Bibliography of USGS publications - Chester County, Pennsylvania (Archive)
This is an Archive. Under Construction.
A bibliography of USGS publications for Chester County, Pennsylvania, Pre-2013.
Pre-2013 Publications available from the USGS Publications Warehouse are on the "Publications" tab.
Other publications listed below are not, or in some cases are only partially available at the Publications Warehouse.
Contacts: Andrew G Reif, Lisa A SeniorAttribution: Pennsylvania Water Science Center
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Year Published: 2017Estimated fecal coliform bacteria concentrations using near real-time continuous water-quality and streamflow data from five stream sites in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 2007–16
Several streams used for recreational activities, such as fishing, swimming, and boating, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, are known to have periodic elevated concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria, a type of bacteria used to indicate the potential presence of fecally related pathogens that may pose health risks to humans exposed through water...
Senior, Lisa A.Attribution: Pennsylvania Water Science Center, Water Resources, , Region 1: North Atlantic-AppalachianView CitationSenior, L.A., 2017, Estimated fecal coliform bacteria concentrations using near real-time continuous water-quality and streamflow data from five stream sites in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 2007–16: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5075, 46 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175075.
Evaluation of long-term trends in hydrologic and water-quality conditions, and estimation of water budgets through 2013, Chester County, Pennsylvania
An evaluation of trends in hydrologic and water quality conditions and estimation of water budgets through 2013 was done by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Chester County Water Resources Authority. Long-term hydrologic, meteorologic, and biologic data collected in Chester County, Pennsylvania, which included streamflow,...
Sloto, Ronald A.; Reif, Andrew G.
Bathymetry and capacity of Chambers Lake, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Introduction Chambers Lake is a manmade reservoir on Birch Run, a tributary to West Branch Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The lake was created in 1994 after the completion of Multi-Purpose Dam PA-436F (Hibernia Dam), which was built under the Watershed Protection & Flood Control Prevention Act (U.S. Soil Conservation Service...
Gyves, Matthew C.
Mineralogy and environmental geochemistry of historical iron slag, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Pennsylvania, USA
The Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in southeastern Pennsylvania, which features an Fe smelter that was operational in the 18th and 19th centuries, is dominated by three slag piles. Pile 1 slag, from the Hopewell Furnace, and pile 2 slag, likely from the nearby Cornwall Furnace, were both produced in cold-blast charcoal-fired smelters. In...
Piatak, Nadine M.; Seal, Robert
A benthic-macroinvertebrate index of biotic integrity and assessment of conditions in selected streams in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1998-2009
The Stream Conditions of Chester County Biological Monitoring Network (Network) was established by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Chester County Water Resources Authority in 1969. Chester County encompasses 760 square miles in southeastern Pennsylvania and has a rapidly expanding population. Land-use change has occurred in response to this...
Reif, Andrew G.
Pathogenic bacteria and microbial-source tracking markers in Brandywine Creek Basin, Pennsylvania and Delaware, 2009-10
The City of Wilmington, Delaware, is in the downstream part of the Brandywine Creek Basin, on the main stem of Brandywine Creek. Wilmington uses this stream, which drains a mixed-land-use area upstream, for its main drinking-water supply. Because the stream is used for drinking water, Wilmington is in need of information about the occurrence and...
Duris, Joseph W.; Reif, Andrew G.; Olson, Leif E.; Johnson, Heather E.
Trace metals related to historical iron smelting at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Berks and Chester Counties, Pennsylvania
Iron ore containing elevated concentrations of trace metals was smelted at Hopewell Furnace during its 113 years of operation (1771-1883). The ore used at Hopewell Furnace was obtained from iron mines within 5 miles of the furnace. The iron-ore deposits were formed about 200 million years ago and contain abundant magnetite, the primary iron...
Sloto, Ronald A.
Estimated suspended-sediment loads and yields in the French and Brandywine Creek Basins, Chester County, Pennsylvania, water years 2008-09
Turbidity and suspended-sediment concentration data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at four stream stations--French Creek near Phoenixville, West Branch Brandywine Creek near Honey Brook, West Branch Brandywine Creek at Modena, and East Branch Brandywine Creek below Downingtown--in Chester County, Pa. Sedimentation and...
Sloto, Ronald A.; Olson, Leif E.
Distribution of trace metals at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Berks and Chester Counties, Pennsylvania
Hopewell Furnace, located approximately 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, was a cold-blast, charcoal iron furnace that operated for 113 years (1771 to 1883). The purpose of this study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, was to determine the distribution of trace metals released to the environment from an...
Sloto, Ronald A.; Reif, Andrew G.
Groundwater-quality monitoring program in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1980-2008
The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Chester County Water Resources Authority and the Chester County Health Department began a groundwater-quality monitoring program in 1980 in Chester County, Pa., where a large percentage of the population relies on wells for drinking-water supply. This report documents the program and serves as a...
Senior, Lisa A.; Sloto, Ronald A.
Physical and Vegetative Characteristics of a Newly Constructed Wetland and Modified Stream Reach, Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 2000-2006
To compensate for authorized disturbance of naturally occurring wetlands and streams during roadway improvements to U.S. Highway 202 in Chester and Montgomery Counties, Pa., the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) constructed 0.42 acre of emergent wetland and 0.94 acre of scrub-shrub/forested wetland and modified sections of a 1,...
Chaplin, Jeffrey J.; White, Kirk E.; Olson, Leif E.
Altitude and Configuration of the Potentiometric Surface in the Upper White Clay Creek and Lower West Branch Brandywine Creek Basins including Portions of Penn, London Grove, New Garden, Londonderry, West Marlborough, Highland, and East Fallowfield Townships and West Grove, Avondale, Modena, and South Coatesville boroughs, Chester County, Pennsylvania, May through July 2006
INTRODUCTION Since 1984, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been mapping the altitude and configuration of the potentiometric surface in Chester County as part of an ongoing cooperative program to measure and describe the water resources of the county. These maps can be used to determine the general direction of ground-water flow and are...
Hale, Lindsay B. Effect of on-site wastewater disposal on quality of ground water and base flow: A pilot study in Chester County, Southeastern Pennsylvania, 2005
On-site wastewater disposal has the potential to introduce contaminants into ground water and subsequently, by ground-water discharge, to streams. A pilot study was conducted during 2005 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Chester County Health Department and the Chester County Water Resources Authority to determine if wastewater...
Senior, Lisa A.; Cinotto, Peter J.-
Date published: January 1, 2017Archival data for regression models developed to estimate fecal coliform concentrations at five stream sites, Chester County, Pennsylvania (2017)
This data release supports the following publication: Senior, Lisa A., 2017, Estimated Fecal Coliform Bacteria Concentrations Using Near Real-Time Water-Quality and Streamflow Data From Five Stream Sites in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 2007–16: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific-Investigations Report 2017–5075 (https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175075...
Attribution: Pennsylvania Water Science Center -
Date published: March 17, 2016Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON)
BISON: (https://bison.usgs.gov) A web-based map viewer allowing users to search, view and download species occurrence data from BISON. BISON APIs: (https://bison.usgs.gov/#api) REST, WMS, and solr services enable direct access to species occurrence data from custom external applications.
Attribution: Core Science Systems, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS)
Fair weather cumulus at Chester County, PA Observation Well CH 10
Chester County, Pennsylvania Observation Well CH 10. The well is 33.5 feet deep, and lies in the local Cockeysville Marble Aquifer, part of the larger Piedmont and Blue Ridge carbonate-rock National Aquifer. The well is relatively new to the Groundwater Quality Monitoring Network (GWMN) consisting of 27 wells distributed over 26 counties in Pennsylvania. Wells are sampled
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Well CH 10, groundwater quality monitoring network, Chester County, PA
Well CH 10 is part of a Pennsylvania groundwater quality monitoring network and is in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Chester County, Pennsylvania Land Change Animation
Chester County, Pennsylvania has always been close-in hinterland of the city of Philadelphia. As the metropolitan area expanded, Chester County became one of the suburban frontiers of Philadelphia, with developed land cover concentrated along transportation corridors that were first railroad lines and later U.S. and state highways, such as U.S. 30 and more recently I-76 (
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