Located in north central Pennsylvania (Fig. 1), Kettle Creek's
rugged terrain contains some ofthe best trout fishing in the nation in its 400 miles of streams. Kettle Creek is a fairly large watershed at 250 square miles (Fig. 2). While there are some acid mine drainage (AMD) issues in the lower watershed, all of the waters above the Bush Dam are classified as Exceptional Value by the PA DEP.

The Kettle Creek Watershed Association and Trout Unlimited proposed Kettle Creek as a keystone project to the Center for Watershed Stewardship in 1999. A team of students in cooperation with local organizations and authorities worked for a year to address water quality, inter-organizational cooperation, and other watershed issues. Kettle Creek falls within the Middle West Branch Susquehanna HUC, 02050203. For more information, please visit the EPA's Surf Your Watershed site for Kettle Creek or use our GIS to view layers of habitat quality, streams, and vistas.

The project team identified challenges the watershed faced and developed solutions, which are listed below:

Increase exposure and cooperation:

• Invite all levels of local government to meetings
• Identify "forgotten" groups with unique knowledge
• Send watershed representatives to others' meetings

Improve water quality:

• Education on proper septic system maintenance
• Create water sampling protocals
• Create precise water quality GIS database
• Promote sound development
• Create water quality baseline inventory