Brace Brook

Brace Brook begins on a hill in Mount Pleasant Township, Wayne County, not far from the border Wayne County/Susquehanna County line. It flows south-southeast and south for several tenths of a mile through a valley near Brace Brook Road before entering Clinton Township. The stream then flows south-southeast for several tenths of a mile before entering another valley and receiving an unnamed tributary from the left. It then turns west-southwest for several hundred feet before turning south-southeast and passing through the Brace Brook Reservoir. A short distance downstream of that reservoir, the stream turns south for several tenths of a mile. It then turns southwest for several tenths of a mile before turning south and then west-southwest. After a short distance, the stream exits Clinton Township and Wayne County and enters Forest City, in Susquehanna County. At this point, it immediately reaches its confluence with the Lackawanna River.

Brace Brook joins the Lackawanna River {{convert|36.96|mi|km}} upriver of its mouth.{{Citation|url = http://www.lycoming.edu/cwi/pdfs/paGazetterOfStreams.pdf|title = Pennsylvania Gazetteer of Streams|page = 39|date = November 2, 2001|access-date = June 9, 2015}}

Brace Brook is not designated as an impaired stream.{{Citation|author=United States Environmental Protection Agency |url=http://oaspub.epa.gov/tmdl/attains_watershed.control?p_huc=02050107&p_state=PA&p_cycle=2006&p_report_type=A |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202003341/https://oaspub.epa.gov/tmdl/attains_watershed.control?p_huc=02050107&p_state=PA&p_cycle=2006&p_report_type=A |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |title=Assessment Summary for Reporting Year 2006 Pennsylvania, Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna Watershed |access-date=June 9, 2015 }} In the early 1900s, the water quality in a reach of the watershed was described as "satisfactory".

The concentration of alkalinity in the watershed of Brace Brook is {{convert|23|mg/L|oz/cuft|sp=us}}.{{Citation|author = Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission|url = http://fishandboat.com/classa.pdf|title = Class A Wild Trout Waters|page = 24|date = August 2015|access-date = September 28, 2015|archive-date = March 4, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061031/http://fishandboat.com/classa.pdf|url-status = dead}}

The elevation near the mouth of Brace Brook is {{convert|1473|ft|m}} above sea level.{{Citation|author = Geographic Names Information System|url = http://gnis.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=136:3:0::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:1170106,Brace%20Brook|title = Feature Detail Report for: Brace Brook|access-date = June 9, 2015}}{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The elevation of the stream's source is between {{convert|2040|and|2060|ft|m}} above sea level.

Brace Brook drains a portion of the western side of the Moosic Mountain Ridge. Part of the watershed is specifically located on Browndale Mountain, a section of the Moosic Mountains. The stream flows through a "spectacular" ravine downstream of the Brace Brook Reservoir. There is an above-ground water pipeline in the vicinity of Brace Brook.{{Citation|url = http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/D_001513.pdf|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150923213250/http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/D_001513.pdf|url-status = dead|archive-date = September 23, 2015|title = Upper Lackawanna Watershed Conservation Management Plan|pages = 34, 45, 103|date = January 2002|access-date = June 9, 2015}}

Part of the watershed of Brace Brook is located upstream of the coal measures. However, there are culm piles at the stream's mouth. The surficial geology along the stream in its lower reaches mainly consists of alluvium, surface mining land, coal dumps, and fill. There are also areas of a glacial or resedimented till known as Wisconsinan Till nearby, and also bedrock consisting of sandstone and shale. Further upstream, the surficial geology in the stream's vicinity mainly consists of Wisconsinan Till, but there are patches of alluvium and peat bogs near the Brace Brook Reservoir. Bedrock consisting of sandstone and shale lines the sides of the stream's valley in its middle reaches.{{Citation|author = Duane D. Braun|url = http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_015811.zip|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140524155904/http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_015811.zip|url-status = dead|archive-date = May 24, 2014|title = Surficial geology of the Forest City 7.5-minute quadrangle, Wayne, Susquehanna, and Lackawanna Counties, Pennsylvania|page = 14|year = 2008|access-date = June 10, 2015}}

The watershed of Brace Brook has an area of {{convert|2.99|sqmi|km2}}. The stream is entirely within the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Forest City.

Brace Brook is a second-order stream.{{Citation|author = Lackawanna River Corridor Association |url = http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/DCNR_001596.pdf|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150923213128/http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/DCNR_001596.pdf|url-status = dead|archive-date = September 23, 2015|title = Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan|page = 242|year = 2001|access-date = June 9, 2015}}

The Brace Brook Reservoir, which is on Brace Brook, is used as an emergency water supply for Forest City by the Pennsylvania American Water Company.{{Citation|url = http://www.elibrary.dep.state.pa.us/dsweb/Get/Document-59622/Forest%20City%20RS2359014001.pdf|title = Source Water Assessment Public Summary Pennsylvania American Water Company – Forest City PWSID 2359014 Stillwater Reservoir, 001, Lackawanna River, 002, and Brace Brook Reservoir, 003|date = February 2002|access-date = June 9, 2015}}

Brace Brook was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1170106.

A reservoir on Brace Brook supplied Forest City with water via gravity as early as the early 1900s.{{Citation|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=f1pNAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Brace+Brook%22+wayne&pg=PA662|title = Official Documents, Comprising the Department and Other Reports ..., Volume 11|page = 662|year = 1908|access-date = June 9, 2015|author1 = Pennsylvania}} In the early 1900s, the supervisors of Clinton Township, Wayne County requested permission to construct a bridge across the stream on a new road approximately {{convert|2|mi|km}} northeast of Forest City.{{Citation|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=n4JCAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Brace+Brook%22+wayne&pg=PA1715|title = Department Reports of Pennsylvania, Volume 2|page = 1715|year = 1916|access-date = June 10, 2015}} There are a number of old concrete structures on Brace Brook. Additionally, a water filtration plant is located to the south of the stream's mouth.

At the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission meeting on April 15 and 16, 2013, the commission considered adding Brace Brook and a number of other streams to its list of wild trout streams.{{Citation|work = Pennsylvania Bulletin|url = http://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol43/43-7/302.html|title = NOTICES FISH AND BOAT COMMISSION Classification of Wild Trout Streams; Proposed Additions to List; April 2013|date = February 16, 2013|access-date = June 10, 2015}}

There are unofficial walking paths along the side of the ravine through which Brace Brook flows. Additionally, the stream crosses the O&W Rail Trail via a culvert.

The drainage basin of Brace Brook is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery.{{Citation|work = Pennsylvania Code|url = http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/025/chapter93/s93.9j.html|title = § 93.9j. Drainage List J. Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania Lackawanna River|access-date = June 9, 2015}} The stream is designated by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission as Class A Wild Trout Waters for brook trout form its headwaters downstream to the inflow of the Brace Brook Reservoir.

• Meredith Brook, next tributary of the Lackawanna River going downriver
• East Branch Lackawanna River, next tributary of the Lackawanna River going upriver
• West Branch Lackawanna River, next tributary of the Lackawanna River going upriver
• List of rivers of Pennsylvania
• List of tributaries of the Lackawanna River

{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Rivers of Wayne County, Pennsylvania

Category:Rivers of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania

Category:Tributaries of the Lackawanna River

Category:Rivers of Pennsylvania