Trout Unlimited receives grants

Trout Unlimited has been awarded Growing Greener funds totaling almost $900,000 from the state to continue its work on abandoned mine drainage projects.

Almost $600,000 will be spent on a passive treatment system to improve water quality in Twomile Run, a native brook trout tributary to Kettle Creek in Clinton County.

Another $100,000 will be used to stabilize the elevation of a deep mine pool in the Kettle Creek watershed. The coal mine was abandoned more than 100 years ago.

TU said the projects will protect the fish and other aquatic life that are making their way back to Kettle Creek and the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

TU also was also awarded $120,000 for to provide technical assistance to watershed and sportsmen's groups, county conservation districts, TU chapters, and others. An additional grant of $80,000 will help TU evaluate and document water quality and aquatic life conditions on the West Branch of Susquehanna River, between Curwensville and Renovo.