Peters Creek
Jefferson Hills

Peters Creek Watershed

The Peters Creek Watershed encompasses an area of approximately 50 square miles in southwestern Allegheny County and northeastern Washington County. Peters Creek, the major surface stream in the watershed, is 16.2 miles long. Its elevation is about 1200 feet above sea level at its headwaters near Thomas in Washington County and 719 feet at Clairton in Allegheny County where it discharges into the Monongahela River.

The named tributary streams to Peters Creek include Lewis Run, Beam Run, Lick Run and Piney Fork Run (with its tributaries Catfish Run and Sleepy Hollow Run). In addition, there are a number of unnamed tributaries. Total stream length within the watershed is estimated to be approximately 50 miles.

The political subdivisions represented in the watershed include Baldwin, Bethel Park, Clairton, Jefferson Hills, Pleasant Hills, South Park Twp, West Mifflin and Whitehall Borough in Allegheny County and Finleyville, Nottingham Twp, North Strabane, Peters Twp and Union Twp in Washington County. South Park County Park is a 2000 acre multi-use park located entirely within the watershed. This park is managed by Allegheny County and is comprised of parts of Bethel Park and South Park Twp.

The southern portion of the watershed is populated with what started as small mining towns while the northern portions of the watershed are more densely populated.

Most of the watershed is underlain with high-quality, easily-mined coal deposits that outcrop on the slopes of many of the stream valleys. The close proximity of these valuable deposits to the many Pittsburgh area coke ovens and steel mills has led to extensive mining throughout the watershed.