Mouse Creek (Schwaben Creek tributary)

Mouse Creek is a tributary of Schwaben Creek in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 5.6 mi long and flows through Jordan Township, Washington Township, and Jackson Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of 7.19 sqmi. The creek and its tributaries are not designated as impaired waterbodies. Its watershed is at least partially in the ridge and valley physiographic province. The main land use in the upper reaches of the creek's drainage basin are forested land and agricultural land, but other land uses exist as well. A number of bridges have been constructed across the creek.

Course
Mouse Creek begins in a valley in Jordan Township. It flows west-southwest for several tenths of a mile before turning west for a few tenths of a mile. It then turns west-northwest before turning west. After more than a mile, it turns north, receiving two unnamed tributaries from the left. The creek then passes through a water gap and enters Washington Township before entering another valley, where it receives an unnamed tributary from the right. The creek then turns west-southwest for a few tenths of a mile before turning west-northwest for several tenths of a mile and entering Washington Township. Here, it crosses Pennsylvania Route 225 and turns north, flowing through a much narrower valley alongside Pennsylvania Route 225 and receiving two unnamed tributaries (one from the left and one from the right). The creek then turns north-northeast for several tenths of a mile, crossing Pennsylvania Route 225 and reaching its confluence with Schwaben Creek.

Mouse Creek joins Schwaben Creek 0.48 mi upstream of its mouth.

Hydrology and climate
No stream segment in the watershed of Mouse Creek is designated as an impaired waterbody. The headwaters reach of the creek was selected as the reference watershed for the Dalmatia Creek total maximum daily load.

In 2001, the water temperature of Mouse Creek at Urban ranged from 5.3 to 19.4 C in two measurements. The discharge ranged from 0.52 to 4.3 cuft/s and the specific conductance ranged from 250 to 350 micro-siemens per centimeter at 25 C. The creek's pH was slightly alkaline, ranging from 7.7 to 8.4 and the water hardness ranged from 75.1 to 177 mg/L.

In 2001, the concentration of dissolved oxygen in Mouse Creek at Urban ranged from 9.4 to 11.9 mg/L in two measurements. The carbon dioxide concentration ranged from 0.4 to 4.7 mg/L and the phosphorus concentration ranged between 10.0 and 23.0 mg/L. The sulfate concentration ranged from 15.0 to 20.0 mg/L. The silica concentration ranged between 6.00 and 7.40 mg/L. The concentrations of fluoride and chloride in the creek's filtered water ranged from 0.10 to 0.10 mg/L and 10.8 to 15.1 mg/L.

In 2001, the concentrations of recoverable magnesium and calcium in Moue Creek at Urban ranged from 3.6 to 6.5 mg/L and 24.0 to 59.0 mg/L. The concentrations of recoverable sodium and potassium ranged from 5.4 to 7.3 mg/L and 1.1 to 1.7 mg/L. Numerous other metalloids and metals, such as alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, lanthanides, transition metals, and other metals have been observed in the creek

The annual sediment load in the upper reaches of the watershed of Mouse Creek is 6644800 lb. Cropland is the largest contributor, at 6115000 lb per year. It is followed by hay/pastures at 232400 lb per year, low-intensity development at 123000 lb per year, forested land at 76200 lb annually, transitional land at 60000 lb annually, and streambanks at 38200 lb per year.

The peak annual discharge of the creek has a 10 percent chance of reaching 1150 cuft/s and a 2 percent chance of reaching 2650 cuft/s. It has a 1 percent chance of reaching 3600 cuft/s and a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 7600 cuft/s.

Geography, geology, and climate
The elevation near the mouth of Mouse Creek is 476 ft above sea level. The elevation of the creek's source is 850 ft above sea level. The highest elevations in the creek's watershed are more than 1100 ft above sea level.

At least part of the watershed of Mouse Creek is in the ridge and valley physiographic province. The surface geology in this part of the watershed consists mostly of a metamorphic rock known as schist, which does not have any significant effect on the sediment loads in the watershed.

A mountain known as Hooflander Mountain passes through the watershed of Mouse Creek, as does part of Fisher Ridge. A number of quarries of bluish-black limestone existed in the vicinity of the creek by the late 1800s.

The average annual rate of rainfall in the upper reaches of Mouse Creek is 39.30 in. The average annual rate of runoff is 2.96 in.

Watershed
The watershed of Mouse Creek has an area of 7.19 sqmi. The mouth of the creek is in the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Pillow. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Klingerstown. The mouth of the creek is located within 1 mi of Red Cross. The watershed is in the lower reaches of the Mahanoy Creek drainage basin.

Mouse Creek is one of the major streams in the watershed of Mahanoy Creek.

In the upper 2.7 sqmi of the watershed of Mouse Creek, the dominant land use is forested land, which makes up 52.0 percent of the land area. Agricultural land, including cropland and hay/pasture land, occupies 42.0 percent of this part of the watershed. Only 5.6 percent is low-intensity development, and only 0.3 percent is transitional land.

History
Mouse Creek was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1181976.

A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying T-355 over Mouse Creek was repaired in 1994 3 mi south of Dornsife and is 25.9 ft long. A concrete tee beam bridge carrying State Route 3003 over the creek was built in 1922 2 mi southeast of Red Cross and is 23.0 ft long. A two-span steel culvert bridge carrying State Route 3003 over the creek was built 0.5 mi south of Urban in 1933 and repaired in 1979. This bridge is 23.0 ft long. A 32.2 ft long steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying State Route 3010 across the creek in Red Cross was constructed in 1946 and repaired in 1973.

A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge with a length of 23.0 ft was built over the creek in 1954 east of Herndon and was repaired in 1978. A concrete culvert bridge carrying State Route 3005 was built over the creek 1.5 mi southeast of Urban in 1974 and is 21.0 ft long. A concrete culvert bridge across the creek was built for Pennsylvania Route 225 in 1986 in Red Cross and is 24.0 ft long. Another bridge of the same type and carrying the same highway was built over the creek in 1991 2 mi north of Mandata and is 24.0 ft long.

Mouse Creek experienced flooding in June 1972, as did many other streams in the area.

Biology
Mouse Creek is designated as a Trout Stocked Fishery.

Mouse Creek has significant forested riparian buffers, especially in its headwaters. The ridgelines at the boundaries the watershed are also extensively forested. Contour cropping is practiced within the creek's watershed.