About the Creek
Quittapahilla Creek originates in eastern Lebanon County and flows west for 17 miles through Lebanon and Annville before entering Swatara Creek near Palmyra. Known locally as the “Quittie,” this stream is a stocked trout fishery which includes a popular .9 mile Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only section in the Quittie Creek Nature Park in Annville. The addition of .7 mile of DHALO water upstream of Spruce Street is currently under consideration by the PA Fish & Boat Commission.
Although the Quittie has seen a recovery in water quality in recent years since the steel industry in Lebanon ceased to exist in the 1980s, streambank erosion and extreme sedimentation from urban stormwater runoff continue to plague this otherwise fertile limestone stream.
Project Work
Working with the Quittapahilla Watershed Association, chapter volunteers have installed various streambank reinforcement devices which also provide cover for holdover and stocked trout. The chapter received PA State Council’s “Best Chapter Project Award” for the year 2000 for these projects. Funding was made available through PFBC’s Adopt-a-Stream Program.
Sponsored by the Quittapahilla Watershed Association, work was begun by Aquatic Restoration Company in November, 2014 on the nearly one-mile-long Quittie Creek restoration project in Annville, PA. Starting just above the Swingholm Pedestrian Bridge in the Quittie Creek Nature Park, Phase 1 was completed in early 2015. Phase 2 was kicked off in June 2016 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the park, with work scheduled to begin later in the summer to extend the restoration efforts downstream to Rt. 934 in Annville.
Kent Crawford is the stream steward and can be contacted at (717) 566-5851.
