‘What the mayfly is about’: Hutchinson honored for Shade Creek efforts

Original post by David Hurst for The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, PA on 29 October 2025

When Larry Hutchinson co-founded the Shade Creek Watershed Association in 1999, the waterway was orange and lifeless. And the grassroots group had little more than a few bold ideas of how they could fix it, he said. “I thought, ‘If the Stonycreek can come back, so can Dark Shade Creek,’ ” Hutchison told The Tribune-Democrat, recalling an early meeting with AmeriCorps workers.

Hutchinson’s efforts leading the waterway’s revival over the past 25 years earned him the Mayfly Award this month – a statewide remediation honor. The Cairnbrook man received the award Oct. 15 during the 28th annual Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference.

“It’s amazing what Larry has done,” said Andy McCallister, regional coordinator of the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, who has known Hutchinson for nearly 20 years. “Larry has always had this aplomb – the way he deals with things … the way he finds interesting tidbits of information. He is a thinking man, and he finds a way to get projects done and that is what the Mayfly Award is about.”

Hutchison grew up alongside Dark Shade Creek, which has been heavily polluted by abandoned mine discharges for generations. Twenty-five years ago, its pH was a strongly acidic level of 4.4, Hutchinson recalled. Five significant discharges destroyed Dark Shade’s aquatic life. The grassroots group of approximately a dozen members started small, with 5-gallon buckets of limestone, Hutchinson said. Hutchinson credited Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Agency’s watershed specialist Malcolm Crittenden, saying he instructed Shingle Run how to properly balance pH levels along one polluted tributary with steady “doses” of crushed limestone.

In late 2008, he got a call from the Department of Environmental Protection that the stream’s quality reached a pH level of 6.2, “a tipping point,” Hutchinson said. State Fish and Boat Commission officials worked with the group to add 70 brook trout into Shingle Run and returned in the spring of 2009 to see if there were signs any survived. Not only were the fish thriving, but the team found proof young trout were hatching, he said.

Following the development of a $280,000 treatment system at the top of Coal Run to improve Dark Shade and Shade creeks downstream, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Somerset Conservation District studies found fish thriving on one section of Dark Shade Creek itself. “It’s been 25 years in the making, but the Dark Shade is coming back,” he said. The Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference recognizes individuals efforts and expertise annually as a lifetime achievement-style award regarding reclamation work. The mayfly was selected as the symbol for the annual award because its presence in a stream signifies clean water, conference officials said.

Shade Creek Watershed Association member Melissa Reckner said Hutchinson deserves the praise. “No one has spent as many years as Larry championing Shade Creek watershed and its amenities,” she said. “Always a dreamer, Larry’s ‘pie-in-the-sky’ ideas put off nay-sayers, but his enthusiasm was and continues to be infectious, and it is impossible not to want to help Larry bring his vision of a healthy watershed to fruition.” Hutchinson is quick to note the organization is far from finished with its work. Its largest, most far-reaching project is already in the works.

If funds can be secured, a design phase could get underway next year to develop a project that would collect Shade Creek’s four largest discharges and route them to a Central City treatment facility. That facility would direct between 7 million and 20 million gallons of treated water back into Dark Shade Creek – a flow that would enable the waterway to support kayak paddling year round in an area known for Class V rapids. The treatment effort would also pay dividends downstream to the Stonycreek and Conemaugh rivers, he said.

“The impact on our region is going to be big,” he said, noting the region is already known for its fishing and whitewater paddling draws. “It’s going to be a kayakers’ paradise.” Hutchinson credited fellow Shade Creek members, including President Jeff Sarver, for the “team” approach that it’s taken to improve Dark Shade Creek and tributaries. “And we’re not done yet,” he said.

About Shade Creek Watershed Association

The Shade Creek Watershed is located in Somerset County in the south western part of Pennsylvania.  Dark Shade Creek joins Clear Shade Creek to form Shade Creek North of Central City.  There is a 1.1 mile section of Dark Shade Creek that is rated Class IV/V during normal flows by American Whitewater.  However, Dark Shade Creek is one of the largest polluters to the Stonycreek River, which is a great source of industrial grade water to Johnstown and is also a beautiful recreation river widely used for whitewater rafting.

Shade Creek Watershed Association, referred to as SCWA (pronounced SQUAW) by it’s members, was founded in 1999 to protect and restore water and fish habitat of the Shade Creek Watershed.  Our primary focus at inception was volunteer water monitoring, but since then we have performed stream cleanups, roadside litter cleanups, and community outreach.  

Through the funding of a Growing Greener Grant, we have installed an anoxic limestone drain (ALD) in the headwaters of Shingle Run, a naturally acidic tributary of Dark Shade Creek.  Additional limestone dosing has occurred in Shingle Run and other tributaries with very impressive results.  In 2008, native brook trout were reintroduced into Shingle Run in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Fish Commission. A year later the stream was shocked and it was estimated that 37% of the fish remained and possibly establishing a population.  It was again shocked in 2010 and was found to have 200 fish most young of the year and one 11 inch native.

In an effort to decrease the effects of AMD, which is very prevalent in this region, we have constructed a passive treatment system for the Reitz #1 Abandoned Mine Discharge, which impacts Laurel Run, another tributary of Dark Shade Creek.