Three rivers management plan

As headwaters of the Ohio and lower Mississippi Rivers, western Pennsylvania’s Three Rivers (Allegheny, Monongahela, Ohio) are of ecological importance for much of the eastern U.S.  The Ohio Basin in Pennsylvania contains 80% of state-listed fish species and the world’s best populations of two federally-listed mussel species.  These important resources are imperiled by numerous historic impacts and continuing threats, including resource extraction, invasive species, habitat elimination, channel deepening, emerging contaminants, and disturbances of ecological processes of large rivers.  Commercial aggregate dredging is a unique threat that occurs in Pennsylvania only in the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers. The Three Rivers Management Plan (TRMP) was developed to serve as a comprehensive approach to river management.  The primary purpose is to review information on aquatic resources of the Three Rivers, including current and past management strategies, and to propose management actions that address identified needs.  The overarching goal of TRMP is to protect, conserve, and enhance the diverse and valuable aquatic resources of the Three Rivers and to provide recreational opportunities that utilize these resources.