Sunday Creek is a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Hocking River

Hocking River

The Hocking River is a tributary of the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio in the United States.The Hocking flows mostly on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, but its headwaters are in a glaciated region...

, 27.2 miles (43.8 km) long, in southeastern Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Via the Hocking and Ohio

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

 Rivers, it is part of the watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, draining 139 square miles (360 km²) in a mainly rural area of the Allegheny Plateau

Allegheny Plateau

The Allegheny Plateau is a large dissected plateau area in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio...

 region. Its name is locally said to derive from early white settlers who in 1802 reached the creek on a Sunday, and so named it after the day of their discovery. (also see nearby Monday Creek

Monday Creek

Monday Creek is a tributary of the Hocking River, 27 miles long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. Via the Hocking and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 116 square miles on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau...

.)

Sunday Creek rises in southeastern Perry County

Perry County, Ohio

Perry County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. Founded on March 1, 1818, it was the 55th county to be formed in Ohio. Portions of Fairfield, Washington and Muskingum Counties were taken to create Perry County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 36,058. Its county seat...

 and flows generally southwardly into northern Athens County

Athens County, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 62,223 people, 22,501 households, and 12,713 families residing in the county. The population density was 123 people per square mile . There were 24,901 housing units at an average density of 49 per square mile...

, passing through the communities of Rendville

Rendville, Ohio

Rendville is a village in Perry County, Ohio, United States. The population was 46 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rendville is located at , along Sunday Creek....

, Corning

Corning, Ohio

Corning is a village in Perry County, Ohio, United States. The population was 593 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Corning is located at , along Sunday Creek....

, Glouster

Glouster, Ohio

Glouster is a village in Athens County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,972 at the 2000 census. It is close to Burr Oak State Park.-History:...

, Trimble

Trimble, Ohio

Trimble is a village in Athens County, Ohio, United States. The population was 466 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Trimble is located at , along Sunday Creek....

, Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Ohio

Jacksonville is a village in Athens County, Ohio, United States. The population was 544 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Jacksonville is located at , along Sunday Creek....

, and Millfield (site of the 1930 Millfield Mine disaster

Millfield Mine disaster

The Millfield Mine disaster, Ohio's worst mine disaster, occurred November 5, 1930, at the Sunday Creek Coal Company Mine Number 6 in Dover Township, Athens County, Ohio. According to the historical marker at the site in Millfield, Ohio, the explosion killed 82 people, including the company's top...

), to Chauncey

Chauncey, Ohio

Chauncey is a village in Athens County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,067 at the 2000 census. The local residents pronounce the village name...

, where it flows into the Hocking River. In Athens County north of Glouster it collects the East Branch Sunday Creek, 15.5 miles (25 km) long, which rises in Perry County and passes through Morgan County

Morgan County, Ohio

**----...

. Tom Jenkins Dam, constructed on the East Branch in Athens County in 1950 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, forms Burr Oak Lake, the site of Burr Oak State Park

Burr Oak State Park

Burr Oak State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Ohio, located mostly in Morgan County, with part extending into Athens County. Its address is listed as Glouster....

. In Glouster, Sunday Creek collects the West Branch Sunday Creek, 14 miles (22.5 km) long, which rises in Perry County and flows generally southwardly.

Other significant Tributaries include Greens Run, Mud Fork, and Johnson Run, all perennial streams draining the area to the west of the creek.

A predominant land use in the watershed of Sunday Creek has historically been coal mining

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

, with both underground

Sub-surface mining

Underground mining refers to a group of underground mining techniques used to extract coal, oil shale and other minerals or geological materials from sedimentary rocks...

 and surface

Surface mining

Surface mining , is a type of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed...

 mines in the area. A 1997 study by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency identified the lowermost thirteen miles of Sunday Creek as having been "irretrievably damaged to the extent that no appreciable aquatic life can be supported" due to the creek's low pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

, caused by acid mine drainage

Acid mine drainage

Acid mine drainage , or acid rock drainage , refers to the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. However, other areas where the earth has been disturbed may also contribute acid rock drainage to the environment...

. The lower areas of the creek are generally colored orange from the effects of acid-mine drainage during times of low water.

, an organization called the Sunday Creek Watershed Group operates with the intention of addressing water quality and ecosystem-related matters in the watershed. It is sponsored by Rural Action

Rural Action

Rural Action is a non profit working in Appalachian Ohio promoting economic, social and environmental justice. The organization envisions a region of clean streams, healthy forests, thriving family farms, meaningful jobs for everyone and lively towns that remember local history and celebrate their...

, a non-profit organization in southeastern Ohio.