Does Pennsylvania have more miles of streams than any state except Alaska?
No. Pennsylvania is not even in the top ten. There are different types of streams- those that flow year-round because the water table is always above the the stream bed (perennial), those that are dry for part of the year because the water table drops below the stream bed during dry parts of the year (intermittent), and those that flow only after storms and snow melt because the water table is always below the stream bed (ephemeral). Considering only perennial streams, Pennsylvania ranks about 12th in the lower 48 states with about 40,000 miles. For intermittent and ephemeral streams, Pennsylvania ranks about 33rd with about 15,000 miles. For all streams, Pennsylvania ranks about 31st of the 50 states with about 55,000 miles. Different sources of these numbers of miles may vary slightly, as do the rankings, especially for intermittent and ephemeral streams. These numbers are determined by the blue lines that represent streams on 7½-minute USGS topographic maps. Large western states hav
