 At the time of its establishment, the water areas known as the Susquehanna flats were covered with wild celery, pondweeds, redhead grass and other desirable waterfowl foods.Peak waterfowl population numbers included over 500,000 canvasback and redhead ducks and over 200,000 American wigeon.These rich areas of aquatic growth began declining in the 1960s due to changes in the water quality and quantity.