Water Quality of the North End of Seneca Lake: 1991-2006

The Seneca County Soil and Water Conservation District (SCSWCD) has collected limnological data on the waters of the northern end of Seneca Lake since 1991. This report updates the 1999 report (Makarewicz et al. 1999) with data taken by the SCSWCD from 1999 to 2006. The purpose of monitoring the northern portion of Seneca Lake was to determine the health of the Seneca Lake ecosystem and to determine if any temporal trends existed in Seneca Lake water quality. The water quality of Seneca Lake has been studied since the early 1900s when secchi disk readings were first taken. At that time, the trophic state of Seneca Lake was classified as oligotrophic; that is, nutrient concentrations and primary production were low and transparency high. Water clarity remained approximately the same up through the early 1930s. By the late 1970s, water clarity generally decreased, indicating that the lake’s trophic status was mesotrophic. Total phosphorus concentrations from the 1970s were into the mesotrophic range. Chlorophyll-a concentration also illustrated the trend toward more productive waters in Seneca Lake in the early to mid 1970s. Similarly, in the early 1970s, the transparency of Seneca Lake had decreased to within the eutrophic range. These low transparency values were observed into the early 1990s. Based on the sampling done by the Seneca County Soil and Water Conservation District from 1991 through 2006, an improvement in water quality of Seneca Lake is suggested – at least at the north end where the samples were taken. The trophic status of Seneca Lake is currently best described as oligotrophic. In conclusion, water quality of Seneca Lake appears to have improved since the early 1970s. However, the increase in total phosphorus levels from 2003 to 2005 represents an increase of some concern as they represent the highest values in the last 14 years

Segment Analysis Of Fish Creek The Location Of Sources Of Pollution

The Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District has monitored the waterways of Orleans County since 1997 in collaboration with the State University of New York at Brockport\u27s Department of Environmental Science and Biology. Monitoring efforts have included the installation of a permanent gauging and sampling stations located on Johnson Creek, Sandy Creek and Oak Orchard Creek (1, 2). The District and SUNY Brockport have also completed a Stressed Stream Analyses on Johnson Creek in 2000 (3), Marsh Creek in 2001 (4) and Otter Creek in 2003 (5). SUNY Brockport has provided analytical services for water chemistry, data interpretation, as well as consulting services on the direction of the monitoring program. Fish Creek is located in the southern portion of the Lake Ontario watershed, Orleans County, New York, and flows into Oak Orchard Creek south of Route 104 and east of Bates Road in the Town of Ridgeway, New York (Fig. 1). The goal of this project was to identify the sources of nutrients, soils and salts within the Fish Creek watershed through a process called segment analysis (6). With this report, we provide evidence suggesting the location, identity of pollutants and the intensity of pollution sources in the Fish Creek watershed

Water Quality Monitoring on Cratsley Gully and Honeoye Inlet, Part of the Honeoye Lake Watershed

The presence of soluble, sedimentary rocks in the watershed of the Finger Lakes determines the chemical regimes comprising the lakes (Schaffner and Oglesby 1978). As the rest of the Finger Lakes, Honeoye Lake has an abundance of calcium and bicarbonate ions (Schaffner and Oglesby 1978). Nitrate + nitrite values for Honeoye Lake in 1993 (mean = 0.02 mg/L) were significantly lower (P\u3c0.02) than levels from 1973 (mean = 0.07 mg/L) (Crego 1994). In 1973, Honeoye Lake had the highest total phosphorus (TP) concentration of the eight Finger Lakes examined (21.7 μg/L, August) (Schaffner and Oglesby 1978). However, there were no significant differences in total phosphorus and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations from 1973 to 1993 (Crego 1984). During the summer, Honeoye Lake’s deepest waters are not completely oxygenated and 5 experience algal blooms that impair water quality (NYSDEC Region 8). Eelgrass, pondweed, Eurasian milfoil, and water stargrass are the predominant rooted aquatic plant species that are found in near shore areas out to a depth of approximately 15 feet (~5m) (NYSDEC Region 8). The large macrophyte community (weeds) and the reoccurring blooms of algae on the lake are in part the driving force of this study. Excess nutrients, especially phosphorus, can be a major cause of an over abundance of macrophytes and algae. One source of nutrients to a lake is losses from watershed. The goal of this study was to document the level of nutrient and soil loss from the watershed into Honeoye Lake

Loss of Nutrients and Soil from Sandy Pond Tributaries, Oswego County, N.Y.

North and South Sandy Ponds comprise one of the largest coastal bay ecosystems on Lake Ontario. Unlike South Sandy Pond, North Sandy Pond supports intensive recreational activities and intensive shorefront residential development including a commercial campground and several marinas. Both ponds have an over abundance of nutrients and are the likely cause of the over abundance of aquatic weeds in the water. The limnological literature is quite clear on the causes of this unwanted overabundance of aquatic weeds and microscopic plants – an excess amount of nutrients or fertilizers are entering the water. A short list of possible sources of nutrients and soil include point and non-point sources in the watershed of Sandy Pond, septic system losses in direct drainage areas adjacent to the Pond (e.g., from cottages and boats), and resuspension of nutrients from sediments in the Pond itself. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative importance of losses of soil and nutrients from the five major tributaries draining sub-watersheds of North Sandy Pond hereafter referred to as Sandy Pond. Stream discharge and concentration of nitrate, total phosphorus, sodium, total suspended solids, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen were measured and converted into the amount of material lost from the watershed or loading into Sandy Pond during events and non-events

The Significance Of Phosphorus Released From The Sediment Under Anoxic Conditions In Sodus Bay, N.Y.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the loss of phosphorus from the sediment to the anoxic hypolimnion of Sodus Bay, New York. Total phosphorus (TP) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations were monitored weekly throughout the water column in Sodus Bay from 16 May 2001 to 22 September 2001. Increased amounts of TP and SRP into the hypolimnion, during periods of hypolimnetic anoxia, indicated that phosphorus was being released from the sediment. On an annual basis, the sediments contributed 600 kg of phosphorus to Sodus Bay (24 kg/d x 25 days, from 8/18 to 9/12) in 2001. This is 7.5% of the annual input of phosphorus to Sodus Bay from the watershed (8,004 kg P, annual average from 1989 to 1994). If the period of anoxia in the hypolimnion is considered (25 days in the late summer), the amount of phosphorus released by the sediments into the hypolimnion is still 600 kg but the amount entering from the watershed is 123 kg of P. That is, phosphorus release into the hypolimnion is 488% greater than the amount entering from the watershed during this period of the year. Since the sediment is releasing phosphorus at a time when inputs from the watershed are minimal, phosphorus inputs from the sediments may prove to be a more important factor in the stimulation of late summer algal blooms than inputs from the watershed

Nutrient and Soil Losses from the Eighteenmile Creek Watershed

Determination of sources and magnitude of soil and nutrient losses from a watershed is prerequisite to remedial action and essential to making cost-effective land management decisions as it reduces the likelihood of costly miscalculations based on the assumption of soil and nutrient sources and modeling rather than their actual identification. This process enhances the ability of concerned groups to obtain external funding for demonstration and remedial projects. In July 2003, the Niagara County Soil & Water Conservation District (NCSWCD), in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Sciences and Biology at SUNY Brockport, began a monitoring program for Eighteenmile Creek, located in Niagara County, New York. The purpose of the monitoring program was to collect water quality data to quantify the concentration and loading of nutrients and suspended sediments transported from Eighteenmile Creek to Lake Ontario and to evaluate the health of the creek and its impact on Lake Ontario. In addition, the data serve as a database to make informed water quality management decisions including the development of a watershed management plan, and as a benchmark of discharge and nutrient data to measure the success of future remediation efforts. This report, prepared by SUNY Brockport and the Niagara County Soil and Water Conservation District, provides information on the nutrient/sediment monitoring program of Eighteenmile Creek. Included are methodologies, results of the monitoring including documentation on types and amounts of nutrients that may be adversely impacting water quality and the conditions which generate them. Lastly, the report serves as a mechanism of transmittal of results and conclusions to all concerned parties and stakeholders of the Eighteenmile Creek watershed

Characterization and Prioritization of the Watersheds of Niagara County, New York

In recognition of the need to acquire a uniform, organized approach to addressing surface 6 water degradation and given the diverse nature of non-point sources of pollution within the County, the Soil and Water Conservation District formed a committee known as the Niagara County Water Quality Coordinating Committee (WQCC). Since little was known about the environmental status of other major creeks in Niagara County, the WQCC recommended a study to evaluate nutrient and soil loss from 17 watersheds and their creeks. The purpose of the monitoring program was to collect water quality data to quantify the concentration and loading of nutrients and suspended sediments transported from 17 Niagara County Creeks to Lake Ontario and to evaluate the health of the creek and its impact on Lake Ontario. In addition, the data serve as a database to make informed water quality management decisions including the development of a watershed management plan, and as a benchmark of discharge and nutrient data to measure the success of future remediation efforts and to suggest a priority listing of water quality goals

Illusions of gunk

The possibility of gunk has been used to argue against mereological nihilism. This paper explores two responses on the part of the microphysical mereological nihilist: (1) the contingency defence, which maintains that nihilism is true of the actual world; but that at other worlds, composition occurs; (2) the impossibility defence, which maintains that nihilism is necessary true, and so gunk worlds are impossible. The former is argued to be ultimately unstable; the latter faces the explanatorily burden of explaining the illusion that gunk is possible. It is argued that we can discharge this burden by focussing on the contingency of the microphysicalist aspect of microphysical mereological nihilism. The upshot is that gunk-based arguments against microphysical mereological nihilism can be resisted

Adaptive optics imaging and integral field spectroscopy of APM 08279+5255: Evidence for gravitational lensing

We report observations of the z = 3.87 broad absorption line quasar APM 08279+5255 (Irwin et al. 1998) with the Adaptive Optics Bonnette (AOB) of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The object is found to be a double source. The separation of the two images is 0.35" +/- 0.02" and the intensity ratio I_{north}/I_{south} = 1.21 +/- 0.25 in the H-band. No other image is detected down to H(5sigma) = 21.3 within 10" from the double image. Strong support for the lensing hypothesis comes from the uniformity of the quasar spectrum as a function of spatial position in the image obtained with the integral field spectrograph OASIS at CFHT. From the 2D-spectroscopy, narrow-band images are reconstructed over the wavelength range 5600-6200A to search for emission-line objects in a field of 15"x12" around the quasar. We find no such object to a limit of 6x10^{-17} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}. We use the images centered on the deepest absorption lines of the Ly-alpha forest to dim the quasar and to increase the sensitivity closer to the line of sight. One of the images, centered at 5766.4A, exhibits a 3sigma excess 1.5" from the quasar to the north-east