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Background: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) plan to obtain data on chemical contaminants in fish from multiple Areas of Concern (AOCs) in New York State and use this information to evaluate fish consumption advisories, which are a critical component of most removal criteria for “Restriction on Fish and Wildlife Consumption” beneficial use impairments (BUI). The first project in the Buffalo River AOC will help determine if current fish consumption advisories are appropriate, if they can be modified, and if they support or do not support BUI removal as recommended in the June 2014 “Buffalo River AOC: A Monitoring Plan for the Delisting of...
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Background The Upper Esopus Creek, a popular trout-fishing and recreational stream in the heart of the Catskill Mountains, received historic flooding from Tropical Storm Irene on August 28, 2011. Streamflows approached or surpassed the 1% annual exceedance probability (>100 year) flood levels at several USGS streamgages in this basin. Short-term flood impacts on biological assemblages have been assessed in several studies, but longer-term effects, recovery, and analysis of factors affecting ecosystem resiliency have rarely been investigated. The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County (CCEUC) collaborated on...
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Background: The waters of the Mohawk River and its tributaries are inhabited by some of the most diverse fish communities in the Northeast. The construction of the Erie Canal in 1825, and later the Barge Canal in 1918, enabled the westward expansion of fishes from the Hudson River drainage as well as the eastward expansion of fishes indigenous to the Great Lakes drainage. Today, almost half of the fish species in the Mohawk River are nonnative (Carlson and Daniels, 2004) and George et al (2016), yet the fish community still fulfills many important economic and ecological functions. The Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is an invasive benthic fish indigenous to Ponto-Caspian region of Eurasia that is invading eastward...
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Background The invasive diatom Didymosphenia geminata (didymo) has historically been a wide-spread, but rare, micro algae found in moderately flowing cold-water streams of North America, Europe, Asia, and (more recently) New Zealand. Demographic patterns of didymo have recently changed resulting in greater spatial coverage and temporal persistence (e.g. blooms) in streams worldwide. Didymo blooms can form dense “woven fabric” aggregate up to 20 cm think, that trap algae, macroinvertebrates, detritus and other debris. The recent discovery of didymo in parts of New York State, including the Upper Esopus Creek in 2009, is concerning because blooms can affect benthic habitat, river hydraulics, the structure and function...
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Background : Contaminated bed sediments in much of the Buffalo River AOC (Figure 1A, 1B) were removed (dredged) between 2011 and 2015. Plans to monitor and assess the effectiveness of this management action on 8 of 9 beneficial-use-impairments (BUI), included the benthic macroinvertebrate (benthos) BUI, were revised by the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper (Riverkeeper, 2014). Funds needed to implement various monitoring efforts proposed in this plan, however, were not available at that time. The USGS-New York Water Science Center (NYWSC) and the NYSDEC propose a collaborative study to evaluate multiple lines of evidence (toxicity of sediments and the condition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities) to determine...
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Problem The Neversink River and Rondout Creek are historic trout fishing and recreational streams in the heart of the Catskill Mountains of southeastern NY. Waters throughout upper reaches of both rivers currently range from neutral to severely acidic due to deposition of acid rain throughout their watersheds. Fish surveys conducted by the USGS during the late 1980s and early 1990s found that some fish species and entire assemblages were absent or depressed in many tributaries and second and third order reaches of both rivers. Recent decreases in acidity of atmospheric deposition and changes in hydrologic and thermal regimes are now affecting water chemistry (e.g., pH, acid neutralizing capacity, dissolved organic...
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Background: The USGS propose a collaborative investigation with the NYSDEC and NOAA to evaluate the current condition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and toxicity of bed sediments in the Niagara River Area of Concern (AOC). Using a probabilistic study design, sediment-toxicity data compiled by the USGS, invertebrate community data collected by NYSDEC, and sediment-chemistry data collected by NOAA will be assimilated using a Sediment Quality Triad approach (Chapman et al., 1992; USEPA, 1992) to provide a sediment-quality baseline needed to gauge changes expected to follow remediation of contaminated sediments in parts of the AOC. These data will also be used directly to confirm that the macroinvertebrate...
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Background With few exceptions, the contemporary and past effects of acidification on fish populations and communities in streams across acid-sensitive regions of NY have not been documented. The pervasive lack of information only permits anecdotal insight into the spatial effects of acidification on stream-fish assemblages and essentially precludes any broad effort to quantify temporal trends and potential recovery of fish assemblages in less acidic or less toxic streams. Though the effects of acidification on fish assemblages have been qualified in several streams of the eastern Adirondacks during 1979, the 1980s, and early 2000s, (Schofield and Driscoll 1987; Simonin et al. 2005) quantitative impacts were...
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Background The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation (ALSC) repeatedly surveyed fish assemblages and characterized water chemistry from 44 to 52 lakes during the periods 1984-1987 and 1994-2005, and 2008-2012 to document the regional effects of acidic deposition and potential recovery associated with the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment (CAAA) under the Adirondack Long-Term Monitoring (ATLM) Project. An initial analysis of changes in fish assemblages between the periods 1984-1987 and 1994-2005 noted modest and mixed recoveries, identified five fish-community response/recovery classes, and helped to devise a fish-community index based on species acid...
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Background: Streams are ecologically, culturally, and economically important systems that are subject to impacts from a large array of human activities. There has been a relatively recent increase in efforts to manage, protect, and restore streams that have experienced physical, chemical, and biological degradation. Unfortunately, interest in any single restoration effort tends to be relatively short lived, and despite spending >$1 billion annually in the U.S. on stream restoration, little or no effort is devoted to evaluating the effectiveness or ecological success of most restoration projects (Bernhardt et al., 2005; Roni and Quimby, 2005). The limited post-restoration monitoring that occurs in many restoration...
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Background: Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) have thrived in the Esopus Creek since their introduction in the 1880s. The construction of the Ashokan Reservoir in 1915 changed the fishery by providing a stable lentic environment where adult trout could grow large and find refuge during periods when stream conditions become stressful. Although many adult Rainbow Trout spend time in the reservoir, it is believed that spawning occurs almost exclusively in the tributaries; most notably the Upper Esopus and its tributaries. Thus, the health of individual Rainbow Trout and the size of their spawning runs out of the Reservoir not only regulate the species’ future population in the reservoir, but also the population...
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Background The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Department of Health (NYSDOH), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) plan to obtain data on chemical contaminants in fish from multiple Areas of Concern (AOCs) in New York State and use this information to evaluate fish consumption advisories, which are a critical component of most removal criteria for “Restriction on Fish and Wildlife Consumption” beneficial use impairments (BUI). The first project will be implemented in the Buffalo River AOC during summer 2017. This project will help determine if current fish consumption advisories each AOC are appropriate, if they can be modified, and if they support or do not support BUI removal...
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Background: The waters of the Mohawk River basin are inhabited by one of the richest fish communities on the East Coast. The American Eel, Anguilla rostrata, is a unique member of this community, exhibiting a catadramous (maturing in fresh water and spawning in salt water) life history. Like many migratory fish, the American Eel has suffered a general decline across the East Coast largely attributed to barriers to migration and habitat degradation and other anthropogenic disturbances to the point that the species has been recommended for listing under the Endangered Species Act twice in the past ten years A recent study by Machut et al. (2007) and the implementation of a NYSDEC-initiated citizen science juvenile...
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A USGS biologist prepares to collect a sediment sample using a petit ponar dredge. Background:The Niagara River forms the boundary between the United States and Canada and was designated as a binational Area of Concern (AOC) in 1987 because past industrial discharges and hazardous waste sites had caused extensive degradation of aquatic habitats. Within the United States (eastern) portion of the AOC, seven Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) have been identified, including the degradation of the “benthos”, or the benthic macroinvertebrate community. Past assessments of macroinvertebrate community structure and sediment toxicity, which indicated that macroinvertebrate communities were adversely affected by contaminated...
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Background: The USGS propose a collaborative investigation with the NYSDEC to evaluate the current condition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and toxicity of bed sediments in the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern (AOC). Sediment-toxicity data provided by the USGS and benthic-community data provided by the NYSDEC from inside the AOC will be compared to similar data from non-AOC sites in Eighteenmile Creek or nearby reference streams (of comparable drainage areas) to determine if the benthos-BUI (Beneficial-Use Impairment) designation is appropriate or if the BUI could be removed in Eighteenmile Creek. The remainder of this pre-proposal addresses only the direct USGS (sediment toxicity assessment) contribution...
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Problem Water temperature is a critical component of trout habitat. Stream temperatures not only affect the distribution, behavior, and survival of trout (and other species), but also compel these species to move toward small areas of preferred temperatures, known as refuges, to maximize growth, survival, and fitness. The Schoharie watershed in the Catskill Mountains, including East Kill, West Kill, and Batavia Kill tributaries as well as the main-stem Schoharie Creek, supports small or transient populations of wild brook trout as well as naturalized and hatchery brown trout. Water temperatures in parts of these rivers typically exceed lethal thresholds for these species for several weeks each summer. Managing agencies...
    map background search result map search result map Response of Fish Assemblages to Changing Acid-base Chemistry in Adirondack Long Term Monitoring Lakes, 1984-2012 Identifying Thermal Refuges in the Schoharie Watershed Didymosphenia geminata in the Upper Esopus Creek: Seasonal changes in density and distribution, controlling environmental factors, and potential ecosystem impacts Assessing Spatiotemporal Patterns in Fish Assemblages from Acid-Sensitive Streams in the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains Status of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and toxicity of sediments in the Niagara River Area of Concern, New York Status of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and toxicity of sediments in the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern, New York Effect of Flooding from Tropical Storm Irene on Fish Assemblages in the Upper Esopus Creek Basin Sediment toxicity and status of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the remediated Buffalo River Area-of-Concern Responses of fish assemblages to changing environmental conditions in the Neversink River and Rondout Creek New York Statewide Fish Collection: Contaminants in fish from the Buffalo River AOC Contaminants in fish tissues from AOCs in New York State: The Buffalo River AOC 2-year post remediation Monitoring the Status and Expansion of Round Goby Populations in the Mohawk River/Barge Canal System Long-term trends in Rainbow Trout growth and naturalized populations in the Ashokan Basin Niagara River AOC-wide Benthos BUI Assessment Status of American Eel populations in the Mohawk River Basin Response of fish assemblages and habitat to stream restoration in the Ashokan Watershed Sediment toxicity and status of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the remediated Buffalo River Area-of-Concern New York Statewide Fish Collection: Contaminants in fish from the Buffalo River AOC Contaminants in fish tissues from AOCs in New York State: The Buffalo River AOC 2-year post remediation Status of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and toxicity of sediments in the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern, New York Didymosphenia geminata in the Upper Esopus Creek: Seasonal changes in density and distribution, controlling environmental factors, and potential ecosystem impacts Effect of Flooding from Tropical Storm Irene on Fish Assemblages in the Upper Esopus Creek Basin Status of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and toxicity of sediments in the Niagara River Area of Concern, New York Niagara River AOC-wide Benthos BUI Assessment Identifying Thermal Refuges in the Schoharie Watershed Long-term trends in Rainbow Trout growth and naturalized populations in the Ashokan Basin Response of fish assemblages and habitat to stream restoration in the Ashokan Watershed Responses of fish assemblages to changing environmental conditions in the Neversink River and Rondout Creek Assessing Spatiotemporal Patterns in Fish Assemblages from Acid-Sensitive Streams in the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains Monitoring the Status and Expansion of Round Goby Populations in the Mohawk River/Barge Canal System Status of American Eel populations in the Mohawk River Basin Response of Fish Assemblages to Changing Acid-base Chemistry in Adirondack Long Term Monitoring Lakes, 1984-2012