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Background Climate change during the past century has resulted in changes to precipitation amounts, form (rain vs. snow), as well as frequency and intensity in the northeastern US (Huntington et al., 2009). Additional changes in precipitation are forecast for the 21st Century as the global and regional climate is expected to warm substantially (Hayhoe et al., 2007). These ongoing and projected future changes in precipitation along with other related changes to evapotranspiration rates and land use patterns will result in changes in streamflow patterns as well (Hayhoe et al., 2007). Although precipitation amounts have generally increased in the Northeast during the past 20-30 years (Huntington et al., 2009),...
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Background Streams and rivers are an important environmental resource and provide water for many human needs. Streamflow is a measure of the volume of water carried by rivers and streams. Changes in streamflow can directly influence the supply of water available for human consumption, irrigation, generating electricity, and other needs. In addition, many plants and animals depend on streamflow for habitat and survival. Streamflow naturally varies over the course of a year. For example, rivers and streams in many parts of the country have their highest (peak) flow when snow melts in the spring. The amount of streamflow is important because high flows can cause erosion and damaging floods, while very low flows...
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Title IV has been successful in reducing emissions of SO2 and NOx from power generation to the levels set by Congress. In fact, by 2009, SO2 emissions from power plants were already 3.25 million tons lower than the final 2010 cap level of 8.95 million tons, and NOx emissions were 6.1 million tons less than the projected level in 2000 without the ARP, or more than triple the Title IV NOx emission-reduction objective. As a result of these emission reductions, air quality has improved, providing significant human health benefits, and acid deposition has decreased to the extent that some acid-sensitive areas are beginning to show signs of recovery. Current emission reductions and the passage of time, which is needed...
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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 Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the hereditary material in organisms that contains the biological instructions for building and maintaining them. The chemical structure of DNA is the same for all organisms, but differences exist in the order of the DNA building blocks, known as base pairs. Unique sequences provide a means to identify individual species and detect their presence within aquatic or terrestrial environments. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is nuclear or mitochondrial DNA that is shed from an organism into the environment. Sources of eDNA include feces, mucous, and gametes; shed skin; and carcasses. In aquatic environments, eDNA is diluted and distributed by currents and other hydrological processes....
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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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Problem - In August 2000, eleven sites were sampled from 9 streams within the Croton watershed for pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds associated with wastewater as part of a national study of these compounds in streams receiving wastewater discharges. Results from the national study indicated that streams in the Croton Reservoir downstream of sewage treatment plants had concentrations of target compounds. Detected compounds included pharmaceuticals, detergent degradates, insecticides, caffeine, and other organic compounds (Kolpin and others, 2002). The results indicate that these compounds are commonly present in streams below wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Many of these compounds have not been...
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Problem The discharge of freshwater and associated loading of nutrients and other dissolved constituents from the Long Island aquifer system to surrounding estuaries and their tributaries are increasingly recognized as critical factors in the health of these ecosystems. However, further work is needed to scientifically characterize these factors and present them to the public in an appropriate manner. Many organizations have undertaken assessments of this discharge and loading for discrete groundwater source areas and (or) receiving surface waters, applying a variety of techniques and assumptions. In part, this is because there is no delineation of recharge areas to the island’s groundwater-fed streams and estuaries...
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: Basin & Hydrogeologic Characterization, Basin & Hydrogeologic Characterization, Climate Change, Climate Research and Development, ClimateChange, All tags...
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The Appalachian Trail (AT), a 14-state footpath from Maine to Georgia, is a unit of the National Park Service that is cooperatively managed and maintained by the National Park Service (NPS), the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, AT Club volunteers, the USDA Forest Service, and other public land-management agencies. Upper elevation and ridge-top ecosystems, which comprise much of the trail corridor, have been impacted by and remain extremely sensitive to acidic deposition. Ridgetop soils that are often low in calcium make the ecosystems of the AT more sensitive to acidic deposition than other ecosystems. Furthermore, upper elevations tend to receive the highest levels of deposition. In areas along the AT, such...
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Problem - Plastic debris pollution in freshwater ecosystems is becoming a major ecosystem and public health concern. Plastic pollution is now identified as the most abundant anthropogenic debris and it is found throughout all marine environments, comprising 60-80% of all floating debris (Eriksen et al., 2013). This debris can have a lasting effect on marine life through ingestion or entanglement (Laist, 1987). Recent studies in small tributaries and freshwater environments (Baldwin, 2016) indicate microplastic pollution is pervasive across all hydrologic environments. Mike Antidormi using a net sampler to collect a microplastic sample Microscope used for size, colors, and count for microplastics analyisis...
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Background Heavy metals, phosphorus, and organic contaminants in water and sediments of the lower Genesee River, resulted in the designation of fourteen beneficial uses as impaired in the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern (AOC). The benthic macroinvertebrate community or “benthos” Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) was designated as degraded in the Genesee River because the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) impairment metrics generally identified slight to moderate impacts through the 1990s and 2000s. Accumulation of “sediments on more suitable substrates” and “contaminants in sediment of the Genesee River related to past municipal and industrial waste-water treatment plant discharges...
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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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Water-quality samples were collected from the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (UPDE) and its tributaries during the period October 1, 2005, to September 30, 2007, to document existing water quality, determine relations between land use and water quality, and identify areas of water-quality concern. A tiered water-quality monitoring framework was used, with the tiers consisting of intensively sampled sites, gradient sites representing the range of land uses present in the basin, and regional stream-survey sites. Median nitrate and total phosphorous concentrations were 1.15 and 0.01 milligrams per liter (mg/L) for three sites on the mainstem Delaware River, 1.27 and 0.009 mg/L for the East Branch Delaware...
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Problem Tribal Lands of the Shinnecock Nation Tribal community were inundated during Hurricane Sandy’s storm tide, resulting in detrimental effects on the Tribal Land’s natural resources. The existing science being used to inform decisions on remediation is biased toward activities are necessarily focused on the immediate aftermath of storms An assessment of the sources of contaminants that may have been introduced from inundation is needed to provide a context with which the Tribal community can better understand how to prioritize and manage the sources and minimize risk. Objectives This project will evaluate key human- and ecological-health concerns related to transport and persistence of...
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: Climate Impacts, Climate Impacts, Climate impacts, Contaminants, Emerging, Contaminants, Emerging, All tags...
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The current information available for the Genesee River and watershed is insufficient to assess if the Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) delisting criteria for the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern (AOC) can or have been met. With on-going and future projects that are implementing best practices to control soil erosion and the reduction of nutrients that reach the Rochester Embayment, the river and the watershed, it becomes a necessity to: 1.) collect more frequent Total Suspended Sediment (TSS) data for the Genesee River both within and outside of the AOC; and 2.) to have a study design capable of evaluating the impact/success of the current and proposed GLRI projects in the watershed. This project is envisioned...
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: BMP, Best-Management Practices, Best-Management Practices, Best-Management Practices, CAFO, All tags...
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BACKGROUND Chemistry data from a group of Adirondack lakes monitored since the mid-1990s indicate that chemical recovery is currently underway and can be attributed to declining deposition loads of sulfate and nitrate in direct response to the 1990 amendment to the Clean Air Act (CAA) and other regulations. Changes in the water quality of several western Adirondack streams suggest that chemical recovery from acidification is underway as well, while data from recent large-scale stream surveys also support the assertion. Changes in stream chemistry, however, appear to be more complicated than changes in lake chemistry. The pH levels in Buck Creek, for example, have changed very little since the 1990s but dissolved...
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Summary The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Long Term Monitoring (LTM) network has supported the collection of stream chemistry data in the Catskills since the 1990s. Trends in stream chemistry have periodically been evaluated in these streams but the most recent assessments only extend through the early 2000s. An updated assessment of stream chemistry trends will help evaluate the effects of recent substantial declines in acid deposition during the last decade. This study will evaluate changes in surface water chemistry from 1991 through 2013 at 5 stations in the Neversink and Rondout watersheds in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The results will be compared to changes in atmospheric deposition...
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DEC collaborators collect fish from a Niagara River tributary using an electrofishing boat The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Department of Health (NYSDOH), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are gathering data on chemical contaminants in fish from multiple Areas of Concern (AOCs) in New York State and plan to 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). This second project is being implemented in the Niagara River AOC during summer 2018. It will help identify sources areas for contaminants in fish and to determine...
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Background Past water-quality issues in the St. Lawrence River at Massena, NY resulted in a determination that selected beneficial uses were impaired in a surrounding Area of Concern (AOC) and on the Canadian side of the international boundary (Cornwall, Ontario). The benthic macroinvertebrate community or “benthos” Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) was designated degraded because impairment metrics were unavailable or inconclusive. Recent sampling efforts by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) as part of their Rotating Integrated Basin Studies (RIBS) program indicate that macroinvertebrate communities in some sections of the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries in the Massena AOC are...
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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...
map background search result map search result map Water Quality of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and Tributary Streams, New York and Pennsylvania Sediment toxicity and status of benthic invertebrate communities in the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries within the Massena Area-of-Concern Sediment Toxicity and Condition of Benthic Invertebrate Communities in the Rochester Embayment Area-of-Concern Didymosphenia geminata in the Upper Esopus Creek: Seasonal changes in density and distribution, controlling environmental factors, and potential ecosystem impacts Estimating Loading Above and Below Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Combined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in the Genesee River Watershed Organic Wastewater Contaminants in New York City Watersheds Changes in Soil and Stream Water Chemistry in Response to Reduction in Acid Deposition in the Catskills National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program Report to Congress 2011: An Integrated Assessment Emerging Methods for Detection and their Potential for Inventorying Brook Trout Populations in Streams of the Western Adirondacks Development of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to Predict Streamflow Statistics using USGS Streamstats and Precipitation from Downscaled Global Climate Change Models Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect Atmospheric Deposition Effects Study Human- and Ecological-Health Concerns Related to Transport and Persistence of Contaminants on Shinnecock Nation Tribal Lands Hydrologic Climate Change Indicators Comprehensive Delineation of Groundwater Source Areas and Times-of-travel to Long Island Streams and Estuaries 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 Monitoring the Status and Expansion of Round Goby Populations in the Mohawk River/Barge Canal System Contaminants in fish tissues from AOCs in New York State: The Niagara River AOC Mohawk Microplastics Documenting Biological Recovery in Acidified Adirondack Streams in Response to the 1990 Amendment to the Clean Air Act Human- and Ecological-Health Concerns Related to Transport and Persistence of Contaminants on Shinnecock Nation Tribal Lands 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 Sediment toxicity and status of benthic invertebrate communities in the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries within the Massena Area-of-Concern Sediment Toxicity and Condition of Benthic Invertebrate Communities in the Rochester Embayment Area-of-Concern Emerging Methods for Detection and their Potential for Inventorying Brook Trout Populations in Streams of the Western Adirondacks Estimating Loading Above and Below Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Combined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in the Genesee River Watershed Comprehensive Delineation of Groundwater Source Areas and Times-of-travel to Long Island Streams and Estuaries Water Quality of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and Tributary Streams, New York and Pennsylvania Changes in Soil and Stream Water Chemistry in Response to Reduction in Acid Deposition in the Catskills Monitoring the Status and Expansion of Round Goby Populations in the Mohawk River/Barge Canal System Documenting Biological Recovery in Acidified Adirondack Streams in Response to the 1990 Amendment to the Clean Air Act Organic Wastewater Contaminants in New York City Watersheds Development of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to Predict Streamflow Statistics using USGS Streamstats and Precipitation from Downscaled Global Climate Change Models Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect Atmospheric Deposition Effects Study Hydrologic Climate Change Indicators National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program Report to Congress 2011: An Integrated Assessment