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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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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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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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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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Problem - Acidic precipitation has affected forested and aquatic ecosystems in New York, particularly in the Adirondack and Catskill regions. Acidification of surface waters and deleterious effects on fish and other biota have been well documented in both these regions. Despite reduced levels of acidity in atmospheric deposition over the past 20 years across New York and the northeastern United States, the most acid-sensitive streams and lakes have not yet begun to recover, and many show continued declines in acid-neutralizing capacity, an indicator acid-base status. Many studies have documented the effects of acid precipitation in New York, but thus far, there has been no comprehensive effort to synthesize and...
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Problem The Adirondack region of New York has 128 lakes that are listed as impaired by acidity under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Acidity can limit the survival and reproduction of native fishes such as brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Chronic and episodic acidification also stresses fish, aquatic macroinvertebrates, and other biota of inflowing tributaries of these and many additional lakes. Acidification of these tributaries can also affect the health of fish populations in receiving lakes, by limiting suitable spawning and nursery habitat. Although many Adirondack lakes have shown decreased acidity resulting from decreases in atmospheric sulfur and nitrogen emissions, the ecological improvements...
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The growth of temperate forests is typically limited by the availability of nitrogen. Elevated concentrations of nitrate in some Catskill Mountain streams, which are tributary to New York City's water-supply reservoirs west of the Hudson River, indicate that the forests of this region are at the early stages of nitrogen saturation. That is, nitrogen is available in excess of the amount utilized by vegetation and soil microorganisms in the forests. Nitrogen saturation is a concern because the mobile nitrate that moves through soil is accompanied by other nutrients such as the base cations calcium and magnesium that are necessary for forest growth but are present in short supply in some Catskill soils. And, nutrient...
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BACKGROUND The Adirondack region of New York has a history of relatively high atmospheric sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) deposition (Greaver et al. 2012). Adirondack ecosystems have been impacted by these inputs, including soil and surface water acidification, and impaired health and diversity of forest vegetation and aquatic biota. Air quality management, through the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency NOx Budget Trading Program, and the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) has resulted in decreases in atmospheric S and N deposition in the Adirondacks and throughout the eastern U.S. (Lehmann et al., 2005), which is driving the recovery of surface waters from past acidification. Section 303(d)...
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Background Although New York State has more than 70,000 miles of streams and rivers, little is known about the status, distribution, and trends of mercury (Hg) levels in stream fish, or the environmental drivers of these patterns. Streams and their riparian zones provide critical habitat for fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and serve as the interface between aquatic and terrestrial Hg transfer, transformations (most notably methylation) and bioaccumulation. Importantly, monitoring data from lakes (e.g., Simonin et al. 2006) does not transfer reliably to streams because of fundamental differences in Hg cycling and bioaccumulation processes. An assessment of fish Hg bioaccumulation focused on New...
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Purpose and Scope The Natural Resources Department of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Odanah, Wisconsin has requested assistance with compiling existing mercury (Hg) concentration data from measurements in a variety of environmental media in an effort to evaluate risks to ecosystem and human health and to identify key data gaps that could be addressed through future sampling. These data include Hg concentrations in fish, frogs, otters, birds, wild rice, the atmosphere, surface water, and sediment. The purpose of this proposed study is to compile existing Hg data collected by the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, evaluate the potential risks to humans and to local ecosystems, and to recommend...
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Problem Statement More than nine million people rely on the New York City Water-Supply System for their daily-drinking water needs. Approximately 40 percent of this water comes from the Schoharie and Ashokan Reservoirs (fig. 1). This water is transported from the Catskill Area to New York City through Esopus Creek and a series of man-made tunnels and aqueducts built starting in the early 1900s (fig. 1). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been measuring streamflow continuously in the Upper and Lower Esopus Creeks for many decades. Specifically, streamflow has been measured in the Upper Esopus Creek at Coldbrook (station number 01362500) for about 80 years and in the Lower Esopus Creek at Mount Marion (station...
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BackgroundDetailed investigations of mercury cycling and bioaccumulation have been done in the Upper Hudson River basin (upstream of the Hudson River near Newcomb, in New York's Adirondack Mountains, with a focus on the Fishing Brook sub-basin, part of the western headwaters of the Hudson River. This study is part of a National mercury study that includes a concurrent study of McTier Creek, a headwater sub-basin of the Edisto River, located in South Carolina's Coastal Plain. These two study areas provide contrasting and complementary settings for the study of mercury cycling and bioaccumulation in headwater streams with close connectivity to out-of-channel wetlands. Atmospheric deposition is the dominant source...
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The Catskill Mountains of southeastern New York receive among the highest loads of acid deposition in New York and the northeastern U.S. Additionally, the Catskills are underlain by sandstone and conglomerate, which is base poor and weathers slowly. Thus, the Catskills contain numerous streams with low (< 50 µeq/L) acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) and are sensitive to impacts from atmospheric acid deposition. Since at least 1983, however, the levels of acidity in atmospheric deposition (primarily sulfuric acid) have been declining in the Catskills and throughout New York. While widespread recovery of streams in the Catskills has not yet been confirmed, recent data suggest that recovery in waters with ANC values...


    map background search result map search result map Potential Recovery of Water Chemistry and Stream Biota from Reduced Levels of Acid Deposition at a Sensitive Watershed in the Catskill Mountains, New York The Effects of Watershed and Stream Liming on Mercury Dynamics at Honnedaga Lake An Integrated Assessment of the Recovery of Surface Waters from Reduced Levels of Acid Precipitation in the Catskill and Adirondack Regions, New York An Assessment of Forest Health and Soil Nutrient Status to Determine the Effects of Logging Practices on Water Quality in New York City's West-of-Hudson Watersheds Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation in the Upper Hudson River Basin--Fishing Brook 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 Estimated Non-reservoir Streamflows of Esopus Creek at Coldbrook and Mount Marion, New York 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 Mercury Bioaccumulation in Fish in New York's Streams and Rivers Acidification and Recovery and Development of Critical Loads of Acidity for Stream Ecosystems of the Adirondack Region of New York State Compilation of Mercury Data and Associated Risk to Human and Ecosystem Health, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa The Effects of Watershed and Stream Liming on Mercury Dynamics at Honnedaga Lake Potential Recovery of Water Chemistry and Stream Biota from Reduced Levels of Acid Deposition at a Sensitive Watershed in the Catskill Mountains, New York An Assessment of Forest Health and Soil Nutrient Status to Determine the Effects of Logging Practices on Water Quality in New York City's West-of-Hudson Watersheds Estimated Non-reservoir Streamflows of Esopus Creek at Coldbrook and Mount Marion, New York Changes in Soil and Stream Water Chemistry in Response to Reduction in Acid Deposition in the Catskills Acidification and Recovery and Development of Critical Loads of Acidity for Stream Ecosystems of the Adirondack Region of New York State An Integrated Assessment of the Recovery of Surface Waters from Reduced Levels of Acid Precipitation in the Catskill and Adirondack Regions, New York Development of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to Predict Streamflow Statistics using USGS Streamstats and Precipitation from Downscaled Global Climate Change Models Mercury Bioaccumulation in Fish in New York's Streams and Rivers Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect Atmospheric Deposition Effects Study Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation in the Upper Hudson River Basin--Fishing Brook National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program Report to Congress 2011: An Integrated Assessment