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Problem – Currently, swim advisories or closings are issued by beach managers based on standards for concentrations of bacterial indicators such as Escherichia coli (E. coli). Standard culture methods for these bacteria take at least 18-24 hours before results are available. At most Great Lakes beaches, the beach is posted with an advisory or closing or is determined to be acceptable for swimming on the basis of the previous day’s E. coli concentration. Sanitary conditions may change overnight and even throughout the day (Boehm and others, 2002) making decisions made from previous days information incorrect. Because of this time-lag issue, water-resource managers are seeking solutions that provide near real-time...
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: Contaminants, Microbial, Contaminants, Microbial, Contaminants, Natural, Contaminants, Natural, Contaminants, Organic, All tags...
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Significant changes in nitrogen loads to Jamaica Bay have likely occurred with progressive improvements to Water Pollution Control Plants (WCWPs) that discharge into the Bay. Data available from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and others will be used to determine loads from WPCPs, combined sewer overflows, and the atmosphere. Selected wells within the USGS water quality database, including those near the landfills that are immediately adjacent to Jamaica Bay, will be used to determine concentrations of nutrients in shallow ground water that enter the bay from ground water seepage. To facilitate evaluation of ground water loads, an existing USGS Finite element model that simulates sub...
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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 shallow groundwater of Nassau and Suffolk Counties is prone to contamination from current land-use, including agricultural, residential, and recreational. The aquifer system of Long Island is highly susceptible to human-derived contamination, in particular, because the soils and underlying sediments are generally composed of sandy, permeable materials that allow contaminants to move readily from the land surface into the groundwater below. Of increasing concern are the human-derived contaminants stemming from past and present uses of pesticides. In addition to the threat of direct runoff to adjacent waterbodies, pesticide transport through the shallow aquifer from inland sources may discharge to the...
Approach: The spatial variability of dissolved oxygen in the Arthur Kill will be characterized through a single 24-hour day of boat-based spatial surveying using a combination of high-resolution mapping and vertical profiles in late summer 2023. Staff from USGS New York will conduct synoptic mapping by collecting near-surface continuous water-quality data from a boat. This team will collect data in a zig-zag pattern for the entire length of the river and will repeat this multiple times throughout the 24-hour period. Staff from USGS New Jersey will be in a second boat and focused on capturing vertical profiles along the length of the river to understand dissolved oxygen variability at depth. Dissolved oxygen will...
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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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Problem Sediment transport is a serious concern in the upper Esopus Creek watershed. The creek is a well-documented source of sediment and turbidity to the Ashokan Reservoir, which is part of the New York City water supply system. During the last 2 decades there has been a series of stream stabilization and sediment reduction projects completed in the upper Esopus Creek watershed intended to reduce the suspended sediment load and turbidity levels delivered to the reservoir. During the last 7 years there has been a concerted effort to measure the effect of these projects on turbidity and suspended sediment. There is currently a large, long-term turbidity and suspended sediment study underway within the upper Esopus...
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Introduction Ongoing efforts to improve the health of New York's South Shore Estuary Reserve (SSER) require continuously recorded water-quality data to understand the short-term effects of stormwater runoff and other pollution sources. To document the diel and tidal variability of water quality in the western bays of the SSER, the USGS monitors select physical and chemical parameters at two sites within the SSER. One site, station 01310740 on Reynolds Channel at Point Lookout, is near the estuary mouth and operated in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation & Waterways. The second, station 01311143...
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INTRODUCTION Naturally occurring methane has been noted at some locations in the upper Devonian shale bedrock and in overlying glacial deposits in parts of Broome, Tioga, and Chemung Counties in south-central New York State (Williams, 2010). Systematic sampling of water wells for dissolved methane is needed to determine if the topographic and hydrogeologic setting of a well is related to methane occurrence. Objective and Study Area - The objective of this study is to characterize the natural occurrence of dissolved methane gas in groundwater from water wells within four different topographic and hydrogeologic settings (upland and major valley areas where bedrock is confined or unconfined by glacial deposits)....
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: Broome County, Chemung County, Completed, Contaminants, Natural, Contaminants, Natural, All tags...
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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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In 1979, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) entered into a cooperative agreement with Monroe County (MC), which, over the span of more than three decades, has resulted in more than 30 reports that have summarized flow and water-quality data at sites in Monroe County and have presented the results of investigations of particular water-related issues that existed in the County. The collaborative relationship between Monroe County and the USGS entails: - USGS training and oversight of MC personnel to conduct site visits and measure streamflow and collect water samples at monitoring sites; - analyses of water samples by MC in a certified environmental laboratory that routinely participates in a USGS quality-control program...
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Background A major focus of the NAWQA Program in its second decade (2002-2013) is on regional- and national-scale assessments of groundwater-quality status and trends in principal aquifers. The U.S. Geological Survey Office of Groundwater has identified 62 principal aquifers in the U.S. ( U.S. Geological Survey, 2003 ). About 1/3 of the Nation's principal aquifers are the focus of water-quality assessments at the regional scale by NAWQA. The NAWQA framework for principal aquifer assessments considers the physical setting of the aquifer, in addition to its susceptibility and vulnerability to contamination. More information (USGS Fact Sheet 2005-3013, PDF, Adobe reader is freely available to read a PDF) Publications...
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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: Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasingly a global concern because they pose a threat to human and aquatic ecosystem health and cause economic damages. Cyanobacterial HABs (CyanoHABs) represent a substantial threat to drinking-water supplies, aquatic ecosystem health, and safe recreational uses of freshwater resources in New York. Toxins produced by some species of cyanobacteria (called cyanotoxins) can cause acute and chronic illnesses in humans. Aquatic ecosystem health also is affected by cyanotoxins, as well as low dissolved oxygen concentrations and changes in aquatic food webs caused by an over-abundance of cyanobacteria. For these reasons, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation...
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The Pepacton watershed is an integral part of New York City's public-water supply system. Most of the watershed is within Delaware County with headwaters of some of its eastern tributary streams originating in Greene and Ulster Counties. Land use varies from dairy farms in the northern portion of the watershed to extensive forested areas in the south with small rural communities interspersed throughout the watershed. Sound management of the water resources in the region necessitates development of hydrologic data networks that will document current water-quality conditions in relation to watershed characteristics such as land use. Ground-water discharge to streams accounts for most of the water reaching the New...
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PROBLEM As part of an effort to sustain a viable water-supply system for 8 million residents in New York City, and 1 million other residents in upstate New York that rely on City water, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) has requested a multi-disciplinary study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to determine the source(s) of water to surface-water sites (springs and expressions) in areas adjacent to the Catskill Aqueduct. In the area near the Delaware Aqueduct, which has been determined by the USGS to have a water-tunnel contribution to flooding issues during periods of high precipitation, the NYCDEP plans to repair the leaks with a grouting procedure. However, without monitoring...
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Introduction As a result of storage and disposal practices at a former Manufactured Gas Plant, or MGP, in Bay Shore, NY, a variety of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been detected at high concentrations in the surficial, upper glacial aquifer of Long Island. Levels of PAHs initially detected over 10 years ago were in the parts-per-thousand range within a groundwater contaminant plume. The plume extended over a half-mile from MGP-related sources to discharge at a local estuarine tributary, Lawrence Creek, resulting, resulting in malodorous hydrocarbon sheens in this tributary and nearby storm drains. These signs of contamination revealed a larger underlying problem and prompted calls by state and local...
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Background In order to help identify sources of high Enterococci concentrations identified by the Village of East Hampton and the Surfrider Foundation’s water-quality sampling upstream of Hook Pond, surface water and groundwater samples will be collected and analyzed for F+-specific coliphage, bacteroides, Enterococci and fecal coliform, and nitrogen isotopes. Potential sources of pathogens include waterfowl, failing onsite wastewater disposal systems, and stormwater runoff. F+-specific colipahge (Griffin and others, 2000) and bacteroides (Stoeckel, 2005) analyses are sensitive microbial source tracking methods that can discern human, mammal, and bird sources. Nitrogen isotopes are used in conjunction with concentrations...
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 Development and Implementation of a Baseflow (groundwater) Monitoring Network for the Pepacton Watershed Sediment Toxicity and Condition of Benthic Invertebrate Communities in the Rochester Embayment Area-of-Concern Assessment of Nutrient Loading to Jamaica Bay, Gateway National Recreation Area, New York Organic Wastewater Contaminants in New York City Watersheds Detection and Quantification of Oxygenated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (oxy-PAHs) in Groundwater Near the Former Manufactured Gas Plant in Bay Shore, N.Y. Natural Methane Occurrence in Water Wells of South-Central New York State- Evaluation of Topographic Position and Hydrogeologic Setting Water-Quality Assessments of Principal Aquifers Human- and Ecological-Health Concerns Related to Transport and Persistence of Contaminants on Shinnecock Nation Tribal Lands Water Resources of Monroe County, New York South Shore Estuary Reserve Total Maximum Daily Load Monitoring New York Nowcast, Recreational Beaches of New York Sentinel Monitoring for New and Legacy Pesticides in the Shallow Groundwater of Long Island Assessment of pathogen sources to Hook Pond, East Hampton, New York Hydrogeologic and Geochemical Assessment of the Effects of Leakage from the Catskill and Delaware Aqueducts on the Local Bedrock and Overburden Aquifers in Southeastern New York Harmful Algal Bloom monitoring in the Finger Lakes region, New York Upper Esopus Creek Tributary Bedload Pilot Study Mohawk Microplastics Human- and Ecological-Health Concerns Related to Transport and Persistence of Contaminants on Shinnecock Nation Tribal Lands Detection and Quantification of Oxygenated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (oxy-PAHs) in Groundwater Near the Former Manufactured Gas Plant in Bay Shore, N.Y. Assessment of pathogen sources to Hook Pond, East Hampton, New York Sediment toxicity and status of benthic invertebrate communities in the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries within the Massena Area-of-Concern Assessment of Nutrient Loading to Jamaica Bay, Gateway National Recreation Area, New York Sediment Toxicity and Condition of Benthic Invertebrate Communities in the Rochester Embayment Area-of-Concern Harmful Algal Bloom monitoring in the Finger Lakes region, New York Upper Esopus Creek Tributary Bedload Pilot Study Development and Implementation of a Baseflow (groundwater) Monitoring Network for the Pepacton Watershed Water Resources of Monroe County, New York Natural Methane Occurrence in Water Wells of South-Central New York State- Evaluation of Topographic Position and Hydrogeologic Setting Sentinel Monitoring for New and Legacy Pesticides in the Shallow Groundwater of Long Island Hydrogeologic and Geochemical Assessment of the Effects of Leakage from the Catskill and Delaware Aqueducts on the Local Bedrock and Overburden Aquifers in Southeastern New York Water Quality of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and Tributary Streams, New York and Pennsylvania Organic Wastewater Contaminants in New York City Watersheds South Shore Estuary Reserve Total Maximum Daily Load Monitoring New York Nowcast, Recreational Beaches of New York Water-Quality Assessments of Principal Aquifers