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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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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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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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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 : 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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Background Industrial discharges of toxic and bio-accumulating compounds to the Niagara River and its tributaries have occurred over many decades. High concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been found in samples of fish tissue from many locations, including three tributaries to the Niagara River: Tonawanda Creek, Two mile Creek, and Rattlesnake Creek (study reaches listed in Table 1). Study site for SPMD sampler in a tributary to the Niagara River High PCB concentrations have also been found in mussel tissues during in situ experiments in the latter two creeks PCBs have been detected in sediments from many locations, but they were generally lower than expected given the elevated PCB concentrations...
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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 may be impaired in a surrounding Area of Concern (AOC) and on the Canadian side of the international boundary (Cornwall, Ontario). The plankton (phytoplankton zooplankton) Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) was so designated because impairment metrics were unavailable or inconclusive. Recent investigations, however, suggest that plankton communities are relatively healthy and no longer threaten the local ecosystem. Thus, the BUI for plankton may now be outdated in all, or parts of, the St. Lawrence River in the Massena AOC. The primary goal for the Massena (and Cornwall) Remedial Action...
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Background: Eighteenmile Creek was designated as an Area of Concern (AOC) in 1985 because water quality and bed sediments were contaminated by past industrial and municipal discharges, waste disposal, and pesticide usage. Five Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) were identified in the Eighteenmile Creek AOC, including BUI #3 - the degradation of fish and wildlife populations. The remedial action committee (RAC) for the Eighteenmile Creek AOC has identified the following removal criteria for this BUI: · Fish and wildlife diversity, abundance, and condition are statistically similar to diversity, abundance, and condition of populations at non-AOC control sites; AND · PCB levels in bottom-dwelling fish...
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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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This dataset has been archived; it has been superceded by version 2.0 (September 2021) which can be found at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9RUUR4L Data from 10-day sediment toxicity tests of bed sediments from the Buffalo River Area of Concern (AOC) and reference reaches on the Buffalo River upstream of the AOC, Erie County, New York, respectively. Specifically, the data was used to compare the survival and growth of two macroinvertebrate species in sediments from study sites and laboratory controls. Results are from 10-day sediment exposures of two test species, Chironomus dilutus and Hyalella azteca. Sediment samples were collected from 8 sites within the AOC and from 6 reference sites upstream of the AOC. Bed-sediments...
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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is collaborating with the New York Department of State (NYDOS) Office of Planning and Development to prepare a new Long Island South Shore Estuary Reserve (SSER) Coordinated Water Resources Monitoring Strategy (CWRMS). Since 2000, when the last CWRMS was published, numerous research projects and studies are demonstrating several new threats to the ecologic health and resilience of the SSER. Contemporary threats include: Eutrophic conditions brought on by high levels of nutrients from sewage treatment plant discharges, stormwater runoff, groundwater seepage, and atmospheric contributions; Increased occurrences of harmful algal blooms in the past 15 years; and, Growing concern...
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: Biogeochemical and Hydrologic Assessment, Biogeochemical and Hydrologic Assessment, BiogeochemicalandHydrologicAssessment, Climate and Land-Use Change, Climate and Land-Use Change, All tags...
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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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Problem Over the past century, the Harlem River watershed has become highly urbanized with 90 percent of the waterway constrained by infrastructure, which has limited access for recreational use. Bound by New York (Manhattan) and Bronx Counties, the Harlem River is a tidal strait between urbanized estuaries to the north (Hudson River) and south (East River). Direct inputs include the more than 50 combined sewer overflows (CSOs) that discharge runoff from impervious surfaces and untreated sewage to the Harlem River during precipitation events. Historic uses of the Harlem River included swimming, boating, and fishing, as well as horseback riding and hiking through adjacent parklands. As urban sprawl continued...
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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 Discharges from non-point sources, municipal and industrial point sources, and combined sewage overflows over the last century resulted in elevated levels of heavy metals, conventional pollutants, phosphorus, and toxic organic contaminants in water and sediments of the Lower Genesee River and Rochester Embayment. As a result, the zooplankton and phytoplankton or “plankton” communities were designated as one of fourteen Beneficial Use Impairments (BUI); i.e., the resource was either impaired or in need of assessment in the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern (AOC). The Rochester Embayment Remedial Action Committee (RAC) was formed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)...
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: Aquatic Community Health, Aquatic Community Health, Biogeochemical and Hydrologic Assessment, Biogeochemical and Hydrologic Assessment, BiogeochemicalandHydrologicAssessment, All tags...
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Problem - There is a stated need to provide information on loading of persistent toxic pollutants to Lake Ontario from New York tributaries. The information is specifically required for the Lake Ontario Mass Balance Model, which is an integral part of the long-term Great Lakes research. The project described here is designed to demonstrate a cost-effective approach for estimation of loads of polychlorinated-biphenyls (PCBs) through use of a relatively small number of large-volume whole-water samples for PCB analysis. The Black River basin was selected to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach because it is the largest New York contributor of PCBs to Lake Ontario. Objectives - The objective of this project...
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Problem - A variety of factors potentially impact natural resources in the Neversink River basin and in other tributaries to the Upper Delaware River along the New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey boarders in the northeastern US. Increased urbanization within most watersheds of the Delaware River has decreased forested lands and ground permeability; fractionated forests, streams, and rivers; impounded flowing waters, and discharged municipal, agricultural, and industrial pollutants into many waterways. The effects on water quality and hydrology have been quantified relatively well. The direct impacts of these perturbations on biological components of stream and river ecosystems are sometimes known, however, more...
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The Ellison Park wetland, a 423-acre, predominantly cattail marsh at the mouth of Irondequoit Creek in Monroe County near Rochester, N.Y., was evaluated for its potential role to decrease phosphorus loads that are derived from a 151-square-mile largely urbanized area and that ultimately enter and exacerbate efforts to ameliorate the eutrophic conditions in Irondequoit Bay. Monroe County's water-quality management plan included (1) modification of flow patterns upstream from and within the wetland by diverting storm runoff into backwater areas of the wetland, and (2) construction of a flow-control structure midway through the wetland that would cause short-term rises in water levels and increased dispersion of...
map background search result map search result map Natural Resources of the Neversink River Watershed Estimation of PCB Loads from the Black River Basin to Lake Ontario, NY Estimating Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Waters from the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern Using Two Plankton Species Estimating chronic toxicity of waters from the St. Lawrence River at Massena Area-of-Concern using two plankton species Balancing Wetland Functions in an Urban Setting -- Water-Quality Improvement and Habitat Preservation, Ellison Park Wetland, Monroe County, New York Sediment Toxicity and Condition of Benthic Invertebrate Communities in the Rochester Embayment Area-of-Concern An Integrated Assessment of the Recovery of Surface Waters from Reduced Levels of Acid Precipitation in the Catskill and Adirondack Regions, New York Didymosphenia geminata in the Upper Esopus Creek: Seasonal changes in density and distribution, controlling environmental factors, and potential ecosystem impacts Development of a Coordinated Water Resources Monitoring Strategy for the South Shore Estuary Reserve, Long Island NY Status of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and toxicity of sediments in the Niagara River Area of Concern, New York Human- and Ecological-Health Concerns Related to Transport and Persistence of Contaminants on Shinnecock Nation Tribal Lands Urban Waters Initiative – BRONX & HARLEM RIVERS 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 Data for Assessing the Status of Macroinvertebrate Communities and Sediment Toxicity in the Buffalo River Area of Concern, New York Contaminants in fish tissues from AOCs in New York State: The Niagara River AOC Track down survey of PCBs in three tributaries to the Niagara River Area of Concern (AOC) Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern Fish Community Assessment Mohawk Microplastics Human- and Ecological-Health Concerns Related to Transport and Persistence of Contaminants on Shinnecock Nation Tribal Lands Balancing Wetland Functions in an Urban Setting -- Water-Quality Improvement and Habitat Preservation, Ellison Park Wetland, Monroe County, New York 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 Data for Assessing the Status of Macroinvertebrate Communities and Sediment Toxicity in the Buffalo River Area of Concern, New York Estimating chronic toxicity of waters from the St. Lawrence River at Massena Area-of-Concern using two plankton species Urban Waters Initiative – BRONX & HARLEM RIVERS Estimating Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Waters from the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern Using Two Plankton Species Sediment Toxicity and Condition of Benthic Invertebrate Communities in the Rochester Embayment Area-of-Concern Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern Fish Community Assessment Natural Resources of the Neversink River Watershed Didymosphenia geminata in the Upper Esopus Creek: Seasonal changes in density and distribution, controlling environmental factors, and potential ecosystem impacts Status of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and toxicity of sediments in the Niagara River Area of Concern, New York Contaminants in fish tissues from AOCs in New York State: The Niagara River AOC Track down survey of PCBs in three tributaries to the Niagara River Area of Concern (AOC) Responses of fish assemblages to changing environmental conditions in the Neversink River and Rondout Creek Development of a Coordinated Water Resources Monitoring Strategy for the South Shore Estuary Reserve, Long Island NY Estimation of PCB Loads from the Black River Basin to Lake Ontario, NY An Integrated Assessment of the Recovery of Surface Waters from Reduced Levels of Acid Precipitation in the Catskill and Adirondack Regions, New York