Transcript Watershed Characteristics

Cayuga Lake Project
Rich Bowen
Jeremy Deans
Jacob Krall
Rami Zahr
Supervisor: Cliff Callinan, New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
Partner Organization Representative: Ruthanna Hawkins, Cayuga
Lake Watershed Network
Cayuga Lake Project

Worked with NYSDEC and Cayuga Lake Watershed Network

Problem: Fecal Coliform spikes have long been an issue in Cayuga
Lake, necessitating the closing of Stewart Park Beach in 1966

Long-term goal: Fully understand the Coliform spikes and move
toward a solution

This semester: Initial data compilation, research, problem definition.
Watershed Characteristics
Part of the Oswego River Basin
 Drains into Lake Ontario
 39.3 miles long, max depth of 435 feet,
shoreline of 95.3 miles, average width 1.7
miles

N
<http://www.cayugawatershed.org/Cayuga%20Lake/RPP/caywaterresources.htm>.
Subwatershed


Tributaries:
Cayuga Inlet
 Buttermilk

Fall Creek
 Virgil


Creek
Creek
Cascadilla Creek
Six Mile Creek
<http://www.cayugawatershed.org/clwsmap.html>.
Fecal Coliform
Indicator of amount of other potentially
harmful pathogens found in warm blooded
animals
 Pathogen easily measured (e.g. E. Coli)
 Fecal coliform levels should not exceed
200 col/100mL and total coliform levels
2,400 col/100mL

Possible Sources

Sewage and Municipal Waste

Agricultural Runoff

Wildlife Around Lake

Urban Runoff
Possibly Related to Fecal Coliform

Total Coliform

Phosphorous

Nitrogen

Total Suspended Solids

Water Flow Rate (tributaries)

Precipitation
Differentiating Between Types of
Runoff
Agricultural: Pesticides, mercury, arsenic,
& selenium
 Urban: Oils & trace metals used in local
industry
 Sewage: Surfactants and other pathogens

Different Loads of Coliform
Low River
Water Flow Rate
x
High Contaminant
Concentration
= Low Load
→ Impairment close to river input
High River
Water Flow Rate
x
Low Contaminant
Concentration
→ Slow, whole lake deterioration
Chapman, Deborah Water Quality
Assessments 1996; pg 339
= High Load
Sample Collected Information
Data Collected by the NY State
Department of Health
Phosphorous Correlation
Coliform vs Total Phosphorous
Six Mile Creek 9-22-04
y = 472.18x - 1660.2
R2 = 0.8647
40000
Coliform (col/100mL)
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
Total Phosphorous (ug/L)
Data Collected by Six Mile Creek
Watershed Committee
60
70
80
90
Phosphorous Correlation
Coliform vs. Soluble Reactive Phosphorous
Virgil Creek, Owego Hill Road
y = -33.787x + 1984.4
R2 = 0.4195
3000
Coliform (col/100mL)
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
SRP (ug/L)
Data Collected by Volunteers of Fall
Creek Watershed Committee
35
40
45
Flow Rate Correlation
Total Coliform vs Flow rate
y = 18.948x + 2013.4
Fall Creek (10-18-02 to 7-13-04)
R2 = 0.3523
70000
Coliform (col/100mL)
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Flow Rate (ft^3/s)
Data Collected by Volunteers of Fall
Creek Watershed Committee
1400
1600
1800
Precipitation Correlation
E. Coli vs. Precipitation
Fall Creek (11-20-03 to 11-10-04)
y = 963.66x + 157.23
R2 = 0.9627
1600
1400
Coliform (col/100mL)
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Percipitation (inches)
Data Collected by Volunteers of Fall
Creek Watershed Committee
1.2
1.4
1.6
Soil
Glacial till (clay, silt, and gravel)
 Clays are the most effective filter
 Bacteria are attracted to clay (cation
bridging)
 Sandy soils have poor retention
 Bacteria moves faster through coarser
soils

Movement in Soils
Storm water is the main cause of bacteria
infiltration into water ways
 Cracks in the bed rock increase seepage
rate
 Water table fluctuations can strand
bacteria
 Bacteria will die without proper host

Probable Solution
Marshes: cattails, red-stemmed dogwood,
arrow-wood, water willow, woolgrass, reed
 Intertwining roots, leaves and fibers
remove sediment from slow-moving water
 Marsh slows down the water and bacteria
laden sediment drops out
 Marsh plant’s roots and stems stop both
surface and subsurface water

Removal
80-90% of sediment is removed by
wetlands
 65% of sediment never leaves the wetland
 Provide surfaces for microorganisms
(protozoans) to grow that are predators

Finger Lakes Wetlands
Conesus, Hemlock, Canadice,
Honeoye Lakes
Seneca Lake
Canandaigua Lake
Cayuga Lake
(Callinan Presentation DEC)
Keuka Lake
Owasco, Skaneateles, Otisco
Lakes
Geographic Information Systems Project
Goals

Map out sampling points:





DOH data at various sites
Fall and Sixmile Creek data taken by Community Organizations
USGS gages
Others: WWTPs, RUSS Unit
Also on map: Land Use data, watershed divisions

Link points on map to data that has been collected.

The map will serve as a tool for future groups working on this project.

Create interactive map on team website?
GIS Map
Summary
What has been done:

Compiled large amounts of data from (DOH, Local
WWTPs, Non Profit Orgs)

Begun research into various topics (geology, vegetation,
coliform sources, sampling techniques)

Preliminary GIS work
Future Work
 Look
into DNA analysis
 Minerals’
 Further
effect on bacteria
GIS work
 Seasonal
population density of migratory
birds and their fecal coliform contribution
 Research
synthetic wetland construction
More Sources for Data Compilation

Water Treatment Plants

Wastewater Treatment Plants

Cornell Lake Source Cooling
Data Collectors – Thank You
Department of Environmental
Conservation – New York State
 Department of Health – New York State
 Six Mile Creek Watershed Committee
 Monitoring Volunteers for the Fall Creek
Watershed Committee

Special Thanks
Ruthanna Hawkins – Cayuga Lake
Watershed Network (WN)
 Cliff Callinan – NY State Department of
Environmental Conservation
 Nicholas Hollingshead (WN)
 Prof. Ruth Richardson – CEE
 Prof. Rachel Davidson - CEE

Questions?