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Following Hurricane Sandy, the USGS began construction of an overland Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrodynamics (SWaTH) Network along the Northeastern Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Maine. This network, developed collaboratively with numerous partners, features the integration of long-term tide gage networks, with real-time rapid-deployment gages (RDG) and mobile storm-tide sensors (STS). An element of the comprehensive strategy of SWaTH ensures that locations for most RDGs and STSs have been presurveyed to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) and equipped with receiving brackets. This permits rapid deployment and recovery of instrumentation and data dissemination in the hours and days immediately...
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Summary Acid rain levels in the Adirondack region have substantially declined and recovery from acid rain is underway. Recovery is being limited by the depletion of soil calcium that occurred over past decades. Not only is calcium needed for neutralizing acidity, it is an essential nutrient for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. However, recovery of soil calcium has not yet been observed. Whole-ecosystem restoration through watershed liming, possibly combined with in-stream liming, may provide a practical option for stimulating recovery of certain acid-sensitive, high-value natural resources. Information from past liming efforts, however, is insufficient for determining the degree of success that could be achieved...
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Problem - The interaction between ground water and surface water within the Meads Creek watershed is not well understood, and the need for understanding the interaction has increased in recent years because of widespread concerns related to water supply, ground- and surface-water contamination, loss of wetlands due to development; and other changes in the watershed. In addition, flooding in the southern part of the watershed (mostly in Steuben County), where most development in the watershed has taken place, has highlighted the need for information about the drainage characteristics in the basin including the role of ground-water and surface-water interactions. Objectives - The objectives are (1) characterize...
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Problem - The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provided technical assistance between 2001 and 2013 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an investigation of the presence of chlorinated solvents (trichloroethylene and degradates) in ground water in the Middle-to-Lower Devonian and Upper Silurian carbonate bedrock southwest of Auburn in Cayuga County, N.Y. Pieziometric and water-quality data from the wells indicate that contaminants may have migrated in the bedrock as far as 7 miles toward discharge areas that are in an adjacent surface-water basin. The ground-water contamination site was added to the Super Fund priority list in 2003. Objectives - The objective of the work is to characterize the stratigraphy,...
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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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BACKGROUND Air emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels in electrical power plants, building heating systems and vehicles are the major source of gaseous sulfur (SOx) and nitrogen (NOx) oxides in the atmosphere. These oxides dissolve in atmospheric moisture forming ions which are deposited by rain, snowfall and dust particles as acidic deposition. Acidic deposition releases soluble aluminum from the soil which can reach toxic concentrations in adjacent water bodies such as streams and wetlands. Acidic deposition also removes important nutrients such as calcium, potassium and magnesium from the soil negatively impacting local flora and fauna. Depletion of calcium combined with excess aluminum makes forest...
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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...
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Problem The mainstem of the Mohawk River extends from Lake Delta Dam near Rome, NY downstream to its confluence with the Hudson River near Cohoes, NY. It supports a diverse fishery that is used extensively by recreational anglers. Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and walleye (Sander vitreus) are among the most popular game species with anglers but past biological surveys have documented at least 56 fish species that inhabit the river. An extensive fish survey of the Lower Mohawk River was last conducted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) from 1979-1983. Some key findings of this research include: • the river supported an abundant and fast growing smallmouth bass...
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Problem Water temperature is a critical component of trout habitat. Stream temperatures not only affect the distribution, behavior, and survival of trout (and other species), but also compel these species to move toward small areas of preferred temperatures, known as refuges, to maximize growth, survival, and fitness. The Schoharie watershed in the Catskill Mountains, including East Kill, West Kill, and Batavia Kill tributaries as well as the main-stem Schoharie Creek, supports small or transient populations of wild brook trout as well as naturalized and hatchery brown trout. Water temperatures in parts of these rivers typically exceed lethal thresholds for these species for several weeks each summer. Managing agencies...
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Background and Problem The Retsof salt mine in the Genesee River valley, Livingston County, New York flooded after roof collapses in 1994 created two rubble chimneys in overlying bedrock that intersected a confined aquifer in the basal glacial-drift deposits (figs. 1 and 2). Groundwater flowed downward through the rubble chimneys causing widespread drawdown in the lower confined aquifer until the mine was completely flooded in 1996 (Yager and others, 2001). By 2005, water levels in the lower confined aquifer had nearly recovered to pre-collapse conditions but the hydraulic connection through the rubble chimneys between the brine-filled mine cavity, saline-water bedrock fracture zones, and the lower confined aquifer...
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Problem The Peconic Estuary of eastern Long Island, New York, is undergoing development as the region transitions from a rural area dependent on agriculture and tourism to a suburban one with a larger year-round population. The glacial and coastal-plain sediments underlying Long Island comprise a sole-source aquifer system that supplies the region’s communities with potable water. The area surrounding the Peconic Estuary was intensely farmed prior to suburbanization. Nitrogen loading from past fertilizer use was high as estimated from historical information and the continued detection of legacy effects in the aquifer system. In some areas, the peak or bolus of agricultural nitrogen loading from practices several...
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Background: The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) and Health (NYS DOH) are concerned about groundwater contamination in the carbonate-bedrock aquifers in New York, especially relating to the unintended introduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and liquid manure to these aquifers. These carbonate rocks form extensive aquifers that transmit, and can yield, water from solution-enlarged fractures, bedding planes, and other openings (Olcott, 1995). Groundwater contamination from liquid manure application (fecal coliform bacteria [E. coli] and nitrate) has been on the increase over the past decade as these incidents have been reported to the NYS DEC. Nitrate is highly water-soluble...
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In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, collected horizontal-to-vertical seismic soundings at 31 locations in the Owasco Inlet valley, Cayuga and Tompkins Counties, New York to help determine thickness of the unconsolidated deposits. The HVSR technique, commonly referred to as the passive-seismic method, is used to estimate the thickness of unconsolidated sediments and the depth to bedrock (Lane and others, 2008; Fairchild and others, 2013). The passive-seismic method uses a single, broad-band three-component (two horizontal and one vertical) seismometer to record ambient seismic noise. In areas that have a strong acoustic contrast between...
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 Hydrogeology and Surface/Groundwater Interactions in the Meads Creek Valley, Schuyler and Steuben Counties, New York Spatiotemporal trends in fish assemblages of the Mohawk River Identifying Thermal Refuges in the Schoharie Watershed Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation in the Upper Hudson River Basin--Fishing Brook Whole Ecosystem Restoration Through Liming of Honnedaga Lake Tributary Watersheds Hydrogeology of a Ground-Water Contamination Site, Cayuga County, New York Effects of acid rain on the ecological health of Long Island’s forests and ponds Coastal Storm Response Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrodynamics Network (SWaTH) Statewide Assessment of New York’s Karst Aquifers With an Inventory of Closed-Depression and Focused-Recharge Features Surface-Geophysical Surveys and Well Network for Monitoring Aquifer Salinity in the Genesee River Valley, Livingston County, New York The Use of Solute-transport Methods to Estimate Time-varying Nitrogen Loading Rates to the Peconic Estuary Resulting from Wastewater and Fertilizer Inputs to Groundwater in Suffolk County, New York (Peconic Solute Transport) Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) Soundings and Depth-to-Bedrock Data for the Owasco Inlet Watershed, Cayuga and Tompkins Counties, New York 2016 Unconfined and Semiconfined Aquifers in the Owasco Inlet Watershed, Cayuga and Tompkins Counties, New York Gravel Pits and Quarries in the Owasco Inlet Watershed, Cayuga and Tompkins Counties, New York Whole Ecosystem Restoration Through Liming of Honnedaga Lake Tributary Watersheds Hydrogeology of a Ground-Water Contamination Site, Cayuga County, New York Hydrogeology and Surface/Groundwater Interactions in the Meads Creek Valley, Schuyler and Steuben Counties, New York Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) Soundings and Depth-to-Bedrock Data for the Owasco Inlet Watershed, Cayuga and Tompkins Counties, New York 2016 Potential Recovery of Water Chemistry and Stream Biota from Reduced Levels of Acid Deposition at a Sensitive Watershed in the Catskill Mountains, New York Unconfined and Semiconfined Aquifers in the Owasco Inlet Watershed, Cayuga and Tompkins Counties, New York Gravel Pits and Quarries in the Owasco Inlet Watershed, Cayuga and Tompkins Counties, New York Surface-Geophysical Surveys and Well Network for Monitoring Aquifer Salinity in the Genesee River Valley, Livingston County, New York Identifying Thermal Refuges in the Schoharie Watershed Effects of acid rain on the ecological health of Long Island’s forests and ponds The Use of Solute-transport Methods to Estimate Time-varying Nitrogen Loading Rates to the Peconic Estuary Resulting from Wastewater and Fertilizer Inputs to Groundwater in Suffolk County, New York (Peconic Solute Transport) Spatiotemporal trends in fish assemblages of the Mohawk River Statewide Assessment of New York’s Karst Aquifers With an Inventory of Closed-Depression and Focused-Recharge Features Coastal Storm Response Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrodynamics Network (SWaTH) Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation in the Upper Hudson River Basin--Fishing Brook