Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Oak Orchard Creek Orleans County, New York, Joseph C. Makarewicz, Matthew J. Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Oak Orchard Creek is a major tributary of Lake Ontario, with a watershed straddling Orleans and Genesee counties. Surrounding land use is a mix of residential, small commercial businesses, and agriculture. The Elba and Oakfield sewage treatment plants are located along Oak Orchard Creek, as are three hydroelectric dams located in Oak Orchard, Glenwood, and Waterport (Zollweg et al. 2005). The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation lists fishing in Oak Orchard as threatened. There have been high measures of DDT, DDE, DDD, PAHs, and arsenic identified near Lyndonville, NY, at one of these sites (Makarewicz 2000). Nuisance algae, …

Twelvemile Creek Niagara County, New York, Joseph Makarewicz, Matthew Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

The east branch of Twelvemile Creek (69 mi2) flows through northern Niagara County to its mouth at Lake Ontario 12 miles east of the Niagara River, near the village of Wilson, New York. From fall through spring, good runs of steelhead and brown trout with the occasional Chinook and Coho salmon occur into the creek. Agriculture, especially row crop farming, is predominant within the watershed, though natural protected land is also plentiful. The Wilson-Tuscarora State Park provides a buffer between the creek and agriculture immediately around the mouth of the creek, while upstream farms directly line the creek. Nuisance algae, …

Niagara River Niagara County, New York, Joseph Makarewicz, Matthew Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

The Niagara River carries water from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and is the major source of Lake Ontario’s water volume. Famous for the immense Niagara Falls, the 36-mile river is used by over 1 million people in the United States and Canada for functions including drinking water, recreation, and hydropower (Niagara Parks 2009). The Niagara River drains the entire upper Great Lake system into the final lake, Lake Ontario, and due to this huge volume of water has a large potential to change Lake Ontario’s water quality. Nuisance algae, bacterial abundance, and algal mat development along the southern shoreline …

Port Bay Wayne County, New York, Joseph Makarewicz, Matthew Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Located midway between Rochester and Oswego, New York, Port Bay is one of southern Lake Ontario’s larger but relatively shallow (<25 feet) embayments. The perimeter of the bay is primarily residential, but portions of the shoreline and watershed are part of the Lake Shores Marshes Wildlife Area. Wolcott Creek is the major tributary of Port Bay and drains ~27 mi² of land that is mostly in agriculture. The bay receives treated effluent from the Village of Wolcott Sewage Treatment Plant. Port Bay suffers from cultural eutrophication and is on the New York State 303d list of Impaired Waters due to an overabundance of phosphorus. Benthic anoxia is a major effect of this eutrophication. Port Bay is impacted by nuisance algae, and harmful algal blooms have been observed (Makarewicz et al. 2009). This short report provides a synopsis of …

Irondequoit Bay Monroe County, New York, Joseph C. Makarewicz, Matthew J. Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Irondequoit Bay is approximately 4.2 miles long and 0.6 miles wide and is separated from Lake Ontario by a small barrier beach. Irondequoit Bay had been historically considered hypereutrophic when several sewage plants discharged directly into the bay; however, aggressive restoration by Monroe County has improved the eutrophic state of the bay. Restoration efforts included sealing the bottom sediments with alum, reducing both point and non-point sources of phosphorus, and the pumping of air into the hypolimnion to reduce phosphorus movement from the sediments into the water. Currently no direct sewage plant discharge is received, and phosphorus levels are approaching …

Sodus Bay Wayne County, New York, Joseph Makarewicz, Matthew Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Sodus Bay is one of Lake Ontario’s major embayments separated from the lake by a 7,500-foot long barrier beach. The bay is located in Wayne County, New York, and is 4.4 miles in length and 2.4 miles across. This major point of access to Lake Ontario contains 12 marinas, 13 waterfront restaurants, 2 public access sites, a public beach, and a sailing school. The 46-mi² Sodus Bay watershed is composed of land that is 30% agriculture, 4% developed land, 61% forest, and 4% wetlands. First Creek, Second Creek, Third Creek, Sodus Creek West, Sodus Creek East (Glenmark Creek), and …

Sandy Creek Monroe/Orleans Counties, New York, Joseph C. Makarewicz, Matthew J. Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Sandy Creek is located in Monroe and Orleans Counties in New York State and drains 89 mi2 of land. Surrounding land use is predominantly agriculture, though there are also residential influences. The Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District through the Water Quality Coordinating Committee (WQCC) has monitored nutrient loss from the watershed through continuous automated monitoring and event sampling. Sandy Creek was identified as moderately polluted, not as pristine as forested watersheds but not as polluted as streams receiving partially treated sewage. Soil loss was highest (75% of total) during precipitation events suggesting that agricultural runoff may play a …

Segment Analysis Of Fish Creek North Of Pennellville Pond The Location Of Sources Of Pollution, Joseph C. Makarewicz, Theodore W. Lewis

Joseph C Makarewicz

To identify sources of the elevated levels of nutrients observed in Pennellville Pond, a recommendation of the Makarewicz and Lewis Report (2003) was to initiate water quality sampling in the area north of Penneville Pond in the Fish Creek watershed. To accomplish this task, the Soil and Water Conservation District of Oswego County contracted with the Water Quality Laboratory at SUNY Brockport to systematically identify, during baseline and hydrometeorological events, the sources of nutrients, soils and salts within the Fish Creek watershed north of Pennellville Pond. Point and non-point sources were identified through a process called stressed stream analysis or …

The Development Of An Stream Water Quality Assessment Index To Evaluate Stream Health Conesus Lake Tributaries Spring 2011, Joseph Makarewicz, Theodore Lewis, Blake Snyder

Joseph C Makarewicz

The major goal was to develop an assessment tool for watershed health utilizing the USDA data base. Such a tool would allow the county to evaluate the status of watersheds; that is, are they improving, getting worse, or not changing. An evaluation tool of this type would allow further development and direction of the Conesus Lake Watershed Management Plan.

Monitoring of two of the USDA streams (Cottonwood Gully and North McMillan Creek) was changed to the spring rather than the summer. This was done as a result of last year’s work which suggested that spring monitoring may provide a better …

Little Sodus Bay Cayuga County, New York, Joseph C. Makarewicz, Matthew J. Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Little Sodus Bay is a 728-acre embayment on the southern Lake Ontario shoreline, located in the Town of Fair Haven, New York. The bay has a mean depth of 22 feet, a maximum depth of 37 feet, and is not fed by any major tributaries. Little Sodus Bay connects to Lake Ontario through a narrow channel located in the northwest corner of the bay. The watershed surrounding the bay is composed of land roughly 20% agricultural, 18% developed land (mostly limited development), 61% forest, 1% wetlands, and 0.1% quarry (The Camdus Group 2007). Little Sodus Bay has nuisance algae and …

Eighteenmile Creek Niagara County, New York, Joseph C. Makarewicz, Matthew J. Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Eighteenmile Creek drains 93 mi² of land as it travels 26 miles before emptying into Lake Ontario. Topography is generally flat and comprised primarily of agricultural and rural residential development, with most of the industrial influences concentrated in the City of Lockport. The creek is a Great Lakes Area of Concern and has a Remedial Action Plan currently headed by the Niagara County Soil and Water Conservation District. PCBs, specifically, represent the area of stress that receives the most attention. In addition to a history of industrial waste exposure, the Lockport Sewage Treatment Plant diverts treated sewage to the …

Pultneyville, Salmon Creek Wayne County, New York, Joseph Makarewicz, Matthew Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Pultneyville is located between Irondequoit Bay and Sodus Bay, approximately 14 miles east of Irondequoit Bay and 12 miles west of Sodus Bay. Salmon Creek drains into Lake Ontario at Pultneyville where it forms Pultneyville Harbor that boasts a 100-boat marina as well as a yacht club. Agriculture, specifically fruit orchards, dominates the harbor watershed. Little background information is available for this location. Here we report on water quality data collected monthly (May through September) in 2007 and 2009 at Pultneyville Harbor and at lakeside location east of the harbor in Lake Ontario.

Oswego River Oswego County, New York, Joseph Makarewicz, Matthew Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

The Oswego River is the second largest river flowing into Lake Ontario, draining 5,100 square miles of land. The watershed includes all of Seneca County, most of Onondaga, Cayuga, Tompkins, Schuyler, Yates and Ontario Counties, and large portions of Oswego, Oneida, Madison and Wayne Counties in New York State. Most of the New York Finger Lakes are in the drainage basin of the Oswego River, and land use ranges from heavy agriculture in the Finger Lakes region to urban development in Oswego. The Oswego River Harbor is the largest Oswego County embayment and is vital to the shipping industry due …

Long Pond Monroe County, New York, Joseph Makarewicz, Matthew Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Long Pond, located on Lake Ontario near Rochester, New York, is surrounded by a mix of residential development, state park, and protected wildlife areas. Land use within the watershed is a mix of suburbia, including the Village of Spencerport, and agriculture. The waters of Long Pond are considered hypereutrophic, meaning it is very productive due to high nutrient loading. This productivity is likely due to nonpoint sources and the point source represented by the Spencerport Sewage Treatment Plant which releases advanced secondary sewage effluent into a tributary of Long Pond (Makarewicz 2000). Nuisance algae, bacterial abundance, and algal mat development …

Braddock Bay Monroe County, New York, Joseph Makarewicz, Matthew Nowak

Joseph C Makarewicz

Braddock Bay, located just west of Rochester, NY, is one of Lake Ontario’s larger embayments. The bay is open to wave action from Lake Ontario, differentiating it from several other embayments such as Port and Sodus Bays. Braddock Bay is located in the 2,500-acre Braddock Bay Fish and Wildlife Management Area; is a major waterfowl and migratory bird nesting, resting, and feeding habitat; has 541 boat slips; and is a major access point to the lake from the southern shore. The Braddock Bay watershed contains a mix of residential development, state park, and protected wildlife areas. Nuisance algae, bacterial abundance, …