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

Subwatershed Tributaries: Cayuga Inlet  Buttermilk Creek Fall Creek  Virgil Creek Cascadilla Creek Six Mile Creek.

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

Chapman, Deborah Water Quality Assessments 1996; pg 339 Different Loads of Coliform Low River x High Contaminant Water Flow Rate Concentration = Low Load → Impairment close to river input High River x Low Contaminant Water Flow Rate Concentration = High Load → Slow, whole lake deterioration

Data Collected by the NY State Department of Health Sample Collected Information

Data Collected by Six Mile Creek Watershed Committee Phosphorous Correlation

Data Collected by Volunteers of Fall Creek Watershed Committee Phosphorous Correlation

Data Collected by Volunteers of Fall Creek Watershed Committee Flow Rate Correlation

Data Collected by Volunteers of Fall Creek Watershed Committee Precipitation Correlation

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 Canandaigua LakeKeuka Lake Seneca LakeCayuga LakeOwasco, Skaneateles, Otisco Lakes (Callinan Presentation DEC)

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’ effect on bacteria Further 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?