Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2016NY231B

Conductivity and nutrient monitoring in surface water’s of NY’s Finger Lakes region

Institute: New York
Year Established: 2016 Start Date: 2016-03-01 End Date: 2018-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $48,288 Total Non-Federal Funds: $26,558

Principal Investigators: Todd Walter

Project Summary: Surface waters in upstate New York are often subject to contamination by chloride and nutrients as a result of road salt application and point and non-point source discharges, respectively. While these impairments are notionally related to land use and resource management, the driving force behind these relationships is often unknown. In the Finger Lakes region, there are a range of streams and lakes within watersheds characterized by varying degrees of urbanization, and subject to various agricultural activities and municipal inputs (eg. wastewater treatment effluent). By monitoring a suite of parameters in local surface waters – including chloride, nitrate, phosphorus, physical properties, and biological indicators – this project will help develop regionally accurate models of stream and lake impairments.