An Investigation of External Nutrient Loading from Eight Streams into Honeoye Lake Finger Lakes Institute 4 th Annual Conference October 18, 2008 Bin Zhu, Ph.D. Research Scientist
www.rochersterenvironment.com Surface area 7 km 2 Maximum depth 9.2 m Mean depth 4.9 m Secchi Depth ~4 m Eutrophic
Water Quality Ranking Lake 2005 2006 2007 Honeoye 6.1 7.0 7.0 Canandaigua 1.4 Keuka 3.0 Seneca 7.0 Cayuga 4.4 Owasco 6.7 3.1 3.3 3.2 (no bacteria) 5.9 (no bacteria) 5.6 1.3 1.4 3.0 3.6 2.8 Skaneateles 1.0 1.0 1.0 Data from Dr. John Halfman
Honeoye Stream Sampling Regular Sampling (11) Event Sampling (6) Measure: Water Discharge, TSS, TP, SRP, TKN, NO 3, TN
Study Sites July 24, 2008 Affolter, October 22, 2007 May 13, 2008
159 W Lake, August 27, 2007 Briggs, August 22, 2007 October 22, 2007 May 13, 2008
Events 159 W Lake Briggs
Water Discharge Average Water Discharge (cm 3 /s) 10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 26400 Regular Discharge Event Discharge Annual Discharge 0 159 W. Lake Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union
TSS - Regular 18 TSS (mg/l) 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 6/27/07 7/25/07 8/27/07 9/25/07 10/22/07 11/28/07 2/19/08 3/17/08 4/15/08 5/13/08 6/30/08 0 159 W. Lake 4 Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union 2 3 1
TSS - Event 1800 1600 1400 TSS (mg/l) 1200 1000 800 600 7/11/07 10/19/07 1/7/08 2/6/08 3/31/08 7/24/08 400 200 0 159 W. Lake Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union 1 2 4 3
Phosphorus - Regular 0.05 TP SRP 0.04 Mean Phosphorus (mg/l) 0.03 0.02 0.01 0 159 W. Lake Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union 3 2 1 4
Phosphorus - Event 0.3 0.25 TP SRP Mean Phosphorus (mg/l) 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 159 W. Lake Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union 1 2 4 3
Nitrogen - Regular 1.4 1.2 TKN NO3 TN Mean Nitrogen (mg/l) 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 159 W. Lake 3 Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union 1 3 2
Nitrogen - Event 4.5 4 3.5 TKN NO3 TN Mean Nitrate (mg/l) 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 159 W. Lake Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union 1 2 4 3
TSS Loading 250 TSS Annual Total Loading (tn/yr) 200 150 100 50 0 159 W. Lake 4 Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union 1 2 3
Phosphorus Loading 200 180 TP Annual Total Loading (kg/yr) 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 159 W. Lake Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union 2 1 3 4
Nitrogen Loading 5000 TN Annual Total Loading (kg/yr) 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 159 W. Lake Affolter Cratsley Inlet Briggs Bray Trident Times Union 4 2 1 3
Rank Summary Table Regular TSS Regular TP Regular TN Event TSS Event TP Event TN Annual TSS Loading Annual P Loading 159 W Lake 4 3 3 1 1 1 4 4 Affloter 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 Cratsley Inlet 2 2 Briggs 3 4 4 4 2 1 1 Bray 3 3 3 3 Trident 1 1 3 3 3 5 4 5 Times Union 4 2 Annual N Loading
Segment Analysis APT Complex FARM
Segment Analysis (TP SRP) Phosphorus (mg/l) 0.04 0.03 0.02 TP-Inlet SRP-Inlet TP-Affloter SRP-Affloter APT Complex 0.01 FARM 0 0 1 2 3 Distance from Streams
TSS & Nitrogen - Affloter 3 2.5 Nutrient & TSS (mg/l) 2 1.5 1 TSS TKN NOx TN 0.5 0 0 1 2 3 4 Distance from Affloter Stream APT Complex
TSS & Nitrogen - Inlet 1 40 Nitrogen (mg/l) 0.8 0.6 0.4 TKN NOX TN TSS 30 20 TSS (mg/l) 0.2 10 0 FARM 0 1 2 3 4 Distance From the Inlet 0
Conclusions Water discharge, TSS, TP, SRP, TKN, NO3, and TN were much higher during event sampling than regular sampling. Briggs, Affolter,, and 159 W. Lake had the highest concentrations and loading of TSS, TP, and TN. Bray and Trident could also be problematic in terms of their nutrient concentrations and loading.
Conclusions It estimates these 8 streams contribute TSS 429.1 tn/yr, TP 0.345 tn/yr, and TN 9.44 tn/yr. Segment analysis could identify some possible causes of excessive nutrient loading.
Recommendations and Directions Continuous monitoring is necessary One year data can not represent an average trend for a period. Study season (June 07 July 08) covered a large period of dry season; this one year is not typical.
Recommendations and Directions More segment analyses should be conducted to identify possible sources for those concerned streams, such as Briggs, Affolter,, 159 W. Lake, and Trident. Internal nutrient cycling should be investigated Sediment resuspension? Macrophyte release? Alum success?
Acknowledgements Ontario County Honeoye Lake Watershed Task Force and Mr. Jack Starke for Funding Meridith Eppers,, Joseph Sullivan, Bryan Harris, Kellie Sparford,, Sarah Meyer, and Nathan Burtch for field sampling assistance Dr. John Halfman and Dr. Bruce Gilman for sharing data and discussions. Ms. Marion Balyszak for her support of research and managing the funding
Thank You! Photo by Bryan Harris Presentation: Aquatic Plants in the Finger Lakes: Native, Invasive, or Nuisance? (November 11, 2008) Contact me: 315-781-4384 or zhu@hws.edu