STREAM COMMUNITY HEALTH IN THE SENECA LAKE WATERSHED

Susan F. Cushman* and Elijah T. GleasonFinger Lakes Institute & Department of BiologyHobart & William Smith CollegesGeneva, NY

Seneca Lake & Watershed

Large watershed (194,250ha)

Inlet (south end) and Keuka Lake outlet (western shore) provide largest sources of water

Lake: Deepest (186m max) Largest surface area (175

km2) Largest water volume (51%

of FL; 15,540 million m3)

Watershed

Forest (41%)& agriculture (39%) dominant land uses

Developed land minimal (8%), but increasing

Other concerns: salt, WWTP, hog farming, raw sewage, US Army depot

2011 Subwatershed Inventory

10 streams: North: Reeder, Castle,

Wilson, Kashong South: Plum, Big, Rock,

Catherine, Hector Falls, Glen Eldridge

Benthic Macroinvertebrate(BMI) Survey

Fish Survey

BMI Survey

NY DEC Protocol: 5 min diagonal transectSort subsample of 100 macroinvertebratesAnalyses: -Percent Model Affinity-Biotic Index

Results: BMI - Percent Model Affinity

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Perc

ent M

odel

Aff

inity

(PM

A)

Moderately Impacted

Slightly Impacted

NOT Impacted

Results: BMI - Biotic Index

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Biot

ic In

dex Slightly Impacted

NOT Impacted

Moderately Impacted

Electrofishing Survey

75m sampling reachDouble-pass Seine blocknetsTallied abundance

Results: Fish Survey - Richness

0123456789

10

Fish

Spe

cies

Ric

hnes

s (f

ish/

75m

)

Results: Fish Survey - Abundance

050

100150200250300350400450500

Fish

Abu

ndan

ce (

fish/

75m

)

Common Small Stream Fish Assemblage

Blacknose Dace

Creek Chub

Central Stoneroller

White Sucker

Common Shiner

Reeder Creek

Poor insect habitat: lots of bedrock, silt, high conductivity, little woody debris

Poor fish habitat: bedrock and warm water, low species richness (3) as well as abundance

Castle Creek

Good insect habitat: woody debris, riffles although high conductivity and silt on cobbles

Good fish habitat: undercut banks, deep pools, overhead cover;

High fish species richness and 2nd highest abundance

Wilson Creek

Poor insect habitat: low DO, high conductivity, high silt; low PMA & BI scores

Good fish habitat: deep pools, cool temperature, woody debris & undercut banks; low fish abundance, but high richness & diversity

Kashong Creek

Poor insect habitat: clay banks & silt on cobble, eroded banks,

Great fish habitat: rootwads & woody debris, deep pools, good riffle/pool sequence

Plum Creek =

Great insect habitat: cool water, low silt, shallow, cobble

Great fish habitat: tree canopy thick, gravel/cobble, however shallow & few pools

Best BMI scores, 100% BND

Big Stream

Good insect habitat: riffle/run habitat, low conductivity & silt

Ok fish habitat: deep pools, cobble, but little canopy, high temp

High fish richness & diversity

However, high prevalence of blackspot, Central mudminnow

Rock Stream

Poor insect habitat: little riffle habitat, silt & evidence of heavy erosion

Poor fish habitat: no canopy, lots of bedrock, waterfalls, warm shallow water; Fathead minnow

Catherine Creek

Good insect habitat: high DO, low conductivity, however moderate silt from eroded banks

Good fish habitat: low temp, cobble, riffle/pool sequence;Fantail darter

Ok insect habitat: clay banks = silt in stream, riffle, but overhanging vegetation

Good fish habitat: Woody debris, debris jams, cobble riffles, cool temp; White sucker abundant (10%)

Hector Falls Creek

2 Brown Trout!

Glen Eldridge Creek

Good insect habitat: low conductivity, high DO, however moderate silt from upstream erosion

Great fish habitat: deep pools, low temp, some woody debris & rootwads; Swallowtail shiner rare but present

Highest fish abundance (449), 93% BND & CKB

Conclusions

Few streams are in really poor condition Variety of impacts and responses

BMI indicates that Reeder, Wilson & Kashong have poor water quality (slight impact or greater)

Higher percent agriculture in watershed found to also have lowest BMI scores, however fish communities still abundant and diverse

Highest BMI score = lowest fish richness & diversity!

Data will be going into 2011 Seneca Lake Watershed Characterization and Subwatershed Evaluation

Summer Field Crew – Thanks! Eli Gleason H’12

Derek Weiss H’12

Jake Schreiber H’11Jordan Youngmann H’10

Ryan Kincaid WS’11

Riley Cushman

Katharine Marino WS’12