The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC)completed a water quality and biological survey on the watershedssurrounding Whitney Point Lake from June-October 2008as part of the Year-2 small watershed study in the UpperSusquehanna Subbasin (Figure 1). Year-1 and Year-2 surveysare part of SRBC’s Subbasin Survey Program, which is fundedby the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).This program consists of two-year assessments in each of thesix major subbasins in the Susquehanna River Basin on a rotating schedule. The Year-1 studies are broad-brush, one-timesamples from about 100 stream sites to assess the water quality,macroinvertebrates, and physical habitat. The Year-2 studiesfocus on a particular region or small watershed within themajor subbasin, and typically consist of more intensive, repeatedsampling at a smaller number of locations. SRBC conductedthe Upper Susquehanna Subbasin Survey during June-August2007 (Buda, 2008). The Year-2 sampling is tailored for theindividual needs of a chosen watershed or region or isdesigned to complement and support another already ongoing SRBC project. For more information on SRBC’s SubbasinSurvey Program, see reports by Buda (2007 and 2008) andSteffy (2008). These reports are posted on SRBC’s web site at www.srbc.net/pubinfo/techdocs/Publications/techreports.htm.The watersheds surrounding Whitney Point Lake were chosen for the Upper Susquehanna Year-2 studyto complement a recently funded, large scaleenvironmental restorationproject on Whitney Point Lake. Since1996, SRBC, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS-DEC), and others have been working to establisha water man-agement and environmental restoration project at WhitneyPointLake. In 2007, funding was secured to implement the plans andthe project monitoring began in 2008. The restoration projectprovides for environmental releases fromthe lake to augmentlow flow conditions downstream in the Otselic, Tioughnioga,Chenango, and, ultimately,Susquehanna Rivers. The supple-mental flows are expected to reduce stress on the river ecosys-tem, benefiting fish and macroinvertebrates.The long-term goalof the monitoring plan is to document potential effects of flowaugmentation on aquatic communities in Whitney Point Lakeand the surrounding watersheds. The short-term goals of thebaseline monitoring were to provide information to: (1) assessthe chemical and biological conditionsof Whitney Point Lakeand the surrounding watersheds (Tioughnioga, Otselic,Chenango, and Susquehanna Rivers); (2) document changes instream quality over various flow regimes; (3) identify side chan-nel/backwater habitats that may be critical for fish popula-tions; and (4) assess fish and macroinvertebrate use of riverineside channel/backwater areas. An Adaptive Management Plan (AMP) for the project, which describes the goals and sampling design of the overallrestoration plan, will be re-evaluated every year to make sure

Upper Susquehanna SubbasinSmall Watershed Study:

A Water Quality and Biological Assessment of the Watersheds Surrounding Whitney Point Lake, Broomeand Cortland Counties, N.Y.

SRBC

• 1721 N. Front Street • Harrisburg, PA 17102-2391 • 717.238.0423 • 717.238.2436 Fax • www.srbc.net • Printed on Recycled Paper

Upper Susquehanna SubbasinSmall Watershed Study:

A Water Quality and Biological Assessment of the Watersheds Surrounding Whitney Point Lake, Broomeand Cortland Counties, N.Y.

Report by Luanne Steffy, Aquatic Ecologist

Susquehanna River Basin Commission

Upper Susquehanna Subbasin Year-2 Survey

Publication 264September 2009

This report and all data are available on the Internet at www.srbc.net/pubinfo/techdocs/publication_264/techreport264.htm

the project goals are being met. This Year-2 study will provide valuable biological, chemical, and habitat information to SRBC forthe implementation of the Whitney Point AMP. SRBC will continuemonitoring at least annually for the next five years at the samelocations that were sampled in 2008, in addition to sampling before,during, and after any low flow releases that may occur. The data also will be available to federal, state, and local agencies, including USACE, NYSDEC, and Broome and Cortland County Water andSoil Conservation Districts, as well as any other interested parties andthe general public.

Description of the Study Area

In 1942, USACE created Whitney Point Lake by building a damon the Otselic River for the purpose of providing flood control along the lower Tioughnioga River, the lower Chenango River, and theSusquehanna River downstream of Binghamton, N.Y. Whitney PointLake is located in Broome County and controls a drainage area of 225 square miles (Figure 1). In the late 1960s, recreational facilities were added to Dorchester Park, which is adjacent to the southeasternportion of the lake, and the summer poollevel was raised to provide a larger lake andmore recreational opportunities. The lakeis approximately 1,200 acres and provides10.5 miles of shoreline for a variety of recreational activities.The land use in the study area isprimarily forested and agricultural, withthe two largest developed areas surrounding the villages of Whitney Point andMarathon. A majority of the study area is in Broome County, with the exceptionof the most upstream sites on theTioughnioga and Otselic Rivers, which arein Cortland County. The study area doesnot include the entire watersheds of any of the three rivers being sampled (Figure 2).The most upstream sampling locationon the Tioughnioga River is in Marathon,N.Y. Five additional mainstem sampling sites and two side channel sampling sitesare located between Marathon and themouth of the river. On the Otselic River,there are two sampling sites: one upstreamof Whitney Point Lake in LandersCorners and one downstream of the dam, which is very close to the mouth of theriver. Finally, the Chenango River wassampled at two locations: at Chenango Valley State Park and at the Route 12A crossing, which is the most downstreamsampling location in the study area.Both of these Chenango River sites aredownstream of the confluence with theTioughnioga River.

Figure 1.

Location of the Whitney Point Study Area in theUpper Susquehanna Subbasin

Figure 2.

Location of Whitney Point Adaptive Management Plan Monitoring Sites

Field Parameters

Flow, instantaneous cfsTemperature, °CDissolved Oxygen, (mg/l)Conductivity, µmhos/cmpHAlkalinity, mg/lAcidity, mg/lTurbidity, NTU

Laboratory Analysis Parameters

Biological Oxygen Demand, 5-day, mg/lTotal Suspended Solids, mg/lTotal Organic Carbon, mg/lTotal Nitrogen, mg/lTotal Phosphorus, mg/lTotal Orthophosphate, mg/l

Table 2.

Water Quality Parameters Sampled

SiteStream NameLocationLatitudeLongitude

OTSL 8.7Otselic RiverUpstream of lake at Landers Corners42.4225-75.94861OTSL 0.1Otselic RiverAt mouth at Whitney Point42.33073-75.96607TIOU 18.8Tioughnioga RiverAt Marathon42.4407-76.0356TIOU 13.2Tioughnioga RiverAlong Rt. 11, approximately 42.3705-75.999811.5 miles north of LisleTIOUB 13.2Tioughnioga RiverSide channel/backwater area 42.3705-75.99981at TIOU 13.2TIOU 11.8Tioughnioga RiverUpstream of Otselic River @ Lisle42.35075-75.99982TIOU 9.5Tioughnioga RiverDownstream of Otselic River at 42.33083-75.96694Rt. 11 bridge at Whitney PointTIOU 5.7Tioughnioga RiverDownstream of Otselic River at Itaska42.2987-75.909TIOUB 5.4Tioughnioga RiverSide channel/backwater area about 42.29528-75.905870.3 miles downstream of TIOU 5.7TIOU 0.1Tioughnioga RiverUpstream of Rt. 12 bridge at 42.23833-75.8475Chenango ForksCHEN 11.9Chenango RiverDownstream of Tioughnioga River 42.2188-75.8486at gaging station near Chenango ForksCHEN 7.0Chenango RiverDownstream of Rt. 12A42.165783-75.87293

METHODS

Data Collection

Between June and October 2008, SRBC staff completedthree rounds of sampling at the ten instream and two sidechannel locations listed in Table 1. Sampling included waterchemistry, electrofishing, macroinvertebrate sampling, streamdischarge measurements, and habitat assessments. Water wascollected using a hand-held, depth-integrated sampler at sixlocations across the stream channel. The water was put intoa churn splitter, mixed thoroughly, and split into two500-ml bottles, one 125-ml bottle fixed for nutrient analysis,and two amber pre-fixed vials for total organic carbon (TOC). Water quality parameters are listed in Table 2. The remainderof the water was used to complete standard field chemistryanalyses. Temperature was measured instream in degreesCelsius with a field thermometer. A Cole-Parmer Model 5996meter was used to measure pH. Conductivity was measured with a Cole-Parmer 1481 meter, and dissolved oxygen wasmeasured instream with a YSI 55 meter. Turbidity also wasmeasured in the field with a Hach 2100P portable turbidometer. Alkalinity and acidity were determined using field titrations. Alkalinity was measured in the field by titrating a known volume of sample water to pH 4.5 with 0.02N H

. Acidity was measured in the field by titrating a known volume of sample water to pH 8.3 with 0.02N NaOH. When wading waspossible, stream discharge was measured using a FlowTrackerand according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) methods(Buchanan and Somers, 1969).Macroinvertebrate assessments were adapted from RapidBioassessment Protocol (RBP) III, described by Barbour andothers (1999) and Plafkin and others (1989) and followedNYSDEC’s “Quality Assurance Work Plan for Biological StreamMonitoring in New York State” (Bode and others, 2002).Macroinvertebrate sampling was conducted in the best availableriffle/run habitats at each main channel and side channelreach, where available. Sampling was conducted by placing anaquatic net (size 9 in. X 18 in., mesh opening 0.8 mm X 0.9 mm)perpendicular to the current and disturbing the substrate sodislodged macroinvertebrates were carried into the net.Sampling was continued in an upstream direction for fiveminutes for a distance of five meters. All collected specimens were preserved in 95 percent ethanol and returned to SRBCfor identification and enumeration.Fish community assessments were adapted from the RBPmanual (Barbour and others, 1999) and from NYSDEC’s qualityassurance plan (Bode and others, 2002). Fish sampling wasconducted in a representative stream reach that was selectedso that riffle, run, and pool habitat were included within thereach, when possible. In June, a backpack electroshocker wasused with poor results due to the size of the rivers being sampled, so the remaining sampling rounds were electrofished

Table 1.

Instream Monitoring Locations in the Whitney Point Study Area Backpack electroshocking in the Tioughnioga River.