Post 1: Research Proposal

Introduction

Urban watershed management in the United States has been known to be no easy task. A particular watershed can include several different bodies of water and tributaries that contribute to one larger body of water. If maintaining all of these smaller sources of natural water sounds like a project, imagine these sources being located in a heavily populated and industrialized city setting. Urban watersheds are usually known to be easily exposed to many different sources of contaminants due to their locations. The Patroon Creek watershed located in Albany County, New York is notorious among urban watersheds in New York state for the historic anthropogenic alterations.

The Patroon Creek is a little over six miles long and resides in a watershed that is roughly 5,000 acres. It begins in Rensselaer Lake and empties into the Hudson river, traveling through urbanized areas of Albany, as well as different nature preserves such as the Albany Pine Bush and Tivoli Lake Preserve. Although the creek flows through major preserves, only about 17% of the watershed is forested. The rest is left to major urban areas and has been known to feel the effects of urbanization.

Few, but important studies have been done on the Patroon Creek, specifically in the Tivoli Lake Preserve area. This area has been known to be affected by industrial and chemical pollution such as heavy metal waste products and road salts. One study done in 2004 by Elizabeth Erikson of the University of Albany states that “the application of road salt in an urban watershed leads to increased sodium and chloride concentrations in surface water and groundwater, which can adversely affect aquatic ecosystems, and may have consequences for soil cation exchange.” Her study found that road salt ions are very prevalent in the water and soil of the Patroon Creek and remain at elevated levels throughout the year. This affects many different aspects of the ecosystem such as how it affects the wildlife, the plant life, and how it alters different habitats. Another study done in 2001 by John Arnason and Barbara Fletcher of the University of Albany demonstrates how levels of heavy metals (cadmium, mercury, lead, and uranium) are very high in the Patroon Creek compared to levels in sediments from other highly impacted areas of industrial pollution. The levels of heavy metals found from this study is known to be detrimental to aquatic life.

Objectives

• To get a better understanding of the water quality of the Patroon Creek and Tivoli Lake.
• To get a better understanding of the soil quality of the Patroon Creek and Tivoli Lake.
• To compare the results to data collected within the Kromma Kill Watershed.

Methodology

Monitoring equipment will be set up at six different sites within the Patroon Creek Watershed and the Kromma Kill Watershed. Water and soil quality sampling will be done at these sites on a monthly basis. We will be able to analyze the water quality based on the monitoring equipment set up in the field, and the soil samples will be analyzed using Siena College’s SAINT Center and X-ray fluorescence equipment.

Deliverables

This project will be able to provide more insight on the water and soil quality of the Patroon Creek and Tivoli Lake. By the end of this research, we will be able to provide a final report and poster presentation on our findings.

Data Sources

• United States Geological Survey (USGS)
• Data collected by Dr. Katherine Meierdiercks and myself

Work Plan/Timeline

Week 1, 5/31/2016: Research background info on Tivoli Lake and Patroon Creek, scout study sites in Tivoli Lake Preserve, brush up on GIS skills.

Week 2, 6/6/2016: Build field equipment, set up equipment at determined study sites, continue researching information on the sites, continue working on GIS.

Week 3, 6/13/2016: Collect field data, continue doing research and GIS work.

Week 4, 7/11/2016: Collect and analyze field data, continue research and GIS work.

Week 5, 7/18/2016: Collect and analyze field data, continue research and GIS work.

Week 6, 7/25/2016: Collect and analyze field data, continue GIS work.

Week 7, 8/1/2016: Analyze field data, continue GIS work, start poster draft.

Week 8, 8/8/2016: Work on final poster.