New York State Water Quality (Section 305b Report 2006)
The entire 2006 305(b) report is available for download (pdf, 17.55mb). For faster viewing/downloading, the report has been segmented into smaller files (available below and to the left).
Acknowledgments
This report reflects the contributions of a great number of people. Those who deserve special thanks and recognition include (in alphabetical order): Larry Abele, Bernadette Anderson, Bill Andrews, Karen Baker, Heather Barnhart, Jim Beach, Robert Bode, Michael Burke, Gerry Chartier, Karen Chytalo, Scott Cook, Kathie Dello, Richard Draper, Fred Dunlap, Angus Eaton, Steve Eidt, Ron Entringer, Frank Estabrooks, Ray Gabriel, Rose Ann Garry, Diana Heitzman, Dan Kendall, Scott Kishbaugh, Dave Kiser, Ken Kosinski, Edward Kuzia, Tony Leung, Dave Marcisofsky, Ken Markussen, Jeff Myers, Bill Moore, Margaret Novak, Tim Preddice, Patricia Riexinger, Douglas Sackett, Ron Sloan, Larry Skinner, Chuck St. Lucia, Scott Stoner, Tracey Tomajer, Robert Townsend, Tamara Venne, Jim Vogel, Debbie Wickert, and many others in various programs throughout the NYSDEC Division of Water who have contributed indirectly to the information in this report.
Any questions or comments regarding the contents of this report should be directed to:
305(b) Coordinator
Bureau of Water Assessment and Management
NYSDEC, Division of Water
625 Broadway, 4th Floor
Albany, NY 12233-3502
Foreword
Water quality reporting under Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 305(b) and Section 303(d) are highly visible ways of communicating to the public about the health of the nation's waters. The quality and reliability of the information they contain becomes increasingly important as it is used to set priorities and to implement water quality controls and protection activities. For preparation of 2006 Section 305(b) Reports, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has provided states, territories, and authorized tribes with guidance for integrating the development and submission of 305(b) Reports and Section 303(d) Lists of Impaired Waters.
Integrated Reporting
EPA guidance recommends that states, territories and authorized tribes submit a 2006 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report that will satisfy the CWA requirements for both Section 305(b) water quality reports and Section 303(d) lists. This Integrated Report should include the following information:
- delineation of water quality assessment units (AUs) based on the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD);
- status of and progress toward achieving comprehensive assessments of all waters;
- water quality standard attainment status for every AU;
- basis for the water quality standard attainment determinations for every AU;
- additional monitoring that may be needed to determine water quality standard attainment status and, if necessary, to support development of TMDLs for each pollutant/AU combination;
- schedules for additional monitoring planned for AUs;
- pollutant/AU combinations still requiring TMDLs; and
- TMDL development schedules reflecting the priority ranking of each pollutant/AU combination.
New York State's 2006 Section 305(b) Water Quality Report, presented here, and the state's Section 303(d) List contains much of the information outlined above. However, because New York State's monitoring and assessment program is implemented on a five-year rotating basin cycle, some of the requested information for waters in parts of the state for which recent monitoring and assessment efforts have not been completed is not yet available. These efforts will be complete for most of the state in time for incorporation in the next (2008) Section 305(b) reporting cycle.
The waters of the seventeen drainage basins in New York State have been delineated into water quality AUs. However, since the NHD is not complete for New York State, the direct linking of these AUs to the NHD is not yet possible.
Consistent with other parts of the CWA, each state is also requested to develop a comprehensive monitoring and assessment strategy that describes the state's approach to obtaining data and information necessary to characterize the attainment status of all assessment units. Elements of an effective strategy should include a description of the sampling approach, a listing of the parameters to be collected (i.e. physical, chemical, and biological), and a schedule for collecting data and information.
This report incorporates New York State's Consolidated Assessment and Listing Methodology which outlines in considerable detail its process for evaluating the quality of the state's waters. An additional objective of the Methodology is to improve the consistency of assessment and listing decisions.
The Methodology consists of three separate parts.
- The Monitoring Strategy provides an overview of the NYSDEC water quality monitoring program.
- The Assessment Methodology details the evaluation of monitoring data and information to determine levels of water quality and use support.
- The Listing Methodology outlines the identification and prioritization of waters that do not meet water quality standards or support designated uses.
These three components of the Consolidated Assessment and Listing Methodology are outlined in Part III of this report.
Achieving Comprehensive Assessment of New York State Waters
EPA requirements for integrated reporting also attempt to address the fact that the majority of the nation's waters remain unmonitored and unassessed. EPA has promoted a probabilistic monitoring design applied over large areas, such as a state or territory, as one approach to producing, with known confidence, a "snapshot" or statistical representation of the extent of waters that may or may not be impaired.
New York State supports the EPA goal of comprehensive assessment of our waters. However, while the probabilistic monitoring approach adequately answers basic 305(b) questions, its lack of waterbody-specific water quality information inadequately supports water protection and restoration efforts, including TMDL development. Instead of probabilistic monitoring, New York state has incorporated a water quality screening component into its monitoring strategy, the goal of which is to conduct an evaluation (or census) of all river and lake waterbodies in a basin study area over a period of two rotating basin sampling cycles.
Such a census approach has distinct advantages over both probabilistic monitoring (which as mentioned above inadequately supports other water quality efforts) and targeted monitoring designs (which are often biased toward "problem" waters and result in skewed inferences regarding statewide use support). The census approach and water quality screening component provide waterbody-specific data and information as well as increased statewide assessment coverage. Since its implementation, this approach has led to a 155% increase in river miles assessed and 67% increase in lake acres assessed.
While implementation of water quality screening within the rotating basin approach has significantly increased the percentage of waters assessed, reconciling a goal of 100% assessment with limited and diminishing resources will take time. As basin studies are completed, enhanced monitoring and assessment work will be reflected in the Section 305(b) and other water quality reports. Enhanced assessments are included in this report (see Appendix A-Watershed/Basin Water Quality Summaries) for those basins where the Comprehensive Assessment Strategy was first implemented. Over the next few years, watershed/basin assessments will be further enhanced and expanded to the remaining basins of the state.
Part I - Executive Summary and Overview
Part II - Water Resources Background
Part III - Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment
Part IV - New York State Water Quality Assessment
Appendices
Appendix AThis appendix provides more detailed water quality information for each of the major drainage basins in New York State. A narrative summary of general background information as well as specific water quality issues and concerns are presented for each basin.
Each basin summary also includes an outline of the Waterbody Inventory/Priority Waterbodies List (WI/PWL) segments in the watershed. For more detailed information about the WI/PWL database and the type of information that it contains, refer to Appendix B. More complete discussion of the specific waterbodies and water quality issues and concerns listed in the summaries can be found in the most recent Waterbody Inventory/Priority Waterbodies List Drainage Basin Reports.
The Waterbody Inventory/Priority Waterbodies List for individual drainage basins of the state are regularly updated on a rotating basin schedule. This schedule allows for the review and assessment of water quality information in two or three basins each year, resulting in coverage of the entire state over a five-year period. More information about the update schedule is presented and discussed in the Comprehensive Assessment Strategy section (Part III, Chapter 1) of this report.
While New York State has used a rotating watershed/basin approach to conduct its water quality monitoring program since 1987, the incorporation of this approach to water quality assessment and reporting activities in New York State is fairly recent. As a result of the phasing in of this approach, only a portion of the state's waters have been re-evaluated since publication of the 2002 New York State Section 305(b) Water Quality Report. (See box)
Niagara River Basin
Mohawk River Basin
Genesee River Basin
Atlantic Ocean/Long Island Sound
Furthermore, recent adoption of the rotating basin approach to assessment and reporting was accompanied by a host of other enhancements to the New York State Waterbody Inventory and Priority Waterbodies List. (Many of these enhancements are discussed in Appendix B.) The most significant of these enhancements is the transition of the Priority Waterbodies List from a list of waters with known water quality problems to a comprehensive inventory of all waters and their status. Again, because these enhancements are being phased in, the reflection of a comprehensive inventory of waters in the Water Quality Summaries is limited to those basins updated since the 2002 Report (see box).
Some of the recent enhancements to the WI/PWL are reflected in the Water Quality Summaries for the following basins that have been updated since 1996; the Chemung River, Black River, Saint Lawrence River and Lower Hudson River. Although these basin summaries do not include comprehensive waterbody inventories, they contain additional information, as well as a different format from previous basin summaries.
Appendix A can be downloaded as one entire file (pdf 5.83MB) or by the sections listed below:
Section 2: Genesee River Basin, Chemung River Basin, Susquehanna River Basin (pdf, 1.30MB)
Section 3: Oswego-Seneca-Oneida (Finger Lakes) Basin, Black River Basin, Lake Champlain Basin (pdf, 762kb)
Section 4: Upper Hudson River Basin, Lower Hudson River Basin, Mohawk River Basin (pdf, 1.53MB)
Section 5: Delaware River Basin, Hackensack-Ramapo River Basin, Housatonic River Basin, Atlantic Ocean/LI Sound Basin (pdf, 1.29MB)
Appendix B - New York State Water Quality Classifications (pdf, 55kb)
Appendix C - The Waterbody Inventory and Priority Waterbodies List (pdf, 357kb)
Appendix D - CSLAP Participants (pdf, 175kb)
Appendix E - NYSDOH 2003-2004 Health Advisories, Chemicals in Sportfish and Game (pdf, 553kb)
Appendix F - NPSCC Steering Committee Contacts (pdf, 57kb)
Appendix G - The New York State 2006 Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters Requiring a TMDL (pdf, 241kb)
