Tributaries - Onondaga Environmental Institute

Land use within the watershed varies considerably, from the predominantly forested and agricultural upper reaches of Nine Mile and Onondaga Creeks to the heavily urbanized lower reaches of most all of the tributaries in and around the vicinity of Syracuse.

Table 1. Waters in the Onondaga Lake Watershed that are currently listed as impaired under the 2012 NYS 303(d) List of Impaired Waters.

Waterbody	Section/Segment	Cause/Pollutant¹	Source	Year Listed
Onondaga Lake	Northern end	Dioxin, mercury, PCBs, other toxins	Contaminated sediment	1998
	Southern end	Dioxin, mercury, PCBs, other toxins	Contaminated sediment	1998
	Southern end	Pathogen	CSOs, municipal, urban runoff	2008
	Outlet	Dissolved oxygen/oxygen demand	Municipal, urban runoff	2008
Onondaga Creek	Upper and tribs	Turbidity	Streambank erosion	2008
	Middle and tribs	Turbidity	Streambank erosion	2008
	Middle and tribs	Pathogens, nutrients (phosphorus), ammonia	CSOs, municipal, urban runoff	2008
	Lower and tribs	Turbidity	Streambank erosion	2010
	Lower	1. pathogens 2. nutrients (phosphorus) 3. ammonia	CSOs, municipal, urban runoff	1. 2008 2. 1998 3. 1998
Bloody Brook	Entire, and tribs	Aquatic toxicity	Unknown	2010
Bloody Brook	Entire, and tribs	Pathogens	Municipal, urban runoff	2008
Ley Creek	Entire, and tribs	1. pathogens 2. nutrients (phosphorus) 3. ammonia 4. cyanide	CSOs, municipal, urban runoff	1. 2008 2. 1998 3. 1998 4. 2008
Harbor Brook	Lower and tribs	1. pathogens 2. nutrients (phosphorus) 3. Ammonia	CSOs, municipal, urban runoff	1. 2008 2. 1998 3. 1998
Nine Mile Creek	Lower and tribs	1. pathogens 2. nutrients (phosphorus)	Municipal, urban runoff	1. 2008 2. 1998

¹Many of the issues of concern are being addressed by the Onondaga Lake remedial efforts.

Table 2: Chronology of published benthic and fish macroinvertebrate studies conducted in the tributaries of Onondaga Lake: 1973-2007. Sampling years denoted in bold and underlined indicate published fish studies.

Water Body/Tributary:	Sampling Year:	Stream Segment(s):	Collector(s):
Onondaga Creek	2010	Upper and middle	Onondaga County (AMP)*
	2008	Upper and middle	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2008	Entire	NYSDEC (Smith et al., 2010)
	2007	Entire (plus West Branch)	Onondaga Environmental Institute (OEI)
	2006	Upper and middle	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2004	Upper and middle	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2002	Upper and middle	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2001	Lower	Smith and Bode (NYSDEC)
	2000	Upper and middle	Onondaga County (AMP)
	1999	Upper and lower	Onondaga County (AMP)
	1998	Upper	USGS & NYSDEC (USGS, 1998)1
	1995	Upper and lower	NYSDEC RIBS*
	1993-1994	Upper and middle	Danehy (1998)
	1993	Lower and middle	USEPA*
	1991	Upper and middle	Danehy (1994)
	1990	Upper and lower	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1989	Upper and lower	NYSDEC RIBS
	1981	Upper	NYSDEC RIBS (Simpson, 1982)
Hemlock Creek	2007	Entire	OEI
Furnace Brook	2007	Entire	OEI
Ley Creek	2010	Main	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2008	Main	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2008	Main	NYSDEC (Smith et al., 2010)
	2007	Entire	OEI
	2007	Lower main	Johnson (2009)
	2006	Main	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2004	Main branch	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2002	Main branch	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2001	Entire	NYSDEC RIBS
	2000	Main branch	Onondaga County (AMP)
	1999	Main branch	Onondaga County (AMP)
	1995	Main branch	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1990	Main and South branches	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1989	Main branch	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
Beartrap Creek	2007	Entire	OEI
	2003	Entire	Cornell University (2004)
Harbor Brook	2010	Lower	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2008	Lower	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2008	Lower	NYSDEC (Smith et al., 2010)
	2007	Entire	OEI
	2007	Lower	Johnson (2009)
	2006	Lower	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2004	Lower	Onondaga County (AMP)
Harbor Brook	2002	Lower	Onondaga County (AMP)
	2001	Lower	NYSDEC RIBS
	2000	Lower	Onondaga County (AMP)
	1999	Lower	Onondaga County (AMP)
	1995	Lower	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1993	Lower	USEPA
	1989	Lower and upper	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
Nine Mile Creek	2008	Lower	NYSDEC (Smith et al., 2010)
	2007	Entire	OEI
	2007	Lower	Johnson (2009)
	2001	Lower	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1995	Lower	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1990	Lower	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1989	Lower	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1982	N/A	Finger (1982)
	1973	Lower and upper	NYSDEC – Cooper, et al.
Geddes Brook	2008	Entire	NYSDEC (Smith et al., 2010)
	2001	Entire	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1989	Entire	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
Bloody Brook	2008	Upper	NYSDEC (Smith et al., 2010)
	2007	Entire	OEI
	2007	Lower	Johnson (2009)
	2001	Entire	Smith and Bode (NYSDEC)
	1995	Entire	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1994	Entire	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1989	Entire	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
Sawmill Creek	2008	Entire	NYSDEC (Smith et al., 2010)
	2007	Entire	OEI
	2007	Lower	Johnson (2009)
	2001	Entire	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1995	Entire	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)
	1989	Entire	NYSDEC RIBS (Bode et al., 2004)

*AMP – Ambient Monitoring Program; NYSDEC RIBS – New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Rotating Intensive Basin Studies; EPA – Environmental Protection Agency. 1Cited as McKenna et al. (1999).