Site Description

The proposed testbed encompasses the Catatonk Creek and Owego Creek watersheds in the headwaters of the Susquehanna River Basin (Figure 1). It is located in the glaciated Appalachian Plateau physiographic province and ecoregion. The watershed is approximately 885 km2 (342 mi2), located in Tioga (71.7%), Tompkins (19.3%), Chemung (0.4%), and Cortland (8.6%) counties. Population is approximately 18,000. Several small towns are located along the main stem of the rivers, with rural residences distributed through the watersheds.

Figure 1. The Chemung and Upper Susquehanna River Basins (shown in green and blue, respectively). The Catatonk Creek watershed is highlighted in orange. (adapted from Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 2002).

top

Geology

The Catatonk and Owego Creek watersheds are part of the glaciated Appalachian Plateau. Elevation varies from 241 m to 650 m above msl, and averages approximately 433 m. Bedrock is Upper Devonian (Sonyea and West Falls Groups) black shale and siltstone with minor sandstone layers, deposited originally under marine deltaic conditions (Rideg, 1970; Coates, 1981). Bedrock has a thickness of up to 1000 m and a gentle southward dip of 1 - 4 degrees. Outcrops occur within the watershed. Glacial deposits of Wisconsinan age mantle the bedrock. These deposits are of varying type and thickness, with till predominating at higher elevations and outwash sands and gravels filling the valleys. Post-glacial alluvium occurs in and adjacent to modern channels.


top

Hydrology

Annual rainfall in the testbed averages 0.89 - 1.02 m/yr, varying with elevation. Mean annual temperature is 10°C. Evapotranspiration loss is estimated to be 0.68 - 0.78 m/yr. Surface drainage forms a trellis-shaped pattern (Figure 2). The main branches of the Catatonk and Owego are in broad, flat U-shaped valleys, while headwater watersheds tend to be more steeply sloped and incised. The main aquifer is the sand and gravel deposits of glacial origin filling the valleys. Groundwater flow does occur in N-S and E-W joint sets in the shale bedrock, but the low permeability of the formation limits its use to water supply for individual rural residences. Due to the black shale bedrock, groundwater has poor buffering capacity and contains heavy metals leached from the shale (some of which can be used as environmental tracers). The long term effects of acid rain on water quality as it works its way through the groundwater system is a concern. The test bed includes 11 digit Hydrologic Unit Code watersheds 02050103020 and -30. There is a USGS stream gage on Owego Creek, just before its junction with the Susquehanna.

Land Use

Land use is primarily forest (74%) on the hill slopes, agriculture (23%) in the main, flat valleys, and low-density residential areas. Agricultural land use includes row crop (corn and alfalfa) and pasture in support of dairy farming. As family farms become increasingly unviable economically, some agricultural land is returning once again to forest. Rural residences are distributed through the watersheds, with small population centers in the Town of Spencer and the Village of Candor. Private septic systems rather than municipal treatment of wastewater prevail

top

Major Issues

As detailed in Curatolo (2002, 2003a, 2003b), local concerns center on flooding and stream bank erosion. Flood related issues include: damage to houses, barns, municipal buildings and bridges during major rainfall events; water flow over roads, especially in low-lying areas; and inundation of farm fields. Concerns with erosion include excessive streambank erosion (Figure 3) and the resulting gravel deposition downstream in the channel. Flooding of the flat-lying lowlands along the main channel impacts use of the land for farming, while flood plain zoning restrictions limit the land available for development. Wetland construction is one approach that is being implemented to help attenuate flood flows and trap sediment.

Regionally, the primary water quality issues are non-point source nutrient pollution and sediment transport. All states within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed are participating in a voluntary partnership to correct nutrient and sediment problems in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries sufficiently to allow it to be removed by 2010 from the nation's list of impaired water bodies under the Clean Water Act. The EPA, as a result of a lawsuit, will require Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) for the Chesapeake Bay in 2011 if these voluntary reductions are not successful. New York State's goals are for the reduction of phosphorus and nitrogen loads delivered to the Bay from NY by 39 % and 34 %, respectively, by 2010. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has the lead role in developing an

Figure 2. Stream network in the Catatonk and Owego watersheds.

Figure 3. Example of eroding stream bank within the Catatonk Watershed (Curatolo, 2002). The site shown is in Sulphur Springs Creek sub-watershed, is 70 m long x 12 m high and contributes an estimated 36.3 tons of sediment/yr to the stream.

action plan to address this issue and the Upper Susquehanna Coalition (USC) is helping the process by facilitating stakeholder understanding and action through its outreach efforts.

Primary sources for nutrient pollution in the Catatonk Watershed are manure and fertilizers applied to the agricultural lands, leachate from private septic systems, and atmospheric deposition onto forested land.

top

Recent and Current Monitoring

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center has conducted two studies in this testbed, as a part of a larger study of the factors controlling discharges of water, sediment, and nutrients from watersheds throughout the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin (Liu et al., 2000; Tom Jordan, personal communication, 2004). Grab samples were collected seasonally during base-flow conditions in 41 streams in the Owego and Catatonk basins from 7/92-6/93 and from 12/97-2/98. Samples were filtered and analyzed for pH, alkalinity, major ions, silicate, phosphate, ammonium, nitrate (plus nitrite), Kjeldahl N, total P, and organic C. In addition, continuous automated sampling was conducted at the outlets of 7 watersheds in the Owego Creek basin from 12/97-2/99. Data loggers recorded stream stage and calculated stream discharge from the stage-flow relationship. Controlled pumps took samples in proportion to flow rate, producing flow-weighted composite samples collected at all stages of flow, including storm events. These flow-weighted composite samples were collected weekly for analysis. Samples were analyzed for total (particulate plus dissolved) phosphate, P, ammonium, nitrate plus nitrite, Kjeldahl N, organic C, total suspended solids and dissolved silicate.

The Tioga County Soil and Water Conservation District and the USC mapped the locations of eroding streambanks in the watershed in 2001 (Eriksen and Jura, 2001). The photograph in Figure 3 was taken during this stream assessment. The GIS-based program AVSTREAMS (developed by Barry Evans at the Institutes of the Environment at Penn State University) was used to analyze the field data to estimate the contribution from each bank to sediment load in the streams per year.

Funding from the NY State Water Resources Institute and the EPA Watershed Initiative has supported instrumentation of seven headwater sub-watersheds within the Catatonk Basin by Binghamton University's Center for Integrated Watershed Studies (CIWS) and the USC (Figure 4). Data collection began in 2002 and is ongoing. Three Masters theses and two doctoral research projects have been completed or are underway in the test bed (Munley, 2003; Hunsinger, 2004; Wood, 2004; Jolicoeur, in process; Natelle, in process).

In May 2003, the EPA announced the recipients of the EPA Watershed Initiative grants. The Upper Susquehanna Coalition was one of 20 watershed groups selected from the field of 176 proposals to receive this grant. Projects being addressed in this $700K, two year grant include: (1) Stream Restoration through natural stream design; (2) Wetland program; (3) Unpaved Road and Road Ditch improvement plan; (4) Riparian Buffers initiative; (5) College Internship/Research program; (6) Expansion of GIS program; (7) Building Local Stormwater Coalitions (Curatolo, 2003b). Binghamton University's CIWS has a subcontract for watershed-related research in the Catatonk Basin from this grant.

top

Agencies and Cooperators

Binghamton University's Center for Integrated Watershed Studies (CIWS) was established in 2003 to foster interdisciplinary, watershed-based research (http://ciws.binghamton.edu/). CIWS addresses the biological, geological, geographic, economic and societal components of watersheds, at all scales of integration - local, regional, and international. Activities range from field data collection for scholarly research to policy analysis and education. CIWS has a very active partnership with the Upper Susquehanna Coalition on projects in the Upper Susquehanna Basin, adding education and research components to their projects. With NSF support, Binghamton has established the campus' watershed, Fuller Hollow Creek, as an instrumented research watershed. The watershed, a small tributary of the Susquehanna River, includes campus, a 182 acre nature preserve owned by the university (including a 20 acre wetland), and suburban residential communities, providing opportunities for contrasting impacts of land use on hydrology. Monitoring of groundwater, stream water, wet and dry deposition, and snow pack has been ongoing since 2000.
Web site: http://ciws.binghamton.edu/

Upper Susquehanna Coalition (USC), established in 1992, is a network of county natural resource professionals who develop strategies, partnerships, and programs to protect the headwaters of the Susquehanna River. Comprised of representatives from 11 counties in New York and 3 in Pennsylvania, the USC has partnered with local, regional, state, federal, academic and non-governmental organizations to conduct projects on varying watershed scales. It has no

Figure 4. Monitoring equipment in place in the headwaters watersheds of the Catatonk Creek Basin (adapted from Hunsinger, 2004).

top

regulatory functions. USC has a strong outreach program and community contacts. Its main office is in Owego, NY. Web site: http://www.u-s-c.org.

Citizens for Catatonk Creek (CCC) was formed in August of 1998 after a severe flood event within the Village of Spencer, NY. The citizens organized as a community and realized the need to develop a flood mitigation plan and a watershed management strategy.

Due to the USC and CCC, local receptivity and commitment to watershed monitoring and research in the Catatonk Basin is strong.

The following organizations have partnered with the USC on projects in the Upper Susquehanna:
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
Biological Field Station at Cooperstown affiliated with SUNY Oneonta
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Chesapeake Bay Program
Ducks Unlimited
Institutes of the Environment at Penn State University
New York State Soil and Water Conservation Committee
New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell University
Southern Tier Central Regional Planning and Development Board
Susquehanna River Basin Commission
Trout Unlimited
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Logistics

The Catatonk Basin is located approximately 54 km from Binghamton, 30 km from Ithaca, 131 km from Syracuse, and 186 km from Rochester, NY. Driving time and distance from University Park, PA are approximately 3.75 hours and 276 km. Conference facilities are available at Binghamton University, as well as at hotels in Binghamton, Ithaca, and Owego (all within a 55 km radius of the watershed).

top

References:

Coates, D. (1981) Geomorphology of South-Central New York. New York State Geological Association, 53rd Annual Meeting: Guidebook for Field Trips in South-Central NY. State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, NY.

Curatolo, J. (2002) Promoting Comprehensive and Integrated Nonpoint Source Management in the Catatonk Creek Watershed with Special Emphasis on Flooding Issues: Suggestions for Action in the Watershed.

Curatolo, J. (2003a) Overview for potential projects for Susquehanna Watershed WRDA 2002 Section 567 Wetlands and Related Soil/Water Conservation Measures: Catatonk Creek Summary.

Curatolo, J. (2003b) EPA Watershed Initiative: Susquehanna River Headwaters in NY and PA. Upper Susquehanna Coalition proposal to the EPA.

Garrett, K. (2003) Metal Sources in the Fuller Hollow Creek Watershed. Masters Thesis, Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies, Binghamton University, NY.

Graney, J., K. Salvage, J. Curatolo (2002) Supporting Community Watershed Restoration Efforts in Catatonk Creek: Hydrological and geochemical assessment of two sub-basins of the Catatonk, NY watershed to complement the Upper Susquehanna Coalition’s study of flooding and stream bank erosion in these drainage basins. Proposal to the New York State Water Resources Institute.

Hunsinger, G. (2004) A Comprehensive Assessment of Rainfall-Runoff to Predict Watershed Response to Proposed Flood and Sediment Retention Structures: Hydrological and Numerical Approaches for the Headwaters of Catatonk Creek Watershed, Spencer, NY. Masters Thesis, Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies, Binghamton University, NY.

Liu, Z. J., D. E. Weller, D. L. Correll, and T. E. Jordan. 2000. Effects of land cover and geology on stream chemistry in watersheds of Chesapeake Bay. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 36:1349-1365.

Michaud, D. (2001) Using Hydrogeologic and Geophysical Techniques to Characterize an Experimental Watershed, Southern New York State”. Masters Thesis, Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies, Binghamton University, NY.

Munley, N. (2003) Testing the Efficacy of Different Groups of Wetland Plant Species in Retaining Nutrients to Improve Water Quality. Masters Thesis, Department of Biology, Binghamton University, NY.

Oberhaus, M. (ongoing) Surface/groundwater interactions in the Fuller Hollow Creek Watershed. Masters Thesis, Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies, Binghamton University, NY.

Rideg, P. (1970) Quantitative Fluvial Geomorphology of Catatonk Creek Basin, NY. Masters Thesis, Department of Geological Sciences, Binghamton University, NY.

Susquehanna River Basin Commission (2004) http://www.srbc.net

Wood, E. (2004) A Physical and Chemical Comparison of the Hydrogeology within Miller Creek and Sulphur Springs, Two Sub-Watersheds of the Catatonk Creek in Tioga County, NY. Masters Thesis, Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies, Binghamton University, NY.

top