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Groundwater quality in the Lake Champlain and Susquehanna River basins, New York, 2014

Open-File Report 2016-1153
Prepared in cooperation with the New York State Dept of Environmental Conservation
By: , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161153

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Abstract

In a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, groundwater samples were collected from 6 production wells and 7 domestic wells in the Lake Champlain Basin and from 11 production wells and 9 domestic wells in the Susquehanna River Basin in New York. All samples were collected from June through December 2014 to characterize groundwater quality in these basins. The samples were collected and processed using standard procedures of the U.S. Geological Survey and were analyzed for 148 physiochemical properties and constituents, including dissolved gases, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, radionuclides, and indicator bacteria.

The Lake Champlain Basin study area covers the 3,050 square miles of the basin in northeastern New York; the remaining part of the basin is in Vermont and Canada. Of the 13 wells sampled in the Lake Champlain Basin, 6 are completed in sand and gravel, and 7 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Lake Champlain Basin was generally of good quality, although properties and concentrations of some constituents— fluoride, iron, manganese, dissolved solids, sodium, radon-222, total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, and Escherichia coli bacteria—sometimes equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards. The constituent most frequently detected in concentrations exceeding drinking-water standards (5 of 13 samples) was radon-222.

The Susquehanna River Basin study area covers the entire 4,522 square miles of the basin in south-central New York; the remaining part of the basin is in Pennsylvania. Of the 20 wells sampled in the Susquehanna River Basin, 11 are completed in sand and gravel, and 9 are completed in bedrock. Groundwater in the Susquehanna River Basin was generally of good quality, although properties and concentrations of some constituents—pH, chloride, sodium, dissolved solids, iron, manganese, aluminum, arsenic, barium, gross-alpha radioactivity, radon-222, methane, total coliform bacteria, and fecal coliform bacteria—sometimes equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards. As in the Lake Champlain Basin, the constituent most frequently detected in concentrations exceeding drinking-water standards (13 of 20 samples) was radon-222.

Suggested Citation

Scott, T.-M., Nystrom, E.A., and Reddy, J.E., 2016, Groundwater quality in the Lake Champlain and Susquehanna River basins, New York, 2014: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1153, 33 p., appendixes, http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161153.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Methods of Investigation
  • Groundwater Quality
  • Summary
  • References Cited
  • Appendix 1. Results of Water-Sample Analyses, 2014
  • Appendix 2. Results of Water-Sample Analyses 2004-05, 2009, and 2014
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Groundwater quality in the Lake Champlain and Susquehanna River basins, New York, 2014
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2016-1153
DOI 10.3133/ofr20161153
Year Published 2016
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) New York Water Science Center
Description viii, 33p.
First page 1
Last page 33
Country United States
State New York
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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