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Groundwater Quality in the Mohawk and Western New York River Basins, New York, 2016

Open-File Report 2022-1021
Prepared in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
By: , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20221021

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Abstract

Water samples were collected from July through December 2016 from 9 production wells and 13 domestic wells in the Mohawk River Basin, and from 17 production wells and 17 domestic wells in the western New York River Basins. The samples were collected and processed by using standard U.S. Geological Survey methods and were analyzed for 320 physicochemical properties and constituents, including dissolved gases, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, pesticides, volatile organic compounds, radionuclides, and indicator bacteria, to characterize groundwater quality in the basins. Analytical results are provided in the companion U.S. Geological Survey data release titled “Groundwater Quality Data From the Mohawk and Western New York River Basins, New York, 2016.”

The Mohawk River Basin study area covers 3,500 square miles in New York. Of the 22 wells sampled in the Mohawk River Basin, 8 are completed in sand and gravel, and 14 are completed in bedrock aquifers. Most constituents in the samples from the Mohawk River Basin were present in concentrations below the maximum contaminant levels used in public supply drinking-water regulations by the New York State Department of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Values for some of the properties and concentrations of some constituents—pH, color, iron, manganese, aluminum, sodium, chloride, dissolved solids, radon-222, and heterotrophic plate count—sometimes equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards.

The western New York River Basins study area covers 5,340 square miles in western New York and includes parts of the Lake Erie and Niagara River Basins, the western Lake Ontario Basin (between the Niagara River and Genesee River Basins), and the Allegheny River Basin. Of the 34 wells sampled in the western New York River Basins, 16 are completed in sand and gravel, and 18 are completed in bedrock aquifers. Most constituents in the samples from the western New York River Basins were present in concentrations below the maximum contaminant levels used in public supply drinking-water regulations by the New York State Department of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Values for some of the properties and concentrations of some constituents—color, chloride, sodium, dissolved solids, iron, manganese, aluminum, arsenic, barium, radon-222, methane, total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, and Escherichia coli bacteria—sometimes equaled or exceeded primary, secondary, or proposed drinking-water standards.

Suggested Citation

Gaige, D.L., Scott, T.-M., Reddy, J.E., and Keefe, M.R., 2023, Groundwater quality in the Mohawk and western New York River Basins, New York, 2016: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2022–1021, 38 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20221021.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Methods of Investigation
  • Groundwater Quality
  • Summary
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Groundwater quality in the Mohawk and western New York River Basins, New York, 2016
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2022-1021
DOI 10.3133/ofr20221021
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) New York Water Science Center
Description Report: viii, 38 p.; Data Release
Country United States
State New York
Other Geospatial Mohawk and New York River basins
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details