New York Water Science Center
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The New York Water Science Center (NYWSC) provides research and data about water-related issues. The NYWSC provides high-quality, timely, and unbiased scientific data, reports, and other information that are widely accessible and understandable and that benefit science interests of all levels of government, Tribal Nations, academia, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.
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Explore some of our most popular science topics, data, and tools
News
USGS Kicks Off Innovative Project to Study Harmful Algal Blooms in New York
Monitoring Effort Supports State’s Initiative to Combat Potentially Toxic Blooms
Field Photo Friday Winner for May, 2019
USGS field staff deploy advanced water quality monitoring platform in Owasco Lake, NY. Photo by Matthew Jennings (Public Domain)
Lake Ontario Elevation Gages
Extreme flooding on Lake Ontario can result in millions of dollars in damages to shoreline properties. Currently, USGS Lake Ontario gages report elevations around 247.8 ft above International Great Lakes Datum of 1985; a foot below record flood elevations observed in 2017. During 2017, wind-driven waves pounded the shoreline, causing widespread damage to infrastructure, homes, and businesses...
Publications
Resilience of benthic macroinvertebrates to extreme floods in a Catskill Mountain river, New York, USA: Implications for water quality monitoring and assessment
Changes in the timing, magnitude, frequency, and duration of extreme hydrologic events are becoming apparent and could disrupt species assemblages and stream ecosystems across the Northeastern United States. Between August 28 and 29 of 2011, an average of 31 cm of rain from Tropical Storm Irene fell across Eastern New York State in less than 24 h...
Smith, Alexander J.; Baldigo, Barry P.; Duffy, Brian T; George, Scott D.; Dresser, Brian Historical changes in New York State streamflow: Attribution of temporal shifts and spatial patterns from 1961 to 2016
To better understand the effects of climate change on streamflow, the hydrologic response to both temperature and precipitation needs to be examined at the mesoscale. New York State provides a hydrologically diverse mesoscale region, where sub-regional clusters of watersheds may respond differently to changes in temperature and in seasonal...
Glas, Robin; Burns, Douglas A.; Lautz, Laura K. Temporal variability in stream fish assemblage metrics and implications for long-term monitoring
High natural variability in the condition of fish communities in headwater streams complicates detection of long-term responses to changes in water quality. As a result, little is known about the impacts and recovery of fishes from acid deposition in streams of New York. Twenty-one fish metrics from annual electrofishing surveys at 13 streams...
George, Scott D.; Baldigo, Barry P.; Stich, Daniel S.