Friday, November 25, 2016

IWLA Chapter Mtg and Project Watershed Meeting in Nov

Next Chapter Meeting  and Project Watershed Meeting


1) Project Watershed Meeting - Monday 3:30, Nov 28. 
2) CNY Chapter Meeting - Tuesday, 7:00 pm , Nov 29. 


Chapter Meeting Agenda

Our agenda will be a wrap up of Chapter activities accomplished this past year, and making plans for Chapter projects & activities in the coming year.  As a Chapter, we accomplished a lot in 2016, but there's plenty of challenges for next year with a new administration.  Also to be discussed will be a letter sent County Legislator Plochocki on a proposal for passage of legislation creating an Onondaga Watershed Advisory Council or Board.



Agenda for Project Watershed Board Meeting  November 28 
Ska-Nonh Center, Liverpool

1.     2016 Stream Surveys Summary

2.     Report on Creek Freaks – YARE Workshops in Morrisville and Shackleton Point

      3.   Young Naturalist Program Update and Onondaga Creek Field Trip

      4.   Cornell Cooperative Extension Programs Update

      5.   Completion of Beartrap-Ley Creek GLRI Project
           
      6.   Request from Lake Keuka Chapter for Stream Survey Information   


      7.   Citizen Water Quality Monitoring in New York State

Interim Report on Chloride Levels

Chloride Levels Have Risen in Urban Streams and Rivers in the Northern States
            A 2014 article in the Great Lakes Echo newsletter notes that rivers in wintry cities remain salty year-round.  About 35 billion pounds of salt are applied to wintry roads in the United States every year.  Much of it winds up in rivers and lakes.

            The Community Science Institute, located in Ithaca, has collected volunteer stream data for several decades, and published an article on ‘Road Salt in Local Streams’ in spring of 2015.  The article indicates that the majority of road salt (mostly consisting of sodium, calcium, and magnesium chlorides) enters streams by infiltration to groundwater.  Chloride from road salt is absorbed into groundwater over time, eventually leading to increased chloride levels in streams. 

             An interesting observation in the same article is that the chloride levels stay relatively stable in most streams throughout the year, rather than increasing in the winter and decreasing in summer.  The salt does not simply wash off the road and directly into the stream; it is apparently a slower, longer process.   We have found similar results for chloride measurements taken in various urban/suburban streams in Onondaga County during various late winter through mid-fall surveys.

read more in the  Link to Chloride Report