BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF WATER QUALITY AND TURBIDITY IN THE STONY CLOVE CREEK, CATSKILL MOUNTAINS, NY

This study was conducted to characterize the water quality of the Stony Clove Creek, a tributary of the Esopus Creek, in the Ashokan Watershed of the Catskill region of New York State. The stream is of particular interest to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) because it has been identified as a significant contributor of suspended sediment in the Ashokan Reservoir, one of the largest drinking water sources for New York City. The causes of the turbid waters are bank erosion of abundant clay-rich glacial till layers and several complicated riparian slope failure systems. Benthic Macro-Invertebrates (BMI) sampling; field parameters such as dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), temperature; and major cation/anion concentrations were analyzed to characterize the water quality. BMI indexing at the family level indicated that the benthic community of Stony Clove is slightly impacted near the confluence with the Esopus Creek and decreases in impaction towards the headwaters. Despite the turbid baseline flows (values ranging from approximately 1-25 NTU) in the lower reaches of the Stony Clove Creek, turbidity is not the primary factor controlling the ecological health of the BMI habitat. It is most likely a combination of human-induced and natural alterations to the habitat, chemical constituents, and physical properties which inhibit the water quality. This study also provides baseline data to be utilized when determining future stream management and water quality monitoring programs in the Stony Clove Creek.