SEDIMENT TRANSPORT IN THE NEW YORK STATE BARGE CANAL: SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES AND THE ROLE OF FISH CREEK IN THE ONEIDA LAKE EASTERN SHORE REGION

The New York State (NYS) Barge Canal on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake is dredged annually to maintain navigational access without a clear understanding of the source of sediment building up in the canal and forming a plume along the coast. It is likely coming from two feeder streams into the canal (Fish Creek and Wood Creek), however their relative importance to the depositional system remains a question. Particle size analysis of grab samples on Fish Creek, NYS Barge Canal, and Wood Creek exhibited dominantly sand sized sediments in both Fish Creek and in proximal canal mouth samples (mean ≥149 μm) and silt sized sediments in Wood Creek (mean = 125μm) and distal canal mouth samples (mean = 95 μm). Stream flow velocities in Fish Creek (0.07 m/s) are significantly higher than those in Wood Creek (0.01 and 0.05 m/s). Due to the distance from Wood Creek and the distal canal mouth sample and to the higher current velocities in Fish Creek, it is less likely that the Wood Creek sediment is as influential on the NYS Barge Canal delta sediment distribution as the sediment from Fish Creek. The sandy composition of the proximal canal mouth sample may therefore represent a distributary bar, whereas the distal canal mouth sample contains silt sized grain or smaller and represents more distal deltaic facies. Fish Creek’s physical proximity to the NYS Barge Canal mouth, relatively high flow velocity, and sand dominated grain sizes suggest that it is the probable primary source of sedimentation to this lacustrine delta system, possibly resulting in a need for annual dredging and increased sedimentation along the shoreline that is dependent on past and future land use changes in the Fish Creek watershed.