Welcome to On the Hudson What is your

Welcome to “On the Hudson”

What is your watershed address? • • http: //landresources. montana. edu/watershed/images/Streampainting. jpg What is the source of water for your school? Your home? Do you know the name of the watershed you live in? Name some common “uses” of water for you personally? Commercially in your town? What would you guess about your water quality? Is it good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Name one major threat to your water quality in your town?

A Watershed is… …a region of land that contributes water to a stream, river, pond, or other body of water. www. riversofalabama. org

Q 1: What is the largest source of pollution in watersheds? 1. 2. 3. 4. Oil spills from vessels and ports Storm water runoff Industrial outfalls Atmospheric deposition

Activity 1 Watershed Model http: //www. co. shasta. ca. us/Departments/Public. Works/Watershed%20 Model. jpg

No two watersheds are exactly alike Each watershed can be classified based on its: • Geography • Climate • Vegetation

The Hudson River Watershed • • • Comprises about 13, 400 mi 2. That’s Almost twice the size of NJ. 93% lies within NY state Includes parts of 35 counties Divided into three major subbasins: • Upper Hudson (4, 600) • Mohawk river (3, 500) • Lower Hudson (5, 200) http: //ny. water. usgs. gov/projects/hdsn/

The Hudson River • • http: //ny. water. usgs. gov/projects/hdsn/ Flows 315 miles from Mt. Marcy to the southern tip of Manhattan where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean Tributaries to the Hudson include 6, 077 stream miles

Upper Hudson Geography • The Hudson starts at Lake Tear of the Clouds in the Adirondack Mountains, 4, 322 feet above sea level • The northern half of the river is freshwater fed by snowmelt, groundwater and rain • From Hudson Falls to Albany the river depth is maintained at 12 feet for commercial traffic

Q 2: How much of the Hudson river, which is 315 miles in length, is tidal? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To the Battery (0 miles) To the Tappan Zee Bridge (27 miles) To West Point (52 miles) To Poughkeepsie (77 Miles) To Troy (154 miles) http: //ny. water. usgs. gov/pubs/wri 994024/wrir 99 -4024. pdf

The Hudson Tidal Estuary • The Hudson tidal estuary makes up the lower half of the Hudson River, spanning 154 miles from the tip of the Battery to the Federal Dam north of Troy. • The lower Hudson can undergo a reversal in the direction of flow 4 times a day. • This section of the river experiences dramatic changes in salinity, circulation patterns, tidal ranges, river width and water depth, fish species, macro-invertebrate communities, and plant communities.

Lower Hudson Geography • The southern estuary section is a tidal mix of salty seawater and freshwater • This stretch has been said to "flow both ways" because of tidal influence • Mean water elevation at Albany is 4 feet above sea level • Widens to 3. 5 miles near Haverstraw, but narrows again as it passes the Palisades • The river is kept at at least 32 feet, but is as deep as 200 feet in some places

Q 3: How far up the Hudson does (brackish) saltwater reach? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. To the Battery (0 miles) To the Tappan Zee Bridge (27 miles) To West Point (52 miles) To Poughkeepsie (77 Miles) To Troy (154 miles)

The Hudson Salt Front Poughkeepsie 3, 500 Newburgh Peekskill Tarrytown Yonkers 7, 000 18, 000 35, 000 70, 000 140, 000 Stream flow at Troy In ft 3/s • The salt front is the location of brackish water (>1% salt) • Its position varies greatly with stream flow • During high flows in the spring (>50, 000 ft 3/s) the front is pushed south of the Tappan Zee Bridge • In the summer when the discharge is minimum (~1, 500 ft 3/s) the salinity intrusion extends to the vicinity of Newburgh or higher • Poughkeepsie relies on fresh water from the river and is severely affected when flows are extremely low and salt water reaches their pumping stations

Exploring Geography using Google Earth

Hudson River Watershed Geologic History • The earliest rocks date back to 1. 4 billion years ago • The region has gone through 3 mountain building episodes separated by long stretches of erosion and sedimentation • Some areas were subducted during later mountain events and metamorphosed • During the Paleozoic Era the Hudson valley was covered by an inland sea and filled with silt and carbonate sediments from Eastern mountains • Further erosion later created the Hudson Valley and the Mid-Atlantic continental shelf • In the last million years, successive glaciations gouged a deep valley while sea level was lower and left most surface sediments in the region • As sea level rose, sedimentation filled the river basin

http: //3 dparks. wr. usgs. gov/nyc/

http: //3 dparks. wr. usgs. gov/nyc/

http: //3 dparks. wr. usgs. gov/nyc/

http: //3 dparks. wr. usgs. gov/nyc/

Surface Geology across Bergen County, NJ http: //www. state. nj. us/dep/njgs/pricelst/ofmap/ofm 50. pdf

Activity 2 Bedrock Geology Common Rock Types • Igneous: basalt, diabase • Metamorphic: slate, marble, gneiss • Sedimentary: siltstone, shale, limestone, conglomerate, sandstone http: //3 dparks. wr. usgs. gov/nyc/common/geologicmap. htm

Q 4: What type of rock is most commonly found in the Hudson River watershed? 1. Basalt, Diabase & Gneiss (crystalline) 2. Limestone & Marble (carbonates) 3. Sandstone & Shale (clastic)

Hudson Valley Rock Types Clastic or sedimentary rocks (I. e. sandstone and shale) are most common, though a thick layer of glacial sediments rests on the surface. Water-Quality Assessment of the Hudson River Basin in New York and Adjacent States - Analysis of available nutrient, pesticide, volatile organic compound and suspended-sediment data, 1970 -90: Phillips, P. J. , and Hanchar, D. W. , 1996, U. S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 96 -4065, 76 p.

Hudson River Watershed Climate • Average annual temperature 47°F • Average annual Precipitation 4048” • Average annual Runoff 18 -24” • These factors vary considerably from North to South http: //hurricane. ncdc. noaa. gov/cgi-bin/climaps. pl

Annual Climate in Troy, NY http: //www. city-data. com/city/Troy-New-York. html

Hudson River Watershed Climate • Average stream flow at Federal Dam is 13, 600 ft 3/s, which includes 5, 670 ft 3/s from the Mohawk River • But it can range from 1, 500 ft 3/s in the summer to over 70, 000 ft 3/s during the spring http: //ny. water. usgs. gov/projects/hdsn/fctsht/su. html#HDR 0

Discharge and Precipitation in Poughkeepsie, NY

Tributary Discharge Comparison Mohawk (3, 400 mi 2) & Wappinger (180 mi) • Increases in Fall as temperatures rise and the growing season ends • Decreases in Winter as precipitation falls as snow • Peaks in April during Spring snowmelt • Declines from May through August as temperatures and infiltration increases • The Wappinger does not decline in Jan-Feb and also peaks in March (not April) since it is further south and winters are warmer

Hudson River Watershed Plants • Submerged Aquatic Vegetation - These rooted plants grow below the low tide level and provide a variety of benefits • Marsh Communities - These plants range from being fully submerged during parts of the tidal cycle (low marsh) to growing just above the mean tidal line zone (high marsh). The tidal action brings in a constant influx of nutrients, suspending and resuspending them through tidal motion.

SAV Provide Important Benefits to Shallow Bays. . .

SAV Make Good Habitat! • They provide food & shelter for waterfowl, fish, shellfish, and invertebrates. Spider crab Young glass eels Sea urchin Blue Crab

SAV acts as a filter These aerial photographs were taken within minutes of each other and the two sites are less that 1 mile apart. Vegetated Un-vegetated

Hudson River Watershed Animals The Hudson River is full of a wide variety of fish and macroinvertebrates.

Hudson River Watershed Fish About 200 fish have been documented to live in the Hudson estuary for some or all portions of their lives throughout the year millions of fish, both marine and freshwater species, utilize the lower Hudson as a spawning, nursery and feeding ground.

Fish common to the river are striped bass, white perch, bluefish, eel, herring, largemouth bass, carp, needlefish, tomcod, sunfish, sturgeon, blue crab and shad. Many of these fish were important to the commercial fishing industry, and are crucial to the balance of life in the river.

Classifying Land Use in New York City From the TERRA satellite • Vegetation is Green • Water is Blue • Manmade structures are gray http: //earthobservatory. nasa. gov/Newsroom/New. Images/images. php 3? img_id=15368

Q 5: How much land in the Hudson watershed do you think can be classified as Urban? 1. 2. 3. 4. 2% 8% 16% 24%

Hudson River Watershed Land Use Classification • • • Forested 62. 3% Agricultural 24. 9% Urban 7. 8% Water 2. 6% Other 2. 4%

Environmental Settings and Hydrologic Conditions Water Quality in the Hudson River Basin, New York and Adjacent States, 1992 -95: Wall, Gary R. , Riva-Murray, Karen, and Phillips, P. J. , 1998, U. S. Geological Survey Circular 1165, 32 p.

A view from the ISS While 2. 5 million people live within the Hudson River Watershed, an additional 8. 1 million people in NYC rely on its freshwater sources. http: //earthobservatory. nasa. gov/Newsroom/New. Images/images. php 3? img_id=14779

Q 6: Why do scientists care about classifying land use? 1. Water quality assessment 2. Municipal planning (development) 3. Aquifer storage and recovery

Activity 3 Classifying Land Use http: //geology. com/satellite/cities/newark-and-jersey-city-satellite-image. jpg

Relation between Precipitation and Runoff Water-Quality Assessment of the Hudson River Basin in New York and Adjacent States - Analysis of available nutrient, pesticide, volatile organic compound and suspended-sediment data, 1970 -90: Phillips, P. J. , and Hanchar, D. W. , 1996, U. S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 96 -4065, 76 p.