Onondaga Lake outflow data collection project

Background

The Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection (OCDWEP) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) have teamed up in a joint venture project to enhance data collection in the outlet of Onondaga Lake. Through this partnership, both parties will gain much-needed information about the flow patterns between the Seneca River and Onondaga Lake.

The Outgoing Gauge house

The Onondaga Lake Outflow Data Collection Project consists of additional monitoring gages to measure the outflow discharge from Onondaga Lake, which has a major impact on the Seneca River. Due to the complex bi-directional flow patterns through the Onondaga Lake outlet, caused by water from the Seneca River interacting with water from Onondaga Lake, separate acoustic sensors are used to monitor flow velocities and directions.

Description

Stand-alone Acoustic Doppler Profilers (ADPs) have been installed, by USGS, at the following three locations to measure flow velocity and direction.

• The Lake outlet upstream of John Glenn Boulevard (Outlet Gage).
• The southern channel of the Seneca River around Klein Island, upstream from the Lake Outlet (Incoming Gage).
• The northern channel of the Seneca River around Klein Island, downstream from the Lake Outlet (Outgoing Gage).

In conjunction with the USGS, OCDWEP has installed monitoring equipment (i.e., a meteorological station and in situ water quality monitoring equipment) at the Outlet Gage station in order to expand OCDWEP's understanding of the impact of water from Onondaga Lake with the water from the Seneca River. Currently, the equipment installed and in operation at the Outlet Gage location are:

1. A meteorological station with temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction sensors, and a heated bucket rain gage, for measuring precipitation. The heated bucket will also allow the measurement of snowfall during the winter months.

 

2. Two YSI 6600 sonde units for measuring in situ at approximately 1- and 3-meter depths. In situ parameters that are being logged every 15-minutes include dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature, pH, specific conductivity, ORP, and salinity. These units will be removed from service during the winter months to avoid damage during the period in which the River and the Lake Outlet are iced over.