Volunteers will be monitoring Yawger Creek and Great Gully Creek today as part of CSI’s Synoptic Stream Monitoring Program. These volunteers will be collecting field measurements and water samples at four locations in the Yawger Creek watershed and two locations in the Great Gully Creek watershed. Samples collected by volunteers are analyzed at our EPA certified water testing lab for over 12 characteristics of water quality including nutrients, sediment, and pathogenic bacteria. Visit the Community Partnerships page for more information about the Synoptic Stream Monitoring Program. Volunteers can find a guide to sampling procedure and tracking sheets on the Volunteer Resources page.

The water quality of Yawger Creek and Great Gully Creek was first monitored in 2017. Over three years of data show the water in the creeks to have high concentrations of nutrients compar….. Water samples collected at the mouth of Yawger Creek average 101.03 mg/L of total phosphorus and 3.11 mg/L of inorganic nitrogen during baseflow conditions. Water samples collected at the mouth of Great Gully Creek average 58.78 mg/L of total phosphorus and 2.36 mg/ L of inorganic nitrogen. These results can be viewed or downloaded for use on CSI’s public Water Quality Database.

Yawger Creek is a tributary in Cayuga County that flows through the towns of Scipio, Fleming, Aurelius, and Springport and into the northern end of Cayuga Lake. The Yawger Creek watershed is 24.9 square miles of agricultural land (80%), forest and wetlands (15%), and developed land (5%).

Great Gully Creek flows into Cayuga Lake just five miles south of Yawger Creek. It is also located within Cayuga County, flowing through the towns of Venice, Scipio, Ledyard and Springport. The Great Gully Creek watershed is 15.57 square miles of agricultural land (79%), forest and wetlands (16%), and developed land (5%) (NLCD 2016).

If you are interested in helping CSI protect water in the Yawger Creek and Great Gully Creek watersheds, please email our Outreach Coordinator Nathaniel Launer.