Stream Monitoring Event for the Salmon Creek Volunteer Group

Volunteers will be monitoring Salmon Creek today as part of CSI’s Synoptic Stream Monitoring Program. These volunteers will be collecting field measurements and water samples at 11 locations throughout the 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 Salmon Creek was first monitored in partnership with CSI in 2006. Over 13 years of data show the water in the creek to have relatively low concentrations of nutrients compared to northern tributary streams, but higher average concentrations than southern tributaries in the Cayuga Lake watershed. Water samples collected at the mouth of Salmon Creek average 15.45 mg/L of total phosphorus and 2.85 mg/L of inorganic nitrogen during baseflow conditions. However, under stormflow conditions, concentrations of nutrients and sediment in Salmon Creek are much higher. Water samples collected at the mouth of the creek under stormflow conditions average 233.51 mg/L of total phosphorus. These results can be viewed or downloaded for use on CSI’s public Water Quality Database.

Salmon Creek is a large river that flows through the towns of Scipio, Venice, Genoa, Groton, and Lansing. It flows over the beautiful Ludlowville Falls and into Cayuga Lake, forming a delta known as Salt Point. The deep soils that characterize the land near its headwaters make for some of the most fertile farmland in the state. The river downstream of the falls is important spawning habitat for Atlantic Salmon. The Salmon Creek watershed is 89.27 square miles of agricultural land (71%), forest and wetlands (24%), and developed land (5%) (NLCD 2016).

If you are interested in helping CSI protect water in the Salmon Creek watershed, please email our Outreach Coordinator Nathaniel Launer.