Watershed characterization for Goodyear Lake, New York: Watershed subbasins, land use and cover, surficial geology, and soils

H.A. Waterfield CLM1

INTRODUCTION

Goodyear Lake is an impoundment of the Susquehanna River, created by the Colliersville Dam, in Otsego County, New York. This report provides characterization and maps of land area in the watershed draining to Goodyear Lake in support of work to draft a comprehensive management plan for the lake and its watershed. This report includes the following maps: Goodyear Lake Watershed and Subbasins, Land Use and Land Cover, Surficial Geology, Bedrock Geology, and Soil Erodibility.

Watershed characterization is an important component of watershed management planning and prioritization, generally leading resource managers to more effective use of limited financial and volunteer resources. The soils, surface geology, and underlying bedrock dictate when, where, and how water moves through the landscape; when combined with land use and cover, this information can be used to assess potential impacts on water quality locally and in downstream receiving waters. Many states have developed and implemented GIS-based analysis packages to streamline the characterization process to aid in use of watershed assessment data by both technical and non-technical personnel involved in the management process (e.g. West Virginia and Minnesota).Several datasets that are common amongst these approaches have been compiled for this report, including land use and cover, geology, and soils.

Land use and cover directly influence hydrology and water quality. A general characterization of land use and cover throughout the watershed helps in the understanding of potential impacts within a given watershed. Geology determines the stability of landscape features, mineral availability and influences the chemical composition of water, among other factors. Knowledge of the nature and origin of surface deposits makes it possible to understand and predict how water will interact with the landscape.

Sediment accumulation within Goodyear Lake is a major concern of active stakeholders

in the Goodyear Lake Association; an understanding of the susceptibility of watershed soils to erosion by water may help to target management activities aimed at reducing soil erosion. The USDA’s soil survey database contains a wealth of use-specific ratings for soils throughout the nation. “Erosion factor Kw” indicates the erodibility of the soil, including rock fragments (Soil Survey Staff 2016). Values range from 0.02 to 0.69, where the higher the value, the more susceptible the soil is to sheet and rill erosion by water. The USDA uses this factor along with several others to estimate soil loss by erosion; watershed assessment programs in Minnesota and West Virginia make use of such data in a similar fashion.

1 Research Support Specialist, SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station.

METHODS

A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based approach was taken to characterize the

watershed using ESRI’s ArcMap 10.2 and associated software components. Watershed delineations were performed using the online USGS StreamStats watershed delineation tool for the entire Goodyear Lake watershed as well as each subbasin corresponding to the “focus watersheds” addressed in the ongoing work by C. Stroosnyder. A shapefile (.shp) and the StreamStats Basin Characteristics were downloaded for each subbasin. Land Use and Cover data were clipped from the 2011 National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD 2014), obtained from The National Map (nationalmap.gov). Surficial and bedrock geology datasets were obtained from the New York State Museum (1999; Gerhard 2000) and clipped to the watershed boundary.

Soils data for Herkimer and Otsego Counties were downloaded from the Web Soil Survey, the USDA NRCS online soil mapping site. Queries and thematic mapping of soil data were performed using the Soil Survey Add-In for ArcMap (USDA 2016). Soil units intersecting a stream segment were selected and the database queried for K factor, whole soil, a measure of the potential for erosion by water. A thematic map was created to illustrate the location of these streamside soils along with the associated K factor (whole soil) values. For graphical purposes, a summary was generated to compare the erodibility of soils between the subbasins in terms of soils with slight and moderate-to-high susceptibility to erosion by water. “Slight susceptibility” includes soils with KWS 0.01-0.24; “moderate to high susceptibility” encompasses those with KWS values ranging from 0.28-0.49.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Watershed and Subbasins The Goodyear Lake watershed and subbasins are illustrated in Figure 1. The entire

watershed encompasses an area of roughly 352 square miles (225,203 acres); the largest subbasin is the Cherry Valley Creek watershed (91.7 acres). Areas are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Land area (in acres and square miles) of the Goodyear Lake Watershed and subbasins.

Land Area acres sq. miles Watershed Total 225,203 352 Cherry Valley Creek 58,692 91.7 Lower Oaks Creek 23,962 37.4 Red Creek 8,192 12.8 Main Stem 42,880 67.0 Canadarago Lake 41,776 65.3 Otsego Lake 49,702 77.6

Figure 1. Goodyear Lake Watershed Subbasins. Full color maps are included in the digital version of this report, available on the BFS webpage: www.oneonta.edu/academics/biofld/publications.asp

Land Use and Cover

Land Use and Cover are generally summarized in Table 2, providing a comparison of the entire watershed and the focus watersheds. A detailed overview of land use and cover for the entire watershed and each subbasin is presented in Table 3. Data are based on the 2011 National Land Cover Dataset, published and maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (NLDC 2014). Across the entire watershed, the dominant land cover is forest (including woody wetlands), occupying nearly 55% of the total land area; when considering the focus watersheds only, roughly 65% of land area is forested (including woody wetlands). Lands in hay and pasture cover roughly 20% of the watershed. Low-intensity land cover types (emergent wetlands, shrub/scrub, and open fields) occupy an additional 5% of land within the focus watersheds.

Active land uses that are typically associated with soil disturbance include agriculture

(cultivated crops, intensive livestock operations, grazing within stream corridors), roadside ditching, forest operations (logging, road building, etc.), construction (especially on steep slopes), etc. In terms of watershed health and water quality protection, the large proportion of land in forest cover indicates that an opportunity exists for outreach and prevention of soil erosion through Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs). Along the same lines, optimization of grazing practices on pastured lands and attention to road maintenance and ditching to reduce the potential for soil and stream bank disturbance.

Table 2. Watershed land use and cover (in percent of land area) for the entire Goodyear Lake Watershed.

Watershed Total Focus Watersheds Forest 45.6 56.2 Agriculture: Crops and Pasture 30.9 24.0 Woody Wetlands 8.7 9.1 Developed, Open Space 4.0 3.8 Shrub/Scrub/Open Meadows 3.7 2.7 Emergent Wetlands 2.3 2.4 Open Water 3.7 1.0 Developed, All Intensities 0.9 0.8

Figure 2. Land Use and Cover within the Goodyear Lake Watershed (2011 National Land Cover Dataset). Full color maps are included in the digital version of this report, available on the BFS webpage: www.oneonta.edu/academics/biofld/publications.asp

Table 3. Watershed Land Use, area (in acres) per watershed subbasin. Land Use Description Use

Code Cherry Valley

Creek Lower Oaks

Creek Red Creek Main Stem Canadarago

Lake Otsego Lake

Watershed Total

Open Water 11 236.4 197.7 57.2 801.7 2,299.6 4,766.8 8,359.4 Developed, Open Space 21 1,849.9 922.7 305.6 1,966.4 1,889.7 2,117.4 9,051.7 Developed, Low Intensity 22 219.5 151.7 20.2 420.1 460.6 347.6 1,619.7 Developed, Medium Intensity 23 40.3 23.4 0.9 124.1 106.7 87.0 382.3 Developed, High Intensity 24 5.8 1.3 0.0 27.6 20.0 23.4 78.1 Barren Land 31 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 105.2 0.0 105.2 Deciduous Forest 41 26,734.7 7,339.0 2,096.5 13,013.0 7,821.2 10,386.9 67,391.3 Evergreen Forest 42 3,438.4 988.5 530.6 3,326.4 1,216.3 2,429.4 11,929.7 Mixed Forest 43 6,856.2 3,199.4 1,309.5 6,379.2 1,822.1 3,813.2 23,379.4 Shrub/Scrub 52 741.0 546.6 175.7 268.2 1,333.7 1,387.1 4,452.3 Herbaceuous 71 737.2 568.2 118.3 518.8 813.7 1,134.0 3,890.3 Hay/Pasture 81 8,722.3 5,694.0 2,205.9 7,591.9 12,465.0 10,017.1 46,696.2 Cultivated Crops 82 2,930.9 1,170.2 271.1 3,480.3 6,491.0 8,616.5 22,960.0 Woody Wetlands 90 4,928.7 2,506.8 783.1 3,934.2 3,929.3 3,599.7 19,681.7 Emergent Herbaceous Wetlands 95 1,250.3 652.7 317.1 1,027.9 1,001.9 976.1 5,226.0 Total Land Area 58,691.7 23,962.3 8,191.7 42,879.7 41,775.9 49,702.1 225,203.3

Soil Erodibility Streamside soils that are considered to be moderately to highly susceptible to erosion by

water occupy a total of 12,213 acres within the focus watersheds. Figure 4 graphically presents land area of streamside soils rated as slightly susceptible and moderate-to-highly susceptible; Figure 5 illustrates the distribution of said soils along with an indication of the erodibility based on K factor values (darker colors represent higher K factor value). While the focus on streamside soils does not reflect all soils subject to erosion, those most likely to contribute to the sediment load during storm events have been included (streamside soils). This will provide an avenue for identifying areas of high priority for community outreach and projects to reduce soil erosion and stabilize vulnerable stream banks.

Of the focus watersheds, the Cherry Valley Creek subbasin contains the greatest land area with moderate to high susceptibility for erosion. The erodible soils within the Otsego Lake basin occupy more land area, but lie at the northern end of the lake; eroded materials would settle out of the water column before they could be exported downstream to Goodyear Lake.

Figure 3. Land area (acres) of soils of slight (light grey) and moderate/high (dark grey) susptibilty to erosion by water. “Slight susceptibility”= soils with KWS 0.01-0.24; “moderate to high susceptibility” = KWS values ranging from 0.28-0.49. Surficial and Bedrock Geology

According to The Geology of New York, the watershed lies along the Northern boundary of the Allegheny Plateau (Isachsen et al. 1991). The underlying geology of the region is comprised of sedimentary rock formations of Devonion origin that have been altered by glacial action during the Pliestocene glaciation, roughly 14,000 years ago. Bedrock in the northern portions of the Canadarago Lake and Otsego Lake subbasins include limestone formations and exposed shale bedrock. Moving southward through the watershed, shale and sandstone bedrock predominate. Surface deposits are primarily glacial in nature, with much of the valley bottoms associated with former glacial lake bottoms; these deposits are generally flat and the silt and clay materials are particularly prone to erosion.

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Figure 4. Susceptibility of Streamside Soils to water erosion within the Goodyear Lake watershed, based on K factor (whole soil). Full color maps are included in the digital version of this report, available on the BFS webpage: www.oneonta.edu/academics/biofld/publications.asp

Figure 5. Bedrock geology of the Goodyear Lake Watershed. Full color maps are included in the digital version of this report, available on the BFS webpage: www.oneonta.edu/academics/biofld/publications.asp

Figure 6. Surficial geology of the Goodyear Lake Watershed. Full color maps are included in the digital version of this report, available on the BFS webpage: www.oneonta.edu/academics/biofld/publications.asp

REFERENCES

Gerhard, D. 2000. Surficial Geology. New York State Museum Technology Center. http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/gis.html

Homer, C.G., Dewitz, J.A., Yang, L., Jin, S., Danielson, P., Xian, G., Coulston, J., Herold, N.D.,

Wickham, J.D., and Megown, K., 2015, Completion of the 2011 National Land Cover Database for the conterminous United States-Representing a decade of land cover change information. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, v. 81, no. 5, p. 345-354

Isachsen, Y.W., E. Landing, J.M. Lauber, L.V. Rickard, and W.B. Rogers, eds.1991. Geology of

New York A Simplified Account. New York State Museum / Geological Survey. Albany, NY.

NYS Museum. 1999. Bedrock Geology of New York State. https://www.nysm.nysed.gov/gis/ Accessed 2/25/2016.

NLCD. 2014. National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) - 2011. U.S. Geological Survey https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/513624bae4b03b8ec4025c4d

Soil Survey Staff. 2016. Web Soil Survey. Natural Resources Conservation Service, United

States Department of Agriculture. http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/. Accessed 02/22/2016.

USGS. 2015. StreamStats Program: New York State Interactive Map Application. United State

Geological Survey. http://streamstats.usgs.gov/new_york.html USGS. 2016. The National Map. United States Geological Survey. http://nationalmap.gov