Oak Orchard Creek Watershed The Location of Sources of Pollution, Annual Loss of Nutrients and Soil to Lake Ontario, and a Test of Effectiveness of Zone Tillage as a Best Management practice

Abstract

Oak Orchard Creek is on New York State’s “303(d)” (1972 Clean Water Act) list of impaired water bodies. Waters designated as 303(d) do not meet water quality standards that states, territories, and authorized tribes have set for them, even after point sources of pollution have installed the minimum required levels of pollution control technology. A 303(d) designation may require the eventual development of Total Maximum Daily Loading (TMDL) for a watershed as a mechanism of managing nutrient losses from a watershed. Funding was received by the Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District from the Environmental Protection Agency to implement actions that address point and nonpoint sources of nutrient loading to the creek and Lake Ontario’s coastal zone. Thus, the intended use of the funds received was to support the coordination and acceleration of implementation of management practices for nonpoint source pollution, adaptive management strategies, and investigations identifying sources of nutrient pollution. Within the Oak Orchard Creek watershed, the specific goal of prevention and reduction of water pollution in the coastal zone of Lake Ontario is through watershed management, aquatic ecosystem restoration, and nonpoint source management. In this report, as a result of a contract with Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District, The College at Brockport provides evidence indicating the identity, the location, and the intensity of pollution sources in the Oak Orchard watershed, compares Zone Tillage with Conventional Tillage practices, and develops an annual nutrient budget for Oak Orchard Creek as a basis for development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).