Indicators of Change in Water Quality and Environmental Health in the Irondequoit Creek Wetland Complex, 1996-2003

Abstract

In late 1996, Monroe County built a partial water detention structure across the Irondequoit Creek narrows in the middle of the Irondequoit Creek wetland complex (Figure 1). The purpose of the structure is to disperse widely during storm events the flow of creek water through the up-per wetland to utilize more fully the physical and biological potential of the wetland to trap plant nutrients, sediments, and pollutants. The remediation is intended to reduce loading of nutrients and pollutants into Irondequoit Bay which, as a formerly hypereutrophic body of water, has been the long-term object of water quality improvement efforts in Monroe County and is a major focus of current remedial action planning (Rochester Embayment RAP 1993, 1997). The purpose of this study was to compare water quality in the Irondequoit Creek wetland complex, as indicated by the health of benthic macroinvertebrate communities, before and after installation of the partial water detention structure.