Save the Rain Quarterly Report Q1 2015

0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report presents an evaluation of the extent to which Onondaga Lake is presently meeting its designated uses, including public bathing and recreation, aquatic life support, fish consumption, natural resources habitat/hydrology, and aesthetics. Water quality conditions in Onondaga Lake have improved markedly since the 1990s as a result of Onondaga County’s major investments in wastewater collection and treatment. The 1998 Amended Consent Judgment (ACJ) between Onondaga County, New York State, and the Atlantic States Legal Foundation required improvements to the County’s wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure. In addition, the ACJ required an extensive ambient monitoring program (the AMP) to document improvements in water quality and biological communities. This evaluation focuses on achievement of best uses designated for class “B” and “C” waters and status with respect to applicable New York State ambient water quality standards and guidelines. This assessment emphasized the following water quality parameters because they are cited specifically in the ACJ: dissolved oxygen, ammonia, turbidity, floatables, phosphorus, nitrogen, and bacteria.

Major investments in advanced wastewater treatment by Onondaga County have transformed Onondaga Lake from a highly polluted waterbody into a system that now supports a variety of recreational uses and a diverse fishery. The lake is now meeting ambient water quality standards intended to protect aquatic life and human recreation uses. Water quality conditions in the northern two‐thirds of the lake are now suitable for swimming. A total of 53 species of fish have been identified in the lake since 2000, including warmwater, coolwater, and limited coldwater species. A parallel lake cleanup program being implemented by Honeywell is addressing industrial contaminants and the recovery of an edible fishery.

Treatment upgrades at the Syracuse Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant (Metro) in 2004 and 2005 greatly reduced inputs of phosphorus and potentially harmful forms of nitrogen to Onondaga Lake. Loading of ammonia was reduced by 98% as a result of treatment upgrades at Metro. Water quality standards for ammonia are no longer exceeded in Onondaga Lake and the lake was delisted as impaired by ammonia in 2008. In addition, loading of nitrite, another form of nitrogen potentially toxic to aquatic biota, was reduced by 90%. Increased nitrate loading from Metro has substantially decreased the transport of phosphorus and mercury from the sediments to the water column.

Implementation of advanced treatment at Metro has resulted in an 85% decrease in total phosphorus loading to Onondaga Lake since the early 1990s and a 99% reduction since the early 1970s. Summer average total phosphorus concentrations decreased from vii | P a g e