Effects of riparian forest buffers on water quality in the Canandaigua Lake Watershed

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Rider, Trish
Copyright Year	2004
Abstract	As watershed landscapes have been transformed to accommodate agriculture and urbanization, non-point source pollution has emerged as an important environmental issue, and riparian forest buffers (RFB) are recommended to control the flow of pollution into stream ecosystems. The Natural Resources Conservation Service recommends that RFBs have a width of at least 30 meters to protect water quality from surface runoff and non-point source pollution. The water quality, RFBs, and land uses within two tributaries of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed were investigated to determine if a positive correlation exists between water quality and RFB width as well as to determine if the 30 meter buffers were in place and adequate to protect water quality. Benthic macroinvertebrate collection and identification were used to assess water quality at seven sites, while geographic information systems and the L-THIA runoffmodel were used to quantify RFB width, land use, and runoff. A statistical analysis of the seven data points showed that there is not enough evidence to conclude that a significant positive correlation exists between water quality and RFB width. However, the data suggest that a correlation may exist, and additional sample collection may show that the correlation is significant. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped me throughout every step of this project. I would first like to thank Dr. Karl Korfmacher, RIT environmental science professor, who served as my thesis advisor and chaired my graduate committee. Karl's support and guidance allowed me to pursue a project in which I am interested even when it seemed as though the topic might not work out, and I am grateful for everything he has done for me. I would also like to thank the members of my graduate committee who each contributed valuable knowledge and skill to the many aspects of the project. They are Dr. Elizabeth Hane, plant ecologist and professor at RIT, GaryNeuderfer of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Kevin Olvany, Watershed Program Manager of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Council. In addition to my graduate committee members, I would like to thank many others who have helped me. Thanks so much to Dr. John Waud, Director of the Environmental Science Program at RIT, for helping with field sampling and for always encouraging me to do my best. Thanks also to fellow environmental science student Justin Cole for helping me collect field data and offering his GIS knowledge during the analysis. Patricia Cyr of Eastman Kodak Company guided me throughout the statistical analysis, and Robert Bode of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation provided me with all of the necessary information and methods for conducting the macroinvertebrate analysis. Thank you so much to both of them. I would also like to thank Sally Tysiac for her continued encouragement and friendly ear and Travis Money for his support and "cooperate and graduate" frame ofmind. Thanks to my family for their love and for never letting me give up. Last but not least, a big thank you to my husband Jim for helping me with data collection, bug picking, identification, writing, keeping my sanity, and for all ofhis love, support, and encouragement. Thank you everyone!
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8610&context=theses
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article