The Watershed Project
Director: Dr. Stephen Robinson

Project Objectives

• Use an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to study the biological, chemical, and geological changes in soil, biota, and water as rain falls in the lower Little River watershed, drains through and across the land, enters the Little River, and travels downstream.
  
• Study and analyze the interrelationships of data and look for correlation in changes for evidence of cause and effect patterns that may suggest long-term changes to the ecosystem structure and function, and their potential environmental implications.

Primary studies will include:

• Hydrology of the lower Little River watershed, including surface and groundwater.
• Erosion and transport of sediments within the stream.
• Transport and processing of nutrients in different habitats within the watershed (e.g., recreation areas versus forested sections) with study focused on the effects of land use and biological activity.
• Effects of spatial and temporal variations in stream conditions on stream inhabitants.
• Spatial and temporal variations in soil and water chemistry linked to climatic, geological and biological factors and the consequences for plant growth.
• Effects of variable watershed conditions on wildlife use and behavior.
• Fate of environmental contaminants within the ecosystem.
• Mathematical analysis of data collected.

Project Highlights

On 21 February, 2001, Strategic Environmental used a Geoprobe Hammer direct push soil probing system to core 10 sites on St. Lawrence University and adjacent properties and installed groundwater monitoring wells at three of those sites.

The groundwater wells will assist the Watershed Project in examining the movement of water across the Little River watershed. More specifically, the groundwater monitoring wells will allow for metering changes in water table levels, possible flow direction determinations, and gathering of small quantities of ground water for analysis back in the laboratory.

Coring commenced in the throws of winter because the coring apparatus is mounted on the bed of a 4-wheel drive truck and impacts to coring areas is smallest when the ground is frozen or during the driest time of the year. Cores were collected near the Sand Banks, Kip and Canoe Shack trails, and near Physical Plant. Wells were installed on an edge of the golf course, near the Kip Trail and on the Environmental Studies’ Ecological Sustainability Landscape.

Watershed Student Projects

Nate Vogan
Palynological Study of Pollen in Massawepie Mire: St. Lawrence County, NY

Brendan Lennon
Hydrogeological Assessment of the Little River Drainage Basin