204 - How does change in land use impact the water chemistry parameters in the streams of Oswego County, NY

Land use within a watershed is closely tied to stream water chemistry. Anthropogenic chemical inputs eventually make their way into streams, affecting fluvial ecosystems. Sources of these anthropogenic inputs change over time, especially when rural landscapes become increasingly urbanized. We studied the relationship between land use and stream water chemistry for Oswego County, New York, because riparian zones in this county have shifted to residential from agricultural and forested land uses. We extracted data from the New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) Department of Water (DOW) Monitoring Portal. Preliminary results show that Total Nitrogen (Kjeldahl) in mg/L fluctuates yearly from 2001-2020, Total Nitrogen in mg/L increased by 0.29 mg/L from 2009 to 2020, and Total Phosphorus decreased slightly from 2001 to 2015. Changes in land use do not appear to be substantial enough to have a large impact on these chemical parameters in Oswego County. However, the data collected for sites in Oswego County are sparse, and thus our results may be misleading. We will conclude with recommendations to Oswego County for a sampling strategy that better encompasses the major waterways of the county.