Preliminary investigation of the impact of recent development on the quantity and quality of Susquehanna River Water

The recent development of a baseball-oriented tourist industry along the Route 28 corridor through Hartwick, New York, has raised the concerns of local residents about the impact of industry-related water use on the quantity and quality of future groundwater resources. Because groundwater and surface waters are directly connected to one another, this study used observations from the Susquehanna River parallel to the Route 28 corridor to identify changes in groundwater quality and quantity. Observations were made and water samples were collected at four points along the Susquehanna River on 15 August 06, while the Cooperstown Dreams Park was in session: two sites were upstream of the Dreams Park facility and two were at or below it. The number of fecal coliform colonies rose sharply between the upstream and downstream sites which may have an impact on water quality. The source of this increase may be the septic system on the Dreams Park property or runoff from adjacent agricultural lands that contain livestock waste. River discharge also decreased slightly between the upstream and downstream sites suggesting that the Susquehanna is losing water to the groundwater system in the vicinity of the Dreams Park property. The most likely causes of this change in discharge are groundwater pumping wells near the Dreams Park property which are either owned by Dreams Park or an adjacent land owner. Two buildings were observed on the banks of the river on the Dreams park property which may be pump houses. More data are needed to explore these possibilities. This study recommends that weekly sampling for the same parameters be conducted during the summer of 2007, that a groundwater modeling study be developed to best quantify the impacts of new pumping wells on the volume of groundwater locally available, and that the modeling study be used to create drought management strategy for the Route 28 corridor in partnership with local and county regulators