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Ambient Monitoring Program
In 1998, an Amendment Consent Judgment
(ACJ) between Onondaga County, New York
State and Atlantic States Legal Foundation was
signed to resolve a lawsuit filed against
Onondaga County for violations of the Clean
Water Act. The lawsuit alleged that discharges
from the Metropolitan Syracuse Wastewater
Treatment Plant (Metro) and overflows from
the combined sewer system (CSOs) precluded
Onondaga Lake from meeting its designated
best use. The ACJ obligates the County to
undertake a phased program of wastewater
collection and treatment improvements that
will extend though the year 2012, monitor
water quality response, and report annually on
progress towards compliance.
The Ambient Monitoring Program (AMP) is Onondaga County’s comprehensive program to
evaluate the quality of the waterways and track
changes brought about by the improvements to
the wastewater collection and treatment
infrastructure and reductions in watershed
sources of nutrients. As described above, the
ACJ obligates Onondaga County to conduct this
annual monitoring program.
Key provisions
The ACJ is designed to improve the water quality of Onondaga Lake and achieve full compliance with state and federal water quality regulations by December 1, 2012. The ACJ specifically includes a listing of over thirty projects to be undertaken over 15 years. Although completion of the entire project is not required until 2012. The ACJ was further amended (4th Stipulation) on November 16, 2009, extending the AMP through 2018.
The ACJ describes the intent of each project and sets time schedules for specific work related to each project to be completed. These milestones relate to such activities as completion of environmental review, start of construction, and commencement of operation.
The projects can be divided into three main categories:
- Improvement and upgrading of the County's main
sewage treatment plant (Metro)
- Eliminating and/or decreasing the effects of the combined sewer overflows on the lake and its tributaries
- A lake and tributary monitoring program designed to
evaluate the effects of the improvement projects on the water quality of the lake and tributary streams.
The latest:
Onondaga Lake Improvement Project Report for June 2010
Onondaga Lake: Progress Report 2008, issued July 2009
Onondaga Lake is on the road to recovery. After more than a century of pollution from municipal and industrial
waste, Onondaga Lake is responding to the large investment of
funds in wastewater treatment with cleaner water. Pollution levels
are down, and the conditions for aquatic life, especially fish, have
improved.
2008 Annual Report: Onondaga Lake Ambient Monitoring Program (>4 MB, issued Mar 2010)
Appendices (>60 MB)
Data sets referenced
Onondaga Lake Fishery: 2008-2009 Fact Sheet
Through its Ambient Monitoring Program (AMP), WEP is
capturing data that is indispensable to answering
critical questions about the chemical, physical, and
biological nature of Onondaga Lake and its tributaries (Onondaga
Creek, Nine Mile Creek, Harbor Brook, Ley Creek,
Tributary 5A) as well as the Seneca River system.
What is the Ambient Monitoring Program about?
Onondaga Lake Ambient Monitoring Program 1998-2012, Program Summary
This document describes the program
and how the results are used to evaluate the effectiveness of Onondaga County's improvements to wastewater collection and treatment (Dec 2006).
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WEP's AMP team releases a buoy to collect data about Onondaga Lake. |
 Live data from Onondaga Lake.
WEP personnel are constantly checking the state of the
water quality in the lake, the streams flowing into
it, and the Seneca River to assess the health of the
lake's ecosystem.
Required by state and federal regulations, the AMP
also measures the effectiveness of a 15-year WEP plan
to improve to the collection and treatment of sewage.
Engineers, scientists, and regulators will use the
data gathered to see if these efforts are restoring
the water's quality and the surrounding habitat. They
use the data, too, to see if further improvements are
needed to meet water quality standards and community
goals for this resource.
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