From May of 2015 through September of 2018, water-quality data were collected at 178 locations from select tributaries, embayments, and nearshore lake locations along New York's Lake Ontario waterfront in support of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Lakewide Action Management Plan. These data include environmental, replicate, and blank samples of nutrients and suspended solids as well as field measurements of physical parameters (temperature, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, phycocyanin relative fluorescence, and chlorophyll relative fluorescence).

From May of 2015 through September of 2018, velocity data were collected along 7 transects from select tributaries, embayments, and nearshore lake locations along New York's Lake Ontario waterfront in support of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Lakewide Action Management Plan. These data include: depth, velocity magnitude, velocity direction, navigational data, ADCP temperature, and channel profile.

This data release supports the following publication: Hittle, Elizabeth, 2017, Longshore Water-Current Velocity and the Potential for Transport of Contaminants: A Pilot Study in Lake Erie from Walnut Creek to Presque Isle State Park Beaches, Erie, Pennsylvania, June and August 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1206 126 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161206. This data set contains water quality data (temperature, specific conductance, and turbidity) measured and recorded on June 25, 2015 with a YSI EXO probe and depth measured and recorded by a design analysis 700H pressure transducer. The data was collected along select transects at ~300 meter spacing by moving the probe down and up throughout the water column. Data is provided only when the probe was moving from the bottom to the top of the water column as the data recorded from top to bottom was found to be biased. Data was recorded at 1 second intervals.

This data release supports the following publication: Hittle, Elizabeth, 2017, Longshore Water-Current Velocity and the Potential for Transport of Contaminants: A Pilot Study in Lake Erie from Walnut Creek to Presque Isle State Park Beaches, Erie, Pennsylvania, June and August 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1206 126 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161206. This data set contains water quality data (temperature, specific conductance, and turbidity) measured and recorded on June 24, 2015 with a YSI EXO probe and depth measured and recorded by a design analysis 700H pressure transducer. The data was collected along select transects at ~300 meter spacing by moving the probe down and up throughout the water column. Data is provided only when the probe was moving from the bottom to the top of the water column as the data recorded from top to bottom was found to be biased. Data was recorded at 5 second intervals except for transects 17 and 24 which were collected at 1 second intervals. The depth data for transects 4 and 6 are not available due to user error.

This data release supports the following publication: Hittle, Elizabeth, 2017, Longshore water-current velocity and the potential for transport of contaminants: A pilot study in Lake Erie from Walnut Creek to Presque Isle State Park beaches, Erie, Pennsylvania, June and August 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1206 126 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161206 Water-quality grab samples were collected about a meter from shore and coincide with the 25 longshore water-current velocity transects as closely as conditions would allow. Nearshore water-quality grab samples were collected on June 24, August 11, and August 19, 2015. Samples were analyzed for bacteria concentration, temperature, specific condictivity, pH, turbidity, and suspended sediment concentration. Not all parameters were analyzed for every sample. Samples were collected by Erie County Department of Health (ECDH) employees and Regional Science Consortium (RSC) interns. The nearshore water-quality samples were collected using grab-sample techniques. To maintain sterile conditions, grab samples were collected in at least 1 meter of water at approximately 0.3 meters below the water surface, being careful not to stir up bottom sediments. Water samples for bacteria analysis were collected in pre-sterilized 500-mL polypropylene bottles, allowing about 2 inches of head space for proper mixing, and were kept on ice prior to processing. Bacteria samples were analyzed for Escherichia coli (E. coli) using modified mTEC membrane-filtration techniques and were processed by RSC staff in the RSC laboratory within 6 hours of sample collection. Water samples for sediment analysis (June 24 and August 11, 2015) were collected in pre-tared 1000-mL polypropylene bottles by tilting the bottle at about a 45 degree angle away from the sampler and moving it from just under the surface (where the bottle was uncapped) to just above the streambed and back in a smooth vertical motion to get as close to a depth-integrated, single-vertical grab sample as possible. Sediment samples were prepared for shipping and sent to the USGS sediment laboratory at the USGS Kentucky Water Science Center where they were analyzed for total suspended sediment concentration, sand/fine break (percent of sediment less than 4 mm), and fine components including percent fines less than 2 mm, 1 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.25 mm, 0.125 mm, and silt/clay break at <0.0625mm.

From April through September of 2018, water-quality data were collected at 35 locations from select tributaries, embayments, and nearshore lake locations along New York's portion of Lake Ontario in support of the 2018 Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and the Lakewide Action Management Plan. These data include environmental, replicate, and blank samples of nutrients, suspended solids, sodium, and chloride, as well as field measurements of physical parameters (temperature, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, phycocyanin relative fluorescence, chlorophyll relative fluorescence, photosynthetically active radiation, and phycocyanin:cholorphyll ratio).

These data were collected as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) project template 678-1 entitled “Evaluate immediate and long-term BMP effectiveness of GLRI restoration efforts at urban beaches on Southern and Western Lake Michigan”. This project is evaluating the effectiveness of projects that are closely associated with restoration of local habitat and contact recreational activities at two GLRI funded sites in Southern Lake Michigan and one non-GLRI site in Western Lake Michigan. Evaluation of GLRI projects will assess whether goals of recipients are on track and identify any developing unforeseen consequences. Including a third, non-GLRI project site in the evaluation allows comparison between restoration efforts in GLRI and non-GLRI funded projects. Projections and potential complications associated with climate change impacts on restoration resiliency are also being assessed. Two of the three sites to receive evaluation represent some of the most highly contaminated beaches in the United States and include restoration BMPs which could benefit urban beaches and nearshore areas throughout the Great Lakes. The urban beaches chosen for evaluation are at various stages of the restoration process and located in Indiana (Jeorse Park Beach), Illinois (63rd Street Beach), and Wisconsin (North Beach). Evaluation of effectiveness of restoration efforts and resiliency to climate change at urban beaches will provide vital information on the success of restoration efforts and identify potential pitfalls that will help maximize success of future GLRI beach and nearshore restoration projects. Data used for evaluation include continuous monitoring and synoptic mapping of nearshore currents, bathymetry, and water quality to examine nearshore transport under a variety of conditions. In addition, biological evaluations rely upon daily indicator bacteria monitoring, microbial community and shorebird surveys, recreational usage, and other ancillary water quality data.

These data were collected as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) project template 678-1 entitled 'Evaluate immediate and long-term BMP effectiveness of GLRI restoration efforts at urban beaches on Southern and Western Lake Michigan'. This project is evaluating the effectiveness of projects that are closely associated with restoration of local habitat and contact recreational activities at two GLRI funded sites in Southern Lake Michigan and one non-GLRI site in Western Lake Michigan. Evaluation of GLRI projects will assess whether goals of recipients are on track and identify any developing unforeseen consequences. Including a third, non-GLRI project site in the evaluation allows comparison between restoration efforts in GLRI and non-GLRI funded projects. Projections and potential complications associated with climate change impacts on restoration resiliency are also being assessed. Two of the three sites to receive evaluation represent some of the most highly contaminated beaches in the United States and include restoration BMPs which could benefit urban beaches and nearshore areas throughout the Great Lakes. The urban beaches chosen for evaluation are at various stages of the restoration process and located in Indiana (Jeorse Park Beach), Illinois (63rd Street Beach), and Wisconsin (North Beach). Evaluation of effectiveness of restoration efforts and resiliency to climate change at urban beaches will provide vital information on the success of restoration efforts and identify potential pitfalls that will help maximize success of future GLRI beach and nearshore restoration projects. Data used for evaluation include continuous monitoring and synoptic mapping of nearshore currents, bathymetry, and water quality to examine nearshore transport under a variety of conditions. In addition, biological evaluations rely upon daily indicator bacteria monitoring, microbial community and shorebird surveys, recreational usage, and other ancillary water quality data.

Water-quality constituents were measured along planned survey lines, which were generally perpendicular to the shoreline and spaced 100 meters apart, over an approximately 2.3-mile section of nearshore Lake Erie on June 10-12, 2019 (survey 1), and August 19-21, 2019 (survey 2), using a YSI 6920 V2 multiparameter sonde towed from the side of a marine survey vessel at about 1-ft depth. Water-quality data collected in this area included near-surface measurements of water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. The water-quality data were measured at 5-second intervals and were geo-referenced with a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) smart antenna with submeter accuracy. There was a total of 43 survey lines which typically started about 50 meters offshore and ended 500 meters offshore, and the survey lines covered the area around the mouth of Euclid Creek, Villa Angela Beach, Wildwood Marina, and the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant. Additional data were also measured along a series of lines parallel to the shoreline throughout the survey area. Data were post-processed with a custom MATLAB script to geo-reference the water-quality data based on time stamps and to manually edit the data to remove spikes and other errors. Each water-quality measurement has an associated latitude and longitude (WGS84) and sample depth (in feet) below the surface. All water-quality sensors were calibrated per USGS standard methods prior to the start of the survey. These water-quality measurements were collected over the course of six total days, three in early summer (survey 1) and three in late summer (survey 2), to characterize circulation, mixing, and transport patterns in nearshore Lake Erie in the vicinity of Euclid Creek and Villa Angela Beach.