Examining Trends in the Hydroclimatology of New York State Waterways from 1958 to 2018

Emphasis is often placed upon our climate, how it is changing, and how it may be shifting to newer patterns that are more foreign to us. Some of that stress is focused upon global and regional hydrology. This study aims to look further into the hydrology of New York State (NYS) and how it may have been changing over the past sixty years, 1958-2018. Stream gauge data was provided by the USGS and their Hydroclimatic Data Network (HCDN), and precipitation data was provided by the Regional Climate Center’s ACIS Query builder. In total, thirty stations from different locations throughout the entirety of NYS were observed. Various analyses were conducted on the watersheds in NYS with the hope of examining shifting trends in yearly maximums, rising base values of flow for various percentiles of stream flow, and correlations between those rising levels and increased cumulative precipitation. With these observations, assertions regarding the hydroclimatic changes of NYS were appointed. Most notably, over the sixty-year record summertime base flows have been steadily rising. This was found to be closely correlated to increased cumulative precipitation. Additionally, while the minimum and maximum base flows for various rivers have not varied as vastly, the median (50^th percentile) as well as 25^th and 75^th percentile values for flow have been rising over the studied period.

More work is intended to be conducted upon the intensity of stream flow changes and frequencies of "jumps" in discharge measurements.