Hydrogeology of the Tully Lakes Area 

in Southern Onondaga and Northern 

Cortland Counties, New York 

By William M. Kappel, Todd S. Miller, and Kari K. Hetcher

Postcard (circa 1895) showing the Lake Park Hotel on the west shore of Tully Lake

(Courtesy of the Tully Area Historical Society)

WRIR 01-4166

December 2001

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

In cooperation with Onondaga Lake Cleanup Corporation
2

INTRODUCTION 

Water levels in a series of kettlehole lakes and ponds known as the Tully Lakes 

respond to seasonal water-level changes in the surrounding aquifer but often differ 

from ground-water levels in the aquifer because the lakebed sediments are poorly 

permeable and inhibit the exchange of water. Three sets of ground-water-level 

measurements were made from the spring recharge period of 2000 through the 

fall of that year. Seasonal ground-water-level declines ranged from 1.5 to 8 feet. 

Average annual water-level fluctuations in the three western lakes ranged from 2.5 

to 6 feet, whereas those in the two eastern lakes were only about 1.5 feet because 

these lakes have natural outlets. The ground-water divide between the St. Lawrence 

and Susquehanna River Basins did not coincide with the surface-water divide and 

the ground-water divide moved southerly in response to lower water levels in the 

aquifer during the summer and fall. 

The topography of central New York, and the associated hydrologic systems 

are the result of the advance and retreat of glaciers during the last (Wisconsinan) 

glaciation. A pause in the retreat of the glacial ice led to the formation of the Valley 

Heads Moraine near the village of Tully (fig. 1). This moraine, which consists 

mostly of sand and gravel with some till, trends east-west across the southern 

end of Tully Valley and forms the surface-water drainage divide between the St. 

Lawrence and Susquehanna River Basins. 

The Tully Lakes area (fig. 1) encompasses a 3-square-mile area within the 

moraine and is characterized by gentle rolling hills, and kettlehole lakes and 

ponds. The coarse-grained moraine deposits and glacial outwash that extend 

south of the moraine form a large unconfined surficial aquifer, from the West 

Branch Tioughnioga River to the village of Tully. The area contains six kettlehole 

lakes (Green, Tully, Crooked, Song, Tracy, and Mud), several kettlehole ponds 

(Gatehouse, Round, and a few unnamed ponds), and several seasonally wet 

to permanently dry kettleholes. All of the western lakes and ponds (Song, 

Crooked, Mud, and Tracy Lakes, and Round and Gatehouse Ponds) were naturally 

landlocked, with no perennial inlet or outlet, until European settlement in the early 

1800’s. By the mid-1800’s, outlet pipes or channels had been installed in Gatehouse 

Pond and Crooked, Mud, and Tracy Lakes to allow use of their water by several 

industries over the next 120 years. The two eastern lakes (Green and Tully), in 

contrast, have natural outlets at their southern ends. Green Lake drains through a 

short channel into the northern end of Tully Lake. The West Branch Tioughnioga 

River enters Tully Lake on its southeastern side (fig.1) and resumes its course at 

the southern end of Tully Lake. All of these lakes and ponds are connected to 

the surficial aquifer, but their water levels fluctuate individually, depending on the 

degree of hydraulic connection with the aquifer. 
3

76o 10'

42o

47' 

30"

76o 07' 30"

42o

45'

Interstate 81

Base from U.S. Geological Survey Otisco Valley, Tully, Homer and Truxton Quadrangles , 1:24,000, 1955

 SONG

MOUNTAIN

Tully

Valley

VALLEY

MORAINE HEADS

Village

of

Tully

EXPLANATION

BOUNDARY OF SURFICIAL

AQUIFER 

WELL OR SURFACE-WATER

SITE - in which water-level

measurements were made

SPRING - springs along north face

of the Valley Heads Moraine are

at an elevation of approximately

1,125 feet above mean sea level

BRINE FIELD - (Abandoned)-

Numerous injection and

withdrawal wells drilled about

1,200 feet deep, for saltsolution mining of halite beds

OUTWASH AQUIFER - wellsorted sand and gravel

BOUNDARY OF THICK VALLEY -

FILL DEPOSITS IN TULLY VALLEY

(north of surficial aquifer)

VALLEY HEADS MORAINE -

Ice-contact deposits consisting

mostly of sand and gravel with

some fine sand, silt, and till

0 0.5 MILE

0 0.5 KILOMETER

0.25

0.25

NEW

YORK

Onondaga

 County

Cortland

 County

STUDY

 AREA

Location

Map

West Branch

T oi ughnioga

River

Tully Lake

Song

 Lake

Crooked

Lake

Mud

Lake

Round

Pond

Green

Lake

Tracy

Lake

Gatehouse

Pond

Figure 1. Principal geographic features of Tully Lakes area, including surficial aquifer, Valley Heads Moraine, 

Tully Valley brinefield, and locations of wells and water bodies used for water-level measurements.
4

PREVIOUS HYDROLOGIC STUDIES 

The Tully Lakes area was first studied in the late 1800’s, when J.J.R. 

Croes investigated the lakes’ potential as a water supply for the city of 

Syracuse. Croes (1871) provided the first hydrologic data on the lakes, 

including their size, depth, and general water quality, and speculated on 

the water-quality differences among the lakes. Croes divided the lakes into 

two groups—the western lakes (Crooked, Van Housen [now named Song], 

and Mud Lakes) and the central-valley lakes (Green and Big [Tully] Lakes, 

referred to herein as the eastern lakes). 

Croes (1871) mistakenly identified natural marl deposits in Green and 

Big [Tully] Lake as white limestone. The deposition of marl in a lake 

generally indicates high concentrations of calcium carbonate in the ground 

water and lakewater and is a visible indicator of the waters’ hardness. 

Croes also noted that the banks of Crooked and Van Housen [Song] 

Lakes consisted of gravel but contained no “limestone” (marl deposits), 

presumably because the major source of the lake water is runoff from 

the shale hillsides to the west and, therefore, has little time in contact 

with the calcium-rich sand and gravel deposits along the western shores 

of these lakes. The absence of marl in Crooked and Van Housen [Song] 

Lakes indicates a softer ground water than that found in the eastern 

lakes area. Croes also noted that water from the four naturally landlocked 

northwestern lakes and ponds (Crooked, Mud, Tracy, and Gatehouse) had 

been diverted to the north 35 years earlier by constructed channels and 

that the annual water-level fluctuation in Crooked Lake was about 5 feet. 

Eventually, in the late 1880’s, Skaneateles Lake, 6 miles to the northwest, 

was chosen as the water supply for Syracuse: thus, they were not altered 

for water-supply purposes.

Hollister (1905) compared the general water quality of several springs 

that discharge along the northern face of the Tully Moraine to water quality 

of the Tully Lakes. He noted, as Croes did, that... “Song, Crooked, and 

Mud Lakes are comparatively soft due to surface and subsurface seepage of 

soft water off the western hillside. Green and Big [Tully] Lakes lie in the 

center of the valley surrounded by glacial material and have relatively high 

alkalinity and sodium chloride [salt] concentrations.” 

Hollister also noted that... “the marked difference in character of water in 

these two sets of lakes seems to point to the probability that subsurface water 

passes through the glacial gravels and, after becoming highly concentrated 

with calcium carbonate and sodium chloride by contact with the glacial 

material, this water appears in Green and Big Lakes greatly altered.”

Hollister’s conclusion was that ground waters in this region ... “take up, 

from whatever source, large quantities of salts found in the glacial debris 

and [this water] appears highly charged with them in the central lakes and 

in the springs which discharge off the north side of the moraine.”

Since Hollister’s report (1905), several dissertations by students at 

Syracuse University and State University of New York at Syracuse - College 

of Environmental Science and Forestry (Mosley, 1983; Heath, 1974; and 

Durham, 1954; among others) have discussed the glacial sediments and 

water-quality characteristics of the Tully Lakes, the Valley Heads Moraine 

at Tully, and the two contrasting aquifer systems north (Tully Valley) and 

south (Tioughnioga Valley) of the moraine.

What is Marl? 

Marl is formed through a 

long-term process. Glaciers 

eroded limestone and calciumrich shale bedrock north of 

the Valley Heads Moraine and 

deposited calcium-rich gravel, 

sand, and fine sediment at 

the moraine and south of it. 

The calcium was subsequently 

leached by ground water into 

adjacent ponds and lakes, where 

it accumulated in the water 

column through chemical 

concentration or through 

biological actions of certain 

bacteria and plankton. During 

the summer, when surface-water 

temperatures and rates of 

organic decomposition would 

increase, the lakes’ acidity would 

decrease and cause the calcium 

to precipitate as calcium 

carbonate from the water column 

to the lakebed. This process 

can cause what is called a 

“whiting event,” whereby a lake’s 

water becomes cloudy as calcium 

carbonate settles. Over time, the 

calcium carbonate mixes with 

organic detrius and fine lakebed 

sediment to form a cementlike 

deposit known as marl. 
5

Figure 2. Water-surface fluctuations in five Tully Lakes, October 1998 through November 2000.

(Locations are shown in fig. 1.) LAKE LEVEL ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL

1998 1999 2000

ONDJFMAMJJASONDJFMAMJJASON

1197

1196

1195

1194

1193

1192

1191

1190

1189

1188

Missing

Data

Missing

Data

Missing

Data

Crooked Lake

Gatehouse Pond

Green Lake

Song Lake

Tully Lake

Surface-water and ground-water

recharge to lakes

 Limited surface-water recharge to lakes,

 and lake water discharge to aquifer

Summer storms result in short-term

increases in lake levels

Predominantly surface-water

recharge to lakes

Predominantly surface-water

recharge to lakes

Hydrologic Study of the Tully Lakes, 

1998-2000 

In October 1998, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

began a study of the Tully Lakes area that included 

continuous water-level monitoring of Gatehouse Pond and 

Song, Crooked, Green, and Tully Lakes from October 

1998 through November 2000. Synoptic ground-waterlevel measurements were made at about 50 wells (mostly 

domestic) on April 26, August 10, and October 26, 2000 

to identify seasonal water-level differences, directions of 

ground-water flow, and degree of interaction between 

ground water and surface water.

Lake-Level Fluctuations

Water levels in all Tully Lakes are controlled by the 

amount of precipitation, recharge from upland sources, 

surface-water runoff, rates of evaporation from the lake 

surface and transpiration by wetland plants, rates of 

ground-water seepage into and out of the lakes, and 

elevation of outflow channels, if present. Average annual 

water-level fluctuations in the western lakes during the 

study ranged from as small as 2.5 feet in Gatehouse Pond 

to as large as 6 feet in Crooked Lake (fig. 2). Water-level 

fluctuations in the eastern lakes were much less—about 

1.5 feet.)
6

Western Lakes and Ponds 

Runoff from the hillsides along the west side of the 

Tioughnioga Valley can quickly recharge the three western lakes 

through surface-water flow (Gatehouse Pond and Crooked and 

Song Lakes) during winter snowmelt and early spring rain 

periods and cause lake levels to rise as much as 2 feet within 4 to 

5 days (fig. 2). Before and after these sharp rises, the lake levels 

generally rise slowly when recharge consists only of groundwater seepage along the west sides of these lakes. Recharge 

to these lakes exceeds discharge from them during the late 

winter and early spring and results in rising lake levels; whereas 

recharge during the summer is greatly diminished by high rates 

of evapotranspiration by wetland plants, evapotranspiration from 

trees on the forested hillsides, and limited water storage in the 

thin hillside soils.

Discharge from the western lakes occurs through (1) seepage 

through the lakebeds, especially along the eastern side of these 

lakes, (2) outflow through the constructed channels, especially 

during high-flow periods, and (3) evapotranspiration during the 

warm season. 

Eastern Lakes 

Water levels in the two eastern lakes (Green 

and Tully Lakes) during the late winter and early 

spring of 2000 typically rose about 1.5 feet, mostly 

in response to ground-water seepage; those in Tully 

Lake resulted from inflow from the West Branch 

Tioughnioga River as well as ground-water seepage. 

Water levels in these lakes fluctuate less than those 

in the western lakes because the eastern lakes have 

outlets that allow rapid surface-water discharge. 

Outlet structures (dams or culverts) usually control 

the water level of the two eastern lakes, but beaver 

dams can affect lake levels periodically. 

Water levels in the eastern lakes decline during 

the summer, when the rate of discharge exceeds 

the rate of recharge, mostly through lake-surface 

evaporation and by transpiration of wetland plants. 

Heavy rainstorms during the summer that produce 

short-term, storm-water runoff from the uplands can 

cause small rises in lake levels (fig. 2). 

A Lake by Any Other Name

Several of the references cited in this report refer to some of the lakes by other names. A 

compendium of the lake names, and the references to these names from about 1850 to the 

present, is given below:

Current name Former names Source of information

Crooked Lake Crooked Lake Map of Onondaga County (French, 1859), the name has 

remained the same since that time.

Green Lake Little Lake Map of Onondaga County (French, 1859)

Little Lake Map of Onondaga County (Dawson, 1860)

Green Lake Map of Onondaga County (Clarke, 1889)

Tully Lake Oserigooch 1745 citation by Spangenberg (Beauchamp, 1908)

Susquehanna Lake 1766 citation by Zeisberger (Beauchamp, 1908)

Big Lake Croes (1871)

Big Lake Atlas of Cortland County - Town of Preble (Sweet, 1874)

Tully Lake Incorporation of the Tully Lake Association - 1888

Big Lake Hollister (1905)

Tully Lake Lake-level data of the Solvay Process Company 1924 

Big Lake USGS topographic map, 1947 - Note: Tully Lake Park

is annotated on the west shore of the lake; the name 

apparently varied through and after this period.

Song Lake VanHousen Lake Croes (1871)

Preble Lake Atlas of Cortland County - Preble Town(ship) (Sweet, 1874)

Song Lake Hollister (1905)
7

LAKE-LEVEL ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE SOLVAY PIPELINE DATUM

LAKE-LEVEL ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL

1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936

836 1198

1196

1194

1192

1190

1188

1186

1184

1182

1180

834

832

830

828

826

824

822

820

818

816

Period of Regional Drought

Song Lake Crooked Lake Gatehouse Pond

Tully Lake Green Lake

Figure 3. Lake-level fluctuations in five of the Tully Lakes, 1924-36. Water from Gatehouse Pond and Crooked 

Lake was diverted to the Tully brinefield during this period; the other three lakes had no diversions. (Data from the 

Solvay Process Company records, 1924-36.)

Historic Water-level Fluctuations

Water-level fluctuations in the Tully Lakes area 

were recorded by a mining company beginning in the 

late 1800’s. The company used water from Crooked 

Lake, Gatehouse Pond, and intervening ponds for 

solution mining of halite (salt) beds in Tully Valley. 

Water levels in these lakes, as well as those in Song, 

Green, and Tully Lakes, which were not diverted, 

are plotted in figure 3. During the drought period 

of 1933-35, water levels in the lakes with diversions 

continued to follow trends seen in Green and Tully 

Lakes, which had no diversions. Therefore, the water 

levels in lakes probably were controlled by water 

levels in the surrounding aquifer, but the effects of 

diversion were most clearly seen in Gatehouse Pond, 

which supplied water to the Tully Valley. Gatehouse 

Pond is closest to the northern edge of the moraine, 

where aquifer levels were probably below the pond 

bottom and, therefore, could not recharge the pond with 

ground water. 

Lake-level fluctuations from October 1930 through 

November 1932 and from October 1998 through 

November 2000 are depicted in figure 4. Water levels in 

Gatehouse Pond were strongly affected by the diversion 

of water to the brinefield during the earlier period. The 

water-level fluctuations in Crooked, Green, and Tully 

Lakes were similar during both periods, even though 

some water from Crooked Lake was diverted for brine 

mining. The reason(s) for higher annual water levels in 

Song Lake during the 1930’s than during the late 1990’s 

is uncertain—it could be attributed to a less forested 

western hillside in the 1930’s, which may have allowed 

greater recharge from the hillside to the lake through 

the summer, or, possibly, it could be due to an incorrect 

elevation datum for the 1930’s lake level.
8

Missing

Data

Missing

Data

Missing

Data

Crooked Lake

1998-2000

1930-1932

Song Lake

1998-2000

1930-1932

Green Lake

1998-2000

1930-1932

Tully Lake

1998-2000

1930-1932

Gatehouse Pond

1998-2000

1930-1932

LAKE LEVEL ELEVATION, IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL

O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O

O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O

1,192

1,191

1,190

1,189

1,189

1,190

1,191

1,192

1,193

1,194

1,195

1,196

1,197

1,189

1,190

1,191

1,192

1,193

1,194

1,195

1,196

1,197

1930 1931 1932 1930 1931 1932

1930 1931 1932

1998 1999 2000 1998 1999 2000

1998 1999 2000

1998 1999 2000

1998 1999 2000

1930 1931 1932

1930 1931 1932

1,189

1,190

1,191

1,192

1,193

1,194

1,195

1,196

1,197

1,189

1,190

1,191

1,192

1,193

1,194

1,195

1,196

1,197

1,188

1,187

1,186

1,185

1,184

1,183

1,182

1,181

1,180

Figure 4. Lake-level fluctuations during 1930-32 during diversion of water from Gatehouse and 

Crooked Lakes to the Tully Valley, and during 1998-2000, when no diversions were occurring. 

(1930-32 data from Solvay Process Company.)
9

Ground-water Levels in the Surficial Aquifer 

In early 2000, a network of wells was established within the Tully Lakes area through the assistance of many 

homeowners and businesses who allowed access to their wells for this water-level survey. The water level in each well was 

measured three times (April 26, August 10, and October 26, 2000) to document (1) the location of the ground-water divide 

between the St. Lawrence and Susquehanna River Basins, (2) the seasonal decline in ground-water levels from high- to 

low-recharge conditions, (3) surface-water/ground-water interaction, and (4) the direction of ground-water flow. 

Location of Ground-Water Divide and Seasonal 

Water-Level Decline

Potentiometric-surface (ground-water elevation) maps 

for April 26 (spring recharge period) and October 26 

(fall dry period), 2000, were constructed (figs. 5A, 5B). 

The potentiometric-surface contours indicate that the major 

ground-water divide trends roughly west-east about 1 mile 

south of the crest of the moraine and migrates southward 

during the summer as ground-water levels decline. The 

water-level declines from April through October 2000 

ranged from 1.5 to 8.0 feet. 

Most ground water north of the divide flows northward 

and discharges to springs at an elevation of about 1,125 

feet above sea level on the northern slope of the Valley 

Heads Moraine; the rest flows northward as underflow to 

deeper zones of valley-fill deposits in Tully Valley. The 

uniform elevation of the major springs is attributed to a 

layer of silt and clay and (or) a layer of cemented gravel 

near this elevation that forms the bottom of the sand and 

gravel aquifer and cuts across the face of the moraine. 

Ground water south of the divide flows southward through 

the West Branch Tioughnioga River Valley and enters 

the Tioughnioga River, which ultimately flows into the 

Susquehanna River.

Surface-Water/Ground-Water Interaction 

The synoptic water-level measurements indicate that 

water levels in the western lakes are generally above 

those in the surrounding surficial aquifer; therefore, 

water seeps from the lakes to the aquifer most of the 

time. In contrast, the eastern lakes generally receive 

water from the aquifer. Green Lake commonly receives 

ground-water flow along its east side and discharges 

to the aquifer along its west side. Tully Lake receives 

ground-water flow from all sides during the spring 

recharge conditions; then, as water levels decline from 

summer through early winter, it discharges to the aquifer 

along its southern edge. The water-level measurements 

also indicate that the surficial aquifer may be only 

moderately connected to some of the lakes, inasmuch 

as lake levels in the western lakes are substantially 

higher than ground-water levels in the aquifer throughout 

the year, even long after surface-water runoff to the 

lakes has ceased. Lake-bottom sediments probably are 

poorly or semipermeable, in that they consist of finegrained material such as clay, silt, organic muck, marl, 

or perhaps, in places, dense till, all of which impede 

the movement of water between the lakes and the 

surrounding aquifer.

Water-Level Maps and Directions of Ground-Water Flow

The upper surface of the saturated zone in an aquifer is referred to as the water table. The depth to the water table in 

the Tully Lakes area is highly variable and can range from zero, where the water table is at land surface, to more than 50 

feet. The depth to the water table is the depth to standing water in a well finished just below the water table. Water levels 

in wells finished at depths far below the water table, and in confined aquifers, are referred to as the potentiometric surface.

Water-table and potentiometric-surface maps can be used to estimate an approximate depth for proposed wells, and lines 

drawn perpendicular to water-table and potentiometric-surface contours indicate the direction of ground-water flow. Water levels 

continuously fluctuate in response to changes in recharge and discharge patterns; therefore, any true representation of the water 

table or potentiometric surface refers only to a specific time and must be based on water levels measured at multiple locations at 

approximately the same time (a set of synoptic measurements).
10

Figure 5A. Potentiometric-surface map of Tully Lakes area during spring recharge period (April 26, 2000) 

showing water-table elevations, directions of ground-water flow, and location of ground-water divide between 

the St. Lawrence and Susquehanna River Basins.

Base from U.S. Geological Survey Otisco Valley, Tully, Homer and Truxton Quadrangles , 1:24,000, 1955

Onondaga County

Cortland County

Onondaga County

Cortland County

Song

Mountain

76o 10’

42o

47’ 

30”

76o 07’ 30”

42o

45’

Village

of Tully

1191.17

1192.38

1195.39

1190.71

1194.46

Song

Lake

Crossing Rd

I-81

I-81

I-81

New York

Route 80

Solvay Rd

Tully Farms 

Road

New York

Route 11A

New York

Route 80

EXPLANATION

WELL OR WATER BODY - in

which water level was measured

on April 26, 2000.

SPRING

WATER-TABLE ELEVATION,

April 26, 2000, in feet above mean

sea level, contour interval varies.

GROUND-WATER DIVIDE,

between St. Lawrence and

Susquehanna Basins

LAKE NAME AND WATERSURFACE ELEVATION, in feet

above mean sea level, on

April 26, 2000.

STREAM CHANNEL AND 

FLOW DIRECTION

DIRECTION OF GROUNDWATER FLOW

BOUNDARY OF SURFICIAL 

AQUIFER AND THICK VALLEYFILL DEPOSITS 

SURFICIAL AQUIFER

BOUNDARY OF THICK VALLEYFILL DEPOSITS , NORTH OF

SURFICIAL OUTWASH AQUIFER

1191

1192.38

Green

Lake

NEW

YORK

Onondaga

 County

Cortland

 County

Location

Map

STUDY

 AREA

April 26, 2000

(Spring recharge condition)

0 0.5 MILE

0 0.5 KILOMETER

0.25

0.25

1200

1194

1196

1198

1196

1210

1190

1196

1192

1192

1190

1192

1194

1194

1220

1240

1230

1180

1192

1192

1198

1190

1190

1194

1194

1196

Green

Lake

Crooked

Lake

Tully Lake

Gatehouse

Pond

Mud

Lake

Tracy

Lake

Song

Lake

Dry Creek

O nondaga Creek

West Branch

Tioughnioga

River

West Branch

T oi ughnioga River
11

Village

of Tully

1190.60

1191.99

1191.29

1186.53

1191.53

1205

1220

1230

1210 1200

1195

1193

1191

1190

1189

1187

1185

1191

1191

1190

1187

1189

1185 1183

1181

1180

1179

1177

West Branch

Tioughnioga River

We st Branch

Tioughnioga

R vi er

Green

Lake

Crooked

Lake

Tully Lake

Song

Lake

Gatehouse

Pond

Tracy

Lake

Mud

Lake

Dry Creek

Onondaga Creek

Onondaga County

Cortland County

Song

Mountain

Onondaga County

Cortland County

Base from U.S. Geological Survey Otisco Valley, Tully, Homer and Truxton Quadrangles , 1:24,000, 1955

Crossing Road

Song

Lake

I-81

I-81

I-81

Solvay Rd

Tul

ly Farms 

Road

Rou

New York

te 11A

New York

Route 80

New York

Route 80

76o 10’

42o

47’ 

30”

76o 07’ 30”

42o

45’

EXPLANATION

SPRING

WATER-TABLE ELEVATION,

October 26, 2000, in feet

above mean sea level, contour

interval varies.

GROUND-WATER DIVIDE,

between St. Lawrence and

Susquehanna Basins

WELL OR WATER BODY, in

which water level measurement

was made on October 26, 2000.

STREAM CHANNEL AND

FLOW DIRECTION

DIRECTION OF GROUNDWATER FLOW

BOUNDARY OF SURFICIAL 

AQUIFER AND THICK VALLEYFILL DEPOSITS 

BOUNDARY OF THICK VALLEYFILL DEPOSITS, NORTH OF

SURFICIAL OUTWASH AQUIFER

LAKE NAME AND WATERSURFACE ELEVATION, in feet

above mean sea level, on

October 26, 2000.

1191

Green

Lake

1191.99

SURFICIAL AQUIFER

0 0.5 MILE

0 0.5 KILOMETER

0.25

0.25

October 26, 2000

(Fall dry condition)

NEW

YORK

Onondaga

 County

Cortland

 County

Location

Map

STUDY

 AREA

Figure 5B. Potentiometric-surface map of Tully Lakes area during fall dry period (October 26, 2000) showing 

water-table elevations, directions of ground-water flow, and location of ground-water divide between St. 

Lawrence and Susquehanna River Basins. 
12

Direction of Ground-Water Flow 

Ground water flows from areas of higher head to areas of lower head and, in the Tully Lakes area, is controlled by 

the distribution of recharge, locations of discharge areas, and the geometry of the aquifer. Ground water generally flows 

from the edges of the valley toward the center, where it discharges to lakes, ponds, wetlands, springs, and the West Branch 

Tioughnioga River (figs. 5A and 5B). 

Green Lake—

Ground water in the tributary valley near the village of Tully flows west and either discharges into 

Green or Tully Lake along their eastern shores, or remains in the aquifer as underflow that moves to the 

south or north, depending on the location of the ground-water divide. Ground water that enters Green Lake 

from the east-shore area can (1) leave the lake as surface water through its southern outlet, (2) be lost 

through evapotranspiration, or (3) flow back into the aquifer along the west side and flow either northward 

toward the Valley Heads Moraine or southward toward Tully Lake.

Tully Lake—

Tully Lake receives surface-water inflow from Green Lake and the West Branch Tioughnioga River, 

and receives ground-water seepage from the east-, north-, and west-shore areas. Water discharges from 

Tully Lake through (1) evapotranspiration, (2) as surface water through the Tully Lake outlet at the 

southern end of the lake, and (3) as ground-water underflow that seeps into the aquifer from the southern 

part of the lake.

Song Lake, Crooked Lake, Gatehouse Pond—

These water bodies receive recharge from upland sources to the west. This recharge is derived 

partly from (1) surface runoff from the hillside tributary channels that lose water to the aquifer, at 

and downstream from, the point where the bedrock hillside intersects the unconsolidated deposits of 

the valley floor, and (2) direct surface-water runoff from these tributaries to the lakes in the spring. 

The lakes lose water through evapotranspiration and through lateral seepage into the surficial aquifer at 

their northern, eastern, and southern ends. (Crooked Lake loses some water as surface outflow through 

its channel connection to Gatehouse Pond during periods of high flow). Seepage losses from Crooked 

Lake, like those from Green Lake, flow partly northward to the Tully Valley and partly southward toward 

Tully Lake and the West Branch Tioughnioga River. Seepage from Gatehouse Pond generally moves 

northward into the Tully Valley, whereas seepage from Song Lake moves eastward toward Tully Lake 

and southward, down the West Branch Tioughnioga River Valley.
13

Ground-water

divide

Tully

Lake

Mud

Lake

West Branch

Tioughnioga

River

Susquehanna

River Basin

St. Lawrence

River Basin

Poorly permeable

till and/or organic

sediments 

springs

Direction of ground-water flow

Crooked Lake

SOUTH NORTH perched pond

Conceptual ground-water flow system for the Tully Lakes area, showing the interaction of 

kettle-hole lakes and the surficial aquifer.

GROUND-WATER-FLOW PATTERNS IN THE TULLY LAKES AREA

Kettlehole lakes and wetlands do not necessarily occupy the lowest areas; they can be found on slopes or even on drainage 

divides. They can receive seepage from ground water or can be a source of ground-water recharge, or they may receive inflow 

and provide outflow at different locations within the same depression.

The interaction between surface water and ground water is determined largely by position with respect to local and regional 

ground-water flow systems. A common belief is that lakes and wetlands in relatively high areas recharge ground water, and that 

those in low areas are recharged by ground water. However, lakes and wetlands that are underlain by poorly permeable deposits 

(see perched pond, below) can receive seepage from local ground-water system even if they are in a high area; conversely, they 

can lose water to local ground-water systems even if they are in a low area.

Kettlehole lakes and wetlands underlain by highly permeable deposits can receive ground-water seepage on one side and 

discharge ground water on the other side. The boundary between inflow to the lake or wetland and outflow from it, termed the 

hinge line, can move up and down along the shore (Winter and others, 1998) depending on the changing slope of the water table 

in response to fluctuations in ground-water recharge in the adjacent uplands.
14

DIVERSIONS AND DAMS - ALTERATIONS TO THE NATURAL SYSTEM 

Diversion of water from several of the lakes and ponds in the northwestern part of the Tully Lakes study area (Crooked, Mud, and Tracy 

Lakes and Gatehouse and Round Ponds) began in the mid-1800’s, when water from these lakes and ponds was diverted through constructed 

channels, some across their natural surface-water divides. Onondaga County maps and atlases dating from 1852-89 indicate that water was 

diverted into the Tully Valley for use by a sawmill, a carding mill, a rake factory, and possibly a tannery (Sidney and Neff, 1852; French, 

1859; Dawson, 1860; Sweet, 1874; and Clarke, 1889). 

Water-level Modifications at Gatehouse Pond 

In the late 1880’s, a brine-mining company rebuilt a small dam and constructed a gate structure on Gatehouse Pond to provide an

adequate supply of water for salt-solution mining in the Tully Valley. In the early 1900’s, the company increased the storage capacity by 

increasing the height of the dam 6 feet, which caused Gatehouse and Round Ponds and another small kettlehole pond (fig. 1) to merge into 

a single water body that is now called Gatehouse Pond. Outlying ponds and lakes to the south (Tracy, Mud, and Crooked Lakes) were also 

connected by constructed channels, pipes, and gate structures to further increase the water-storage capacity of the reservoir system. From 

the 1900’s through the early 1960’s, this series of lakes and ponds was the water supply for the solution-mining operations. After closure 

of the eastern brine field in the early 1960’s, a small amount of water continued to flow through the pipeline into the Tully Valley until the 

early 1990’s, when all pipes and gates were sealed.

After a flood during the spring of 1993, the overflow pipe in the old gatehouse structure was lowered 1 foot to mitigate future flooding 

along Gatehouse Road. Twice in 1996 similar flooding resulted; therefore, a culvert was installed at the outlet of Crooked Lake, and an 

additional 1-foot notch was cut into the overflow pipe at the old gatehouse structure to further reduce flood potential around Gatehouse 

Pond and Crooked Lake. Although these actions may have decreased flooding around these water bodies, the lowering of the overflow pipe 

caused the water level of Gatehouse Pond to rapidly fall to the outlet elevation of the overflow pipe much earlier in the year than would 

have occurred through natural leakage to the surrounding aquifer. In 2001, the notch was repaired to return the overflow point to its pre-1997 

level, effectively raising the springtime water level of Gatehouse Pond by 1 foot.

Diversion of the Song Mountain Tributary 

Currently (2001) the tributary that drains the north side of Song Mountain (fig. 1) enters the valley floor, then turns northward to enter 

the southern end of Crooked Lake. During high-flow periods, the stream has overflowed its banks with such force that it has caused the 

tributary waters to flow across an open field toward the northern end of Song Lake. Some time in the 1830’s, water may have been diverted 

from the Song Mountain tributary to Crooked Lake, when water from Crooked Lake and other ponds was diverted northward into the Tully 

Valley. The earliest map of Onondaga County (Sidney and Neff, 1852) shows the tributary in its present position and draining to Crooked 

Lake, but the 1871 report by Croes indicates that the diversion of Crooked Lake and intervening lakes to Gatehouse Pond took place as early 

as 1836 (35 years earlier). If a map dating from before1836 could be found, it might confirm the possible diversion of water from the Song 

Mountain tributary to Crooked Lake, although the reliability of hydrogeography on these early maps is uncertain. An 1838 atlas of the State 

of New York (Burr, 1838) shows the four major Tully Lakes (Crooked, Song, Tully and Green Lakes) as one V-shaped lake, whereas the 1840 

atlas of Cortland County (Burr, 1840) indicates a stream draining from the northern end of Song Mountain into the upper third of Song Lake 

at a location where no former channel exists in the modern topography of the Song Mountain hillside. The question of a possible diversion 

of the Song Mountain tributary remains unresolved.

Green and Tully Lake Dams

Road culverts under Lake Road (fig. 1) and a private driveway control the level of Green Lake at its southwestern end, where the outlet 

channel enters a wetland that drains into Tully Lake. The bridge over the Tully Lake outlet on Song Lake Crossing Road controls the level of 

Tully Lake during high-flow conditions, and a concrete weir maintains the Tully Lake level during low-water periods. The weir was built in the 

mid-1960’s during a regional drought and is maintained by the Tully Lake Association, which places stop-logs across the weir during the late 

spring to maintain the lake level, and removes them in the early fall to lower the lake level. Beaver dams upstream and (or) downstream from 

these roadway structures also can control the water levels of these two lakes. The beavers and their dams are usually removed by the State 

Department of Environmental Conservation when requested by the respective town or lake association. 
15

SUMMARY

Glacial processes created the many kettlehole lakes, ponds, and depressions in the 

Tully Lakes area, as well as the Valley Heads Moraine, which forms the drainage 

divide between the St. Lawrence River drainage to the north and the Susquehanna 

River drainage to the south. The first hydrogeologic studies of the Tully Lakes area 

began in the 1870’s, when the lakes were considered as a possible water supply for the 

city of Syracuse. Water was diverted from some of the northwestern lakes and ponds 

into the Tully Valley; these diversions occurred as early as the 1840’s and ceased in the 

early 1960’s, with the closure of the eastern Tully Valley brinefield.

In 1998, the USGS began a 2-year hydrogeologic study of the aquifer system 

underlying the Tully Lakes area that included monitoring water levels in five of the 

Tully Lakes and more than 50 wells. The average annual water-level fluctuations in the 

three western lakes ranged from about 2.5 feet to 6 feet. Water-level fluctuations in the 

eastern lakes, near the center of the valley, were much less—about 1.5 feet, because 

these lakes have natural outlets. Three sets of ground-water-level measurements were 

made from the spring recharge period through the fall dry period of 2000. The resulting 

potentiometric-surface maps indicate that the water-level declines from the spring to 

the fall ranged from 1.5 to 8 feet. The ground-water divide is about 1 mile south of 

the Valley Heads Moraine crest in the spring and migrates southward in response to 

declining water levels in the surficial aquifer during the fall. Water-surface altitudes in 

the kettlehole lakes and ponds respond slowly to seasonal water-level changes in the 

surrounding aquifer and often differ from water levels in the aquifer because the poorly 

permeable lakebed sediments impede the exchange of water. 
For more information contact:

Subdistrict Chief

U.S. Geological Survey

30 Brown Road

Ithaca, NY 14850

Copies of this report can be purchased from:

Branch of Information Services

U.S. Geological Survey

Box 25286

Denver, CO 80225

This report and additional earth science information can be found on the World Wide Web at: http://ny.usgs.gov

Beauchamp, W. M., 1908, Past and present of Syracuse and Onondaga County, New York - from prehistoric 

times to the beginning of 1908: New York, S.J. Clarke, v. 1, 598 p. 

Burr, D. G., 1838, Atlas of the State of New York: New York, J. H. Colton and Co., 1 sheet.

________, 1840, Maps of the County of Cortland and the County of Onondaga: Ithaca, N.Y., Stone and Clark 

Publishers.

Clarke, H. W., 1889, Map of Onondaga County, New York: Syracuse, N.Y., C.W. Bardeen, 

1 sheet.

Croes, J.J.R., 1871, Report of the citizens committee on water by J.J.R. Croes, civil engineer and A.W. Craven, 

consulting engineer, on the subject of procuring a supply of water for the city of Syracuse, New York from 

the Tully Lakes: Syracuse, N.Y., D.J. Halstead, 74 p.

Dawson, A.R.Z., 1860, Map of Onondaga County, New York: Philadelphia, Pa., A.R.Z. Dawson, 

1 sheet.

Durham, Forrest, 1954, The geomorphology of the Tioughnioga River of central New York: Syracuse, N.Y., 

Syracuse University, Department of Geology, unpublished Ph.D. dissert., 60 p.

French, J.H., 1859, Map of Onondaga County, New York: Albany, New York State Map and Atlas Survey, 

1 sheet.

Heath, D.E., 1974, Environmental considerations of land-use planning at small recreational lakes—a case 

study of the Tully Lakes, central New York: Syracuse, N.Y., Syracuse University, Department of 

Geography, unpublished master’s dissert., 182 p.

Hollister, G.B., 1905, Waters of a gravel-filled valley near Tully, N.Y., Myron L. Fuller, Geologist in Charge, 

Contributions to the Hydrology of Eastern United States: U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply and 

Irrigation Paper 145, p. 179-184.

Kappel, W.M., Sherwood, D.S., and Johnston. W.H., 1996, Hydrogeology of the Tully Valley and 

characterization of mudboil activity, Onondaga County, New York: U.S. Geological Survey WaterResources Investigations Report 96-403, 71p.

Mosley, J.D., 1983, A reconnaissance of the water resources of the Tully Moraine and adjacent unconsolidated 

glacial deposits: Syracuse, N.Y., State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and 

Forestry, unpublished master’s dissert., 277 p.

Sidney and Neff, 1852, Map of Onondaga County, New York: Syracuse, N.Y., E.H. Babcock and Company, 

1 sheet.

Sweet, H. D. L., 1874, Sweet’s Atlas of Onondaga County - Township of Tully, and Sweet’s 

Atlas of Cortland County - Township of Preble, New York: New York, N.Y., Walker Brothers 

and Company.

Von Englen, O.D., 1921, The Tully glacial series; in Sixteenth Report of the Director of the State Museum and 

Science Department, no. 227 and 228: Albany, N.Y., University of the State of New York, p. 30-62.

Winter, F.C., Harvey, J.W., Franke, O.G., and Alley, W.M., 1998, Ground water and surface water—a single 

resource: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1139, p. 47.

REFERENCES