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Aquifers
Bodies of rock that contain sufficient saturated permeable material to conduct ground water and to yield significant quantities of water to wells and springs. [Glossary of Geology, 4th ed.]
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Results 1 - 83 of 85 listed by similarity [list alphabetically]
Aquifer basics [More info]
Links to general information on water supply by aquifers based on rock types and to principal national aquifers by name.
Ground-water resources program [More info]
This program encompasses regional studies of ground water systems, multidisciplinary studies of critical ground water issues, access to ground-water data, and research and methods development.
PDF Assessing groundwater availability in the North Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system [More info]
Nature, history, and distinctive characteristics of this aquifer system help us to understand the likely distribution of available groundwater.
Assessing the vulnerability of public-supply wells to contamination--Edwards aquifer near San Antonio, Texas [More info]
Well vulnerability results from the young age of groundwater. Karst features permit contaminants to move into the aquifer easily, leading to a well mixed aquifer; geochemical processes do not degrade contaminants quickly.
PDF Assessing the Vulnerability of Public-Supply Wells to Contamination: Central Valley Aquifer System near Modesto, California [More info]
Using ground-water geochemical analyses, and mathematical models, the factors affecting the quality of public water supply were identified as pumping schedule, screened interval, past land use within the recharge area, and natural geochemical conditions.
PDF Assessing the Vulnerability of Public-Supply Wells to Contamination: Floridan Aquifer System Near Tampa, Florida [More info]
Using ground-water geochemical analyses and mathematical models, the factors affecting the quality of public water supply were identified as mixing of very recent recharge with older water, karst features, natural geochemical processes, and pumping.
PDF Assessing the vulnerability of public-supply wells to contamination: Rio Grande aquifer system in Albuquerque, New Mexico [More info]
Explains the natural and human-affected factors that determine the concentration of contaminants in groundwater, especially where the concentration is different at the surface than at depth, and where pumping varies with time.
Biogeochemical and geohydrologic processes in a landfill-impacted alluvial aquifer, Norman, Oklahoma [More info]
Discussion and links to research for the multi-disciplinary investigation on the Norman Landfill located on alluvium associated with the Canadian River in central Oklahoma.
BRASS: Bedrock Regional Aquifer Systematics Study [More info]
Description of the project to publish new bedrock geologic maps in the United States to advance the understanding of the region's bedrock aquifers. Includes list of projects.
California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project--shallow aquifer assessment [More info]
Explains why we are assessing water quality in shallow aquifers, what we are measuring, and how the results will be reported both to well owners and to the public.
PDF Changes in Water Levels and Storage in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 2007 [More info]
Summarizes changes in water levels and drainable water in storage in the High Plains aquifer from predevelopment (before about 1950) to 2007.
PDF Changes in water levels and storage in the High Plains Aquifer, predevelopment to 2009 [More info]
Summarizes graphically the areas where water levels have dropped, and by how much, in this extensive underground water reservoir that covers several states in the mid-continent.
Edwards Aquifer online resources [More info]
Recharge and discharge summaries and other data, aeromagnetic survey map, and publications on Edwards Aquifer, Texas.
PDF Geochemistry of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer [More info]
Describes the geographic extent, quality, origin, and dynamic character of this aquifer located in south central Oklahoma.
High Plains aquifer resources and information [More info]
Links to reports, bibliographies, and other information on the High Plains aquifer.
Land subsidence and aquifer-system compaction in the Tucson Active Management Area, south-central Arizona, 1987-2005 [More info]
Results of ground-surface monitoring and borehole water table measurements document subsidence of the land surface correlative with changes in the ground water.
Major aquifers in New Jersey [More info]
Geologic description of the principal coastal and non-coastal aquifers in New Jersey and relationship to water quality and water supply.
Nutrients National Synthesis Project: nutrients in rivers, streams, and aquifers in the United States [More info]
This Nutrients National Synthesis Project site on the U.S. study of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, as contaminants in high concentrations links to an overview, study team, featured reports, publications, and national datasets.
Principal aquifers can contribute radium to sources of drinking water under certain geochemical conditions [More info]
Knowledge of the geochemical processes controlling radium occurrence in groundwater may help water-resource managers anticipate and minimize human exposure to this cancer-causing element.
PDF Redox Conditions in Selected Principal Aquifers of the United States [More info]
Summarizes measurements of ground-water chemistry that affect the vulnerability of aquifers to contamination. Data are from aquifers throughout the conterminous US and Alaska.
PDF Southwest Principal Aquifers Regional Ground-Water Quality Assessment [More info]
Study of the susceptibility and vulnerability of basin-fill aquifers in the region to ground-water contamination by synthesizing the information on ground-water quality conditions in 15 basins from previous studies.
PDF Sustainability of natural attenuation of nitrate in agricultural aquifers [More info]
Nitrate from fertilizer is degraded by microbial action in the presence of solid minerals. This helps mitigate the effect of the nitrate, but begins to diminish the solid minerals needed. Will the process be sustainable in the long term?
Unconsolidated aquifers of upstate New York [More info]
Information on aquifers in upstate New York which consist of unconsolidated deposits of sand and gravel that occupy major river and stream valleys or lake plains. Links to aquifer maps at scales 1:24,000 or 1:250,000 and cooperative publications.
Water resources of Virginia - Virginia aquifer susceptibility [More info]
Overview of a project in Virginia to develop a program for assessing public supply source waters to determine their susceptibility to contamination and to determine which systems need detailed source-water assessments.
Water-Level Changes in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 2002, 1980 to 2002, and 2001 to 2002 [More info]
Data from some 7,000 wells monitoring annual water level changes in the High Plains aquifer indicting changes in water level 1980 to 2002.
PDF A new tool to assess groundwater resources in the Mississippi embayment [More info]
Mathematical model of the groundwater system in this area includes 13 types of data and spans multiple aquifers over more than a century. This enables us to assess the quantity of groundwater, where and how it is being used, and how pumping affects it.
An interpretation of the 1977 Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) survey, Fort Huachuca vicinity, Cochise County, Arizona [More info]
Complex report on the interpretation of aeromagnetic data to study hydrogeology of the San Pedro basin, Cochise County, Arizona determining geologic structure, basin fill and depth to water. Online version of a CD-ROM publication.
California Water-Quality Assessment [More info]
Results of activities in California conducted under the National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA): maps, publications and data.
PDF Characterizing contaminant concentrations with depth by using the USGS well profiler in Oklahoma, 2003-9 [More info]
Use of specialized sampling equipment to study public water supply wells, with examples showing Arsenic in two aquifers.
PDF Decadal-scale changes in dissolved-solids concentrations in groundwater used for public supply [More info]
Recent increases in dissolved-solids concentrations in this aquifer have been documented in some areas used for public supply, raising concerns as to the sources and causes of the higher concentrations and the long-term effects on groundwater quality.
Detection and measurement of land subsidence using Global Positioning System surveying and interferometric synthetic aperture radar, Coachella Valley, California, 1996-2005 [More info]
Detailed measurements of elevation help to understand the extent and severity of subsidence. Study asks if subsidence indicates the aquifer system is compacting temporarily or permanently, and are the changes human-induced or tectonic.
PDF Drought and deluge: Effects of recent climate variability on groundwater levels in eastern Arkansas [More info]
Water levels in wells completed in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer and the Sparta aquifer in eastern Arkansas respond to variability associated with annual precipitation.
PDF Enhancement of USGS scientific investigations in Texas by using geophysical techniques, 2005-10 [More info]
Annotated bibliography describing the use of electromagnetic surveying to understand the characteristics of aquifers and how they work.
PDF Evolution of 3-D geologic framework modeling and its application to groundwater flow studies [More info]
Methods to depict the connectedness of rock units across fault and fracture zones, allowing us to determine the distribution of geologic units, structural features, and other controlling factors, such as porosity and permeability.
Ground water atlas of the United States [More info]
The U.S. ground water atlas consists of information on ground water resources of 13 regions covering the 50 States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Text and maps can be viewed online and downloaded as ASCII, GIF, and *.eps files.
PDF Ground-water availability in the United States [More info]
Report examines what is known about the Nation's ground-water availability, and outlines a program of study to improve our understanding of ground-water availability in major aquifers across the Nation. With regional examples.
Ground-water resources of Louisiana [More info]
Links to Louisiana statewide aquifer and well information by locating parish on a map or selecting parish, aquifer, region, or type of ground-water data (real-time water levels or geophysical data) from lists.
PDF Groundwater availability study for Guam; goals, approach, products, and schedule of activities [More info]
Process and plan to be used to provide reliable evaluations of the potential effects of groundwater production and help guide sustainable management of the resource.
Groundwater quality in Coachella Valley, California [More info]
Five trace elements with human-health concerns were detected at high concentrations: arsenic, boron, fluoride, molybdenum, and strontium. Vanadium was present at moderate concentrations.
Groundwater quality in the Antelope Valley, California [More info]
Trace elements were present at high concentrations in 32% of the primary aquifers here, and at moderate concentrations in 17%. Of particular interest are aluminum, arsenic, vanadium, boron, fluoride, chromium, lead, and molybdenum.
Groundwater quality in the Central Sierra Nevada, California [More info]
Recent study indicates that inorganic trace elements and radioactive constituents are more likely to be subjects of concern in this less-developed area than anthropogenic organic compounds.
Groundwater quality in the Coastal Los Angeles Basin, California [More info]
The occurrence of solvents in the groundwater is not correlated with current overlying land use and human activities. Rather, the solvents are from legacy industrial uses, and it has taken decades for the groundwater to move to where it is now pumped.
Groundwater quality in the Colorado River basins, California [More info]
Five trace elements with human-health concerns were detected at high concentrations: arsenic, boron, fluoride, molybdenum, and strontium. Chromium was detected at moderate concentrations.
Groundwater quality in the Indian Wells Valley, California [More info]
Five trace elements with human-health concerns were detected at high concentrations: arsenic, boron, molybdenum, strontium, and vanadium. Chromium and fluoride were detected at moderate concentrations.
Groundwater Quality in the Kern County Subbasin, California [More info]
Arsenic was the trace element most frequently present at high concentrations here. High concentrations of arsenic result from the interaction of groundwater with naturally occurring minerals.
Groundwater quality in the Madera and Chowchilla subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley, California [More info]
Uranium, arsenic, and nitrate were the inorganic constituents that were most frequently detected at high concentrations, mostly in shallower wells. High and moderate concentrations of arsenic were detected in deeper wells.
Groundwater quality in the Mojave area, California [More info]
Six elements with human-health concerns were detected at high concentrations: arsenic, boron, fluoride, molybdenum, strontium, and vanadium. Lead was present at moderate concentrations.
Groundwater quality in the Monterey Bay and Salinas Valley groundwater basins, California [More info]
This study of untreated groundwater indicates the number of samples in which inorganic or organic constituents occur in high or moderate in concentration. The study does not indicate significant problems in groundwater quality here.
Groundwater quality in the Owens Valley, California [More info]
Trace elements boron, arsenic, and molybdenum were found at high concentrations in 15% of primary aquifers in this area.
Groundwater quality in the San Fernando--San Gabriel groundwater basins, California [More info]
Organic solvents are the chief concern in this area, which has given rise to a systematic program of monitoring and water treatment. This study shows relatively recent results.
Groundwater quality in the San Francisco Bay groundwater basins, California [More info]
The constituent present at high concentrations in the greatest proportion of the primary aquifer system was TDS, which is an indicator of salinity. Perchlorate was also present at moderate concentration in 42% of samples.
Groundwater quality in the Santa Clara River Valley, California [More info]
This study of untreated groundwater indicates the number of samples in which inorganic or organic constituents occur in high or moderate in concentration. The study does not indicate significant problems in groundwater quality here.
Groundwater Quality in the Southeast San Joaquin Valley, California [More info]
Arsenic and nitrate are the constituents found most commonly at high concentrations in the primary aquifers. Arsenic comes from natural sources and is affected by pH and dissolved oxygen.
Groundwater quality in the Southern Sierra Nevada, California [More info]
Recent study indicating inorganic constituents as the primary items of concern in this area. Chemical and mineralogical compositions of the aquifer rocks probably explain variation among localities here.
Groundwater quality in the Tahoe and Martis Basins, California [More info]
Recent study encountered occasional high values of radioactive trace elements, but the water quality in this area as monitored compares favorably to more urban areas studied by the same group.
Groundwater quality in the Upper Santa Ana Watershed study unit, California [More info]
Recent study indicating nitrate and perchlorate are the primary inorganic constituents of interest here, coming from human activities such as agriculture.
PDF Groundwater quality of southeastern Wyoming [More info]
Explains how we assess groundwater quality here, what characteristics are important, and how they hurt or, in some cases, help use use the water.
PDF Groundwater resources of Mosteiros basin, island of Fogo, Cape Verde, west Africa [More info]
Shallow groundwater has good quality, but salinity measured in wells suggests the thin lens of freshwater under the coastal plain will be vulnerable to saltwater intrusion as a consequence of pumping.
PDF Groundwater Resources of Ribeira Faja Basin, Island of Sao Nicolau, Cape Verde, West Africa [More info]
Lower precipitation and recharge, with deeper groundwater levels, suggest this basin will be less susceptible to contamination than others nearby, but may be susceptible to saltwater intrusion brought on by well pumping.
Groundwater Resources of Ribeira Paul Basin, Island of Santo Antao, Cape Verde, West Africa [More info]
Karst Interest Group Proceedings (February 2001) [More info]
Scientific presentations and papers about geologic, geophysical, and hydrologic studies of karst areas in the U.S.
Land Subsidence in the United States [More info]
Describes and provides several detiled examples of impacts of human-induced land subsidence resulting from the extraction of subsurface water, including aquifer-system compaction, drainage of organic soils, dissolution and collapse of susceptible rocks.
National assessment of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in water resources of the United States [More info]
Links to online data retrieval, information on MTBE and gasoline oxygenates, VOCs analysis, VOC publications, news features, and featured online publications.
National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program [More info]
Primary homepage for the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program studying water quality in river, aquifer and coastal water basins throughout the nation. Links to reports, data, models, maps and national synthesis studies.
New Jersey District - ground water information [More info]
Links to New Jersey ground-water data including hydrogeology with a geologic map and description of major aquifers, water levels including real-time data and drought levels, and water-quality information.
PDF Outdoor water use and water conservation opportunities in Virginia Beach, Virginia [More info]
How much water do you use to water your lawn, wash your car, or fill your swimming pool? Your answers to these questions have important implications for water supplies. A survey in this area showed the types of users and the ways in which water is used.
Pesticide National Synthesis Project: national assessment of pesticides in streams, rivers, and ground water of the United States [More info]
An assessment of pesticides in national water resources, with links to national reports, national statistics, national data, pesticide use, analytical strategy, and standards for the U.S.
PDF Pesticides in Ground Water of Wyoming, 1995-2006 [More info]
Summarizes ground-water pesticide monitoring results, shows vulnerability of aquifers to contamination.
Phosphorus and groundwater: Establishing links between agricultural use and transport to streams [More info]
Explains why phosphorus is important, how it moves through the terrestrial water system, how we measure it, and what this means for people who need to manage or monitor human activities that produce it.
PDF Science to support the understanding of south Texas surface-water and groundwater resources in a changing landscape [More info]
Short descriptions of the research and monitoring activities we are carrying out to assist state, local, and Federal agencies dealing with water resource issues in the southern part of the state.
PDF SEAWAT: A Computer Program for Simulation of Variable-Density Groundwater Flow and Multi-Species Solute and Heat Transport [More info]
Software based on the MODFLOW modeling framework, used for studies of saltwater intrusion coastal aquifers, storage and recovery in brackish limestone aquifers, and brine migration in continental aquifers.
Trichloroethylene (TCE) in fractured bedrock, Naval Air Warfare Center, Trenton, N.J. [More info]
Research on contamination by trichloroethylene (TCE) in fractured rock at the Naval Air Warfare Center in Trenton, N.J. with links to site description, bibliography, online reports, and findings.
USGS develops geophysical methods to improve remediation monitoring and site characterization [More info]
Short news article describing the use of electrical resistivity tomography to improve imaging of tracer flow in ground water.
Water resources [More info]
Hydrologic and water-quality information with access to water data, publications, and maps, as well as to recent water projects and events.
PDF Water resources of Allen Parish [More info]
In 2005, about 29.2 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn here, including about 26.8 Mgal/d from groundwater sources and 2.45 Mgal/d from surface-water sources. Rice irrigation accounted for 74 percent (21.7 Mgal/d) of the total.
PDF Water Resources of Beauregard Parish [More info]
In 2005, about 30.6 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn here, including about 30.4 Mgal/d from groundwater and 0.1 Mgal/d from surface water. Industrial use, primarily for wood products, accounted for about 72 percent (22 Mgal/d).
PDF Water resources of Bossier Parish [More info]
In 2005, about 15.8 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn, including 4.12 Mgal/d from groundwater and about 11.7 Mgal/d from surface-water sources.Public supply use accounted for about 78 percent (12.4 Mgal/d) of the total water withdra
PDF Water Resources of Caddo Parish, Louisiana [More info]
In 2005, about 72.9 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn here, including about 7.70 Mgal/d from groundwater sources and 65.2 Mgal/d from surface-water sources. Public-supply use accounted for about 71%, and power generation 19%.
PDF Water Resources of Lafayette Parish [More info]
Summarizes information on the water resources of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. Information on groundwater and surface-water availability, quality, development, use, and trends is based on previously published reports.
PDF Water resources of Vernon Parish [More info]
In 2005, about 6.67 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn here, including about 6.46 Mgal/d from groundwater sources and 0.21 Mgal/d from surface-water sources. Public-supply use accounted for about 76 percent (5.06 Mgal/d) of the total
Water resources of Virginia - chloride monitoring network [More info]
Description of project to study the distribution of saline water in the aquifers of the Coastal Plain of Virginia and the potential for saline water intrusion by evaluating chloride concentrations and the factors affecting chloride distribution.
PDF Water resources of Webster Parish [More info]
In 2005, about 9.52 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn, including about 9.33 Mgal/d from groundwater and 0.19 Mgal/d from surface-water. Public supply use accounted for 70% of the total.
Water science for schools: the Earth's water - ground water [More info]
Educational site for elementary schools students on ground water sources, ground water flow, and aquifers.
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