California Waters - Fall 2022 - Vol. II | Issue III
The final 2022 edition of California Waters is here! Read on for updates on current research, the latest publications, and other work the center is doing.
Hydrologic and Aquatic Ecology Studies at Clear Lake, California
The USGS California Water Science Center conducts a variety of research activities at Clear Lake, California, including surface-water monitoring and water quality and aquatic habitat studies.
Klamath Dam Removal Studies
The USGS is collecting continuous and discrete monitoring data to document baseline conditions and physical responses in downstream river reaches before, during, and after dam removal. These monitoring data will be integral for post-removal assessments and collaborations with basin partners.
Delta Wetlands and Resilience: Blue Carbon and Marsh Accretion
Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs) are coastal ecosystems, such as tidal marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses, with manageable and atmospherically significant carbon stocks and fluxes. The tidal marshes and scrub-shrub wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) of California are examples of BCEs. The Delta is a 2,400 square kilometer tidal freshwater region located at the landward end of the San Francisco Estuary. The area used to be an extensive peatland, but was mostly drained for agriculture in the late 1880s and early 1900s. Wetland restoration, which has been underway for some time, has the potential to expand important habitat for biodiversity and mitigate land-surface subsidence and carbon loss that has occurred subsequent to drainage.
USGS assesses water quality in California principal aquifers as part of a Nationwide study
Groundwater quality of the Lucerne Valley groundwater basin, California
Anthropogenic activities, including groundwater withdrawals, return flow from irrigated agriculture, and treated wastewater-effluent disposal have the potential to affect groundwater quality in the Lucerne Valley groundwater basin, located in the southwest Mojave Desert. Questions regarding the current state and potential future of groundwater quality in this basin were addressed by (1) considerin
Chapter 1: General conceptual model for climate change in the Upper San Francisco Estuary
This report is a collaboration by many state and federal agencies working in the Upper San Francisco Estuary to analyze the potential impacts of climate change to different ecosystems found here. Management stategies for ecological values in the face of climate change require reliable and focused information. In this technical report, our focus is on the Upper San Francisco Estuary (SFE), which co
Seasonal and long-term clarity trend assessment of Lake Tahoe, California–Nevada
The clarity of Lake Tahoe, observed using a Secchi disk on a regular basis since the late 1960s, continues to be a sentinel metric of lake health. Water clarity is influenced by physical and biological processes and has declined in the five decades of monitoring, revealing differences between summer (June–September) and winter (December–March). This document summarizes key findings of a study of L
Salinas Valley Operational Model: Interlake Tunnel and San Antonio Spillway Modification Project
An operational model for Salinas Valley is needed to evaluate and compare ecosystem, conservation, and water demands. This model must simulate current operations, assess benefits of and evaluate scenarios for tunnel operation and potential reservoir and spillway modifications.
National Water Dashboard (NWD)
The National Water Dashboard (NWD) is a mobile, interactive tool that provides real-time information on water levels, weather, and flood forecasts - all in one place on a computer, smartphone, or other mobile device. The NWD presents real-time stream, lake and reservoir, precipitation, and groundwater data from more than 13,500 USGS observation stations across the country.