California Waters - Spring 2024 - Vol. IV | Issue II
California Water Science Center Scientists to Present at 2024 IEP Annual Workshop
California Water Science Center (CAWSC) scientists will present their latest research at California’s 2024 Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) Workshop to be held in Sacramento, California from April 23-25.
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Mojave Basin Domestic-Supply Aquifer study unit, 2018—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Groundwater quality in the western part of the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, was investigated in 2018 as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project. The Mojave Basin Domestic-Supply Aquifer study unit (MOBS) region was divided into two study areas—floodplain and regional—to assess dif
USGS Scientists to Present at 58th Biennial American Fisheries Society (AFS) Cal-Neva Meeting
Aquatic ecology scientists from the USGS California Water Science Center will be present their research at the 2024 AFS California-Nevada Chapter Meeting to be held April 9th through the 12th, in Redding, California.
Embers of Wisdom
The Yurok Tribe and USGS Partnership in Culturally Prescribed Fire Management
Land-use interactions, Oil-Field infrastructure, and natural processes control hydrocarbon and arsenic concentrations in groundwater, Poso Creek Oil Field, California, USA
Like many hydrocarbon production areas in the U.S., the Poso Creek Oil Field in California includes and is adjacent to other land uses (agricultural and other developed lands) that affect the hydrology and geochemistry of the aquifer overlying and adjacent to oil development. We hypothesize that the distributions of hydrocarbons and arsenic in groundwater in such areas will be controlled by comple
USGS Stream Monitoring Network Featured at Spring 2024 ACWA Conference
The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) spring conference took place May 7-9 in downtown Sacramento at the SAFE Credit Union (formerly Sacramento) Convention Center.
Groundwater sustainability and land subsidence in California’s Central Valley
The Central Valley of California is one of the most prolific agricultural regions in the world. Agriculture is reliant on the conjunctive use of surface-water and groundwater. The lack of available surface-water and land-use changes have led to pumping-induced groundwater-level and storage declines, land subsidence, changes to streamflow and the environment, and the degradation of water quality. A
Nutrient chemistry in the Elizabeth Lake subwatershed—Effects of onsite wastewater treatment systems on groundwater and lake water quality, Los Angeles County, California
Nutrient (nitrogen [N] and phosphorus [P] chemistry) downgradient from onsite wastewater treatment system (OWTS) was evaluated with a groundwater study in the area surrounding Elizabeth Lake, the largest of three sag lakes within the Santa Clara River watershed of Los Angeles County, California.Elizabeth Lake is listed on the “303 (d) Impaired Waters List” for excess nutrients and is downgradient
Assessing spatial variability of nutrients, phytoplankton, and related water-quality constituents in the California Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta at the landscape scale—2018 high resolution mapping surveys
Executive Summary This study examined the abundance and distribution of nutrients and phytoplankton in the tidal aquatic environments of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta) and Suisun Bay, comprising three spatial surveys conducted in May, July, and October of 2018 that used continuous underway high frequency sampling and measurements onboard a high-speed boat to characterize spatial variatio
Pesticide residues in monarch butterflies collected from Pacific Grove, California, USA in January 2024
In January 2024 adult monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758)) were found dead near their overwintering site in Pacific Grove, Monterey County, California, USA. Ten of the deceased monarchs (six females and four males) were collected from three sites by staff at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History and sent to the U.S. Geological Survey Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory f
Variability in coastal habitat available for Longfin Smelt Spirinchus thaleichthys in the northeastern Pacific Ocean
An understanding of oceanographic conditions and processes important to marine animal ecology is fundamental to the development of effective management and conservation actions. Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) is a pelagic forage fish found in coastal and estuarine waters along the Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to central California. Substantial population declines in Californ
Salinas and Carmel Rivers Basin Study (SCRBS): Future Climate
This digital dataset contains the baseline and future climate data used as the basis for analysis of current and future water supplies and demands in the Salinas and Carmel Rivers Basin Study (SCRBS). SCRBS uses a suite of integrated hydrologic models to explore impacts of future climate and socioeconomic scenarios on water supplies and demands in the basins. SCRBS considers one baseline climate s
Comparing modern identification methods for wild bees: Metabarcoding and image-based morphological taxonomic assignment
With the decline of bee populations worldwide, studies determining current wild bee distributions and diversity are increasingly important. Wild bee identification is often completed by experienced taxonomists or by genetic analysis. The current study was designed to compare two methods of identification including: (1) morphological identification by experienced taxonomists using images of field-c