California Water Science Center
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The U.S. Geological Survey, California Water Science Center (CAWSC) provides reliable, impartial, foundational data and scientific analysis to address water issues facing California today. We conduct hydrologic monitoring and investigative studies in partnership with Federal, State, and local agencies to assist them in managing California's water resources.
Find out more about about CAWSC science programs and partnerships
Water Research Projects
Over 100 research projects addressing California's key water issues including: long-term water supply and availability, water quality, droughts and floods, climate change, aquatic ecology, the Delta, management of watersheds and groundwater.
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The USGS partners with local, state, and other federal agencies to provide scientific information needed by water-resources managers across the Nation.
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Basic hydrologic data collection, processing, analysis, dissemination, and archiving are major parts of the California Water Science Center program.
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USGS Scientists Use Sound and Light to Measure Sediment in Water
In two recent publications, California Water Science Center scientists discuss their research using acoustic and optic technology to measure the quantity and movement of sediment in rivers and reservoirs.
USGS Hydrologist Collaborates with Danish Scientists on Groundwater Research
Groundwater provides much of the world's drinking water. When a supply of groundwater becomes contaminated, determining the timing and source of the contamination is an obvious concern. But the answers aren’t always clear. Contaminants may have different sources, even in a single groundwater well.
USGS Scientist to Discusses the Impacts of Agricultural Runoff in California’s Bay-Delta
Research Chemist, Dr. Michelle Hladik, presented her research on current-use pesticides being introduced into certain areas of California’s Bay-Delta ecosystem. Dr. Hladik’s presentation took place at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Annual...
Publications
Uptake, metabolism, and elimination of fungicides from coated wheat seeds in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)
Pesticides coated to the seed surface potentially pose an ecological risk to granivorous birds that consume incompletely buried or spilled seeds. To assess the toxicokinetics of seeds treated with current-use fungicides, Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) were orally dosed with commercially coated wheat seeds. Quail were exposed to metalaxyl,...
Gross, Michael S.; Thomas G. Bean; Hladik, Michelle; Rattner, Barnett A.; Kuivila, Kathryn
Storage capacity and sedimentation characteristics of the San Antonio Reservoir, California, 2018
The San Antonio Reservoir is a large water storage facility in Alameda County, California, and is a major component of the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System (RWS). The RWS is a water-supply system owned and operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and provides water for about 2.7 million people in the San Francisco, Santa...
Marineau, Mathieu D.; Wright, Scott A.; Lopez, Joan V. History and sources of co-occurring pesticides in an abstraction well unravelled by age distributions of depth specific groundwater samples
When groundwater-based drinking water supply becomes contaminated, the timing and source of contamination are obvious questions. However, contaminants often have diffuse sources and different contaminants may have different sources even in a single groundwater well, making these questions complicated to answer. Age dating of groundwater has been...
Jakobsen, Rasmus ; Hinsby, Klaus ; Aamand, Jens ; van der Keur, Peter ; Kidmose, Jacob ; Purtschert, Roland ; Jurgens, Bryant; Sultenfuss, Jurgen ; Albers, Christian N.