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The California Water Science Center has adjusted activities in response to guidance concerning the global COVID-19 pandemic. We will carry on the work of the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and community. Based on direction from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting to a virtual mode.
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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.
Explore ProjectsPartnering with Us
The USGS partners with local, state, and other federal agencies to provide scientific information needed by water-resources managers across the Nation.
Find out howCalifornia Water Data
Basic hydrologic data collection, processing, analysis, dissemination, and archiving are major parts of the California Water Science Center program.
National Water Information System Mapper
Current California Streamflow Conditions
California Post-Fire Debris-Flow Maps
California Water-Quality Mapper
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USGS Responds to Spring Flooding
U.S. Geological Survey field crews are measuring flooding across the country as spring weather is in full swing. Warming temperatures, increased precipitation and snowmelt have caused moderate to major flooding in the upper Midwest, East Coast, Central Plains and the Southeast portions of the country.
Modeling Water Supply and Demand in the Transboundary Rio Grande to Support Long Term Management Strategies
Changes in population, agricultural practices, and climate are increasing demands on available water resources, particularly groundwater, in the southwest.
California Groundwater Wells Receive Grades for Improvement and Degradation
In California, groundwater is a major source for drinking and other uses. Identifying where groundwater quality is getting better or worse is essential for managing groundwater resources.
Publications
Precipitation runoff modeling system (PRMS) as part of an integrated hydrologic model for the Osage Nation, northeastern Oklahoma, 1915–2014
Executive SummaryThe Osage Nation lacks a comprehensive tribal water plan to describe the quality and quantity of water resources in the Osage Nation, a 2,304-square-mile (mi2) area of rolling pastures, tallgrass prairie, and mixed woodlands in northeastern Oklahoma. A tribal water plan can be used to help manage the sustainable development of...
Hevesi, Joseph A.; Hanson, Randall T.; Masoner, Jason R.
Fluoride occurrence in United States groundwater
Data from 38,105 wells were used to characterize fluoride (F) occurrence in untreated United States (U.S.) groundwater. For domestic wells (n = 11,032), water from which is generally not purposely fluoridated or monitored for quality, 10.9% of the samples have F concentrations >0.7 mg/L (U.S. Public Health Service recommended optimal F...
McMahon, Peter B.; Brown, Craig J.; Johnson, Tyler D.; Belitz, Kenneth; Lindsey, Bruce D. Microplastics in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, USA: Occurrence and biological uptake
Microplastics are an environmental contaminant of growing concern, but there is a lack of information about microplastic distribution, persistence, availability, and biological uptake in freshwater systems. This is especially true for large river systems like the Colorado River that spans multiple states through mostly rural and agricultural land...
Baldwin, Austin K.; Spanjer, Andrew; Rosen, Michael R.; Thom, Theresa