California Oil, Gas, and Groundwater (COGG) Program
Science Center Objects
The USGS California Water Science Center is working in partnership with state and federal agencies to answer the following questions about oil and gas development and groundwater resources:
Kern County injection well. (Credit: David Dillon. Public domain.)
- Where are protected groundwater resources?
- How close are oil and gas operations and protected groundwater, and what geologic materials separate them?
- Where is there evidence of fluids from oil and gas sources in protected groundwater? Where does evidence indicate no connections?
- When fluids from oil and gas sources are present in protected groundwater, what pathways or processes are responsible for observed transport?
- Have oil and gas operations as a whole contributed to water-quality changes in groundwater basins?
The program's framework was developed and adopted by the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) in July 2015.
The USGS is the technical lead in implementing the State Water Boards' Oil and Gas Regional Groundwater Monitoring Programthrough the COGG program. The program receives funding from the California State Water Resources Control Board, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and USGS cooperative matching funds.
>> Explore the Program
Multiple-well monitoring site adjacent to the Lost Hills oil field, Kern County, California
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board, is evaluating several questions about oil and gas development and groundwater resources in California, including (1) the location of groundwater resources; (2) the proximity of oil and gas operations and groundwater and the geologic materials...
Everett, Rhett R.; Kjos, Adam; Brown, Anthony A.; Gillespie, Janice M.; McMahon, Peter B.
Groundwater quality of a public supply aquifer in proximity to oil development, Fruitvale Oil Field, Bakersfield, California
Due to concerns over the effects of oil production activities on groundwater quality in California, chemical, isotopic, dissolved gas and age-dating tracers were analyzed in samples collected from public-supply wells and produced-water sites in the Fruitvale oil field (FVOF). A combination of newly collected and historical data was used to...
Wright, Michael; McMahon, Peter B.; Landon, Matthew K.; Kulongoski, Justin T. Groundwater salinity mapping using geophysical log analysis within the Fruitvale and Rosedale Ranch oil fields, Kern County, California, USA
A method is presented for deriving a volume model of groundwater total dissolved solids (TDS) from borehole geophysical and aqueous geochemical measurements. While previous TDS mapping techniques have proved useful in the hydrogeologic setting in which they were developed, they may yield poor results in settings with lithological heterogeneity,...
Stephens, Michael J.; Shimabukuro, David H.; Gillespie, Janice M.; Chang, Will Regional patterns in the geochemistry of oil-field water, southern San Joaquin Valley, California, USA
Chemical and isotopic data for water co-extracted with hydrocarbons in oil and gas fields are commonly used to examine the source of the formation water and possible impacts on groundwater in areas of oil and gas development. Understanding the geochemical variability of oil-field water could help to evaluate its...
McMahon, Peter B.; Kulongoski, Justin T.; Vengosh, Avner; Cozzarelli, Isabelle M.; Landon, Matthew K.; Kharaka, Yousif K.; Gillespie, Janice M.; Davis, Tracy
Preliminary groundwater salinity mapping near selected oil fields using historical water-sample data, central and southern California
The distribution of groundwater salinity was mapped for 31 oil fields and adjacent aquifers and summarized by 8 subregions across major oil-producing areas of central and southern California. The objectives of this study were to describe the distribution of groundwater near oil fields having total dissolved solids less than 10,000 milligrams per...
Metzger, Loren F.; Landon, Matthew K.
Prioritization of oil and gas fields for regional groundwater monitoring based on a preliminary assessment of petroleum resource development and proximity to California’s groundwater resources
The California State Water Resources Control Board initiated a regional monitoring program in July 2015 to determine where and to what degree groundwater quality may be adversely impacted by oil and gas development activities. A key issue in the implementation of the regional groundwater monitoring program is that each year, detailed...
Davis, Tracy; Landon, Matthew K.; Bennett, George L. Tracing enhanced oil recovery signatures in casing gases from the Lost Hills oil field using noble gases
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and hydraulic fracturing practices are commonly used methods to improve hydrocarbon extraction efficiency; however the environmental impacts of such practices remain poorly understood. EOR is particularly prevalent in oil fields throughout California where water resources are in high demand and disposal of high volumes...
Barry, Peter H.; Kulongoski, Justin T.; Landon, Matthew K.; Tyne, R.L.; Gillespie, Janice M.; Stephens, Michael J.; Hillegonds, D.J.; Byrne, D.J.; Ballentine, C.J. Origin of methane and sources of high concentrations in Los Angeles groundwater
In 2014, samples from 37 monitoring wells at 17 locations, within or near oil fields, and one site >5 km from oil fields, in the Los Angeles Basin, California, were analyzed for dissolved hydrocarbon gas isotopes and abundances. The wells sample a variety of depths of an aquifer system composed of unconsolidated and semiconsolidated sediments...
Kulongoski, Justin T.; McMahon, Peter B.; Land, Michael; Wright, Michael; Johnson, Theodore; Landon, Matthew K.
Data from exploratory sampling of groundwater in selected oil and gas areas of coastal Los Angeles County and Kern and Kings Counties in southern San Joaquin Valley, 2014–15: California oil, gas, and groundwater project
Exploratory sampling of groundwater in coastal Los Angeles County and Kern and Kings Counties of the southern San Joaquin Valley was done by the U.S. Geological Survey from September 2014 through January 2015 as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Water Quality in Areas of Oil and Gas Production Regional Groundwater...
Dillon, David B.; Davis, Tracy A.; Landon, Matthew K.; Land, Michael T.; Wright, Michael T.; Kulongoski, Justin T. Produced water chemistry data for samples from four petroleum wells, Southern San Joaquin Valley, California, 2014
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board collected produced water samples from four petroleum wells in the southern San Joaquin Valley on November 5, 2014. This digital dataset contains the site information, analyzing laboratories and methods, and water chemistry and quality control...
Davis, Tracy A.; Kulongoski, Justin; McMahon, Peter B.
Preliminary results from exploratory sampling of wells for the California oil, gas, and groundwater program, 2014–15
Introduction In 2014 and 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) sampled water wells in the Los Angeles Basin and southern San Joaquin Valley, California, and oil wells in the San Joaquin Valley for analysis of multiple chemical, isotopic, and groundwater-age tracers. The purpose of this reconnaissance sampling...
McMahon, Peter B.; Kulongoski, Justin T.; Wright, Michael T.; Land, Michael T.; Landon, Matthew K.; Cozzarelli, Isabelle M.; Vengosh, Avner; Aiken, George R.
Remaining recoverable petroleum in giant oil fields of the Los Angeles Basin, southern California
Using a probabilistic geology-based methodology, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists recently assessed the remaining recoverable oil in 10 oil fields of the Los Angeles Basin in southern California. The results of the assessment suggest that between 1.4 and 5.6 billion barrels of additional oil could be recovered from those fields...
Gautier, Donald L.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Cook, Troy A.; Charpentier, Ronald R.; Klett, Timothy R.-
Date published: March 9, 2021Mud logs from the Oxnard Oil Field, Ventura County, California
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) compiled and digitized mud logs from oil and gas wells in the Oxnard Oil Field area.
Attribution: California Water Science Center -
Date published: March 9, 2021
Fluid levels in the Oxnard Oil Field, Ventura County, California
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), compiled Fall 2017 fluid level elevation data from idle oil and gas wells in the Oxnard Oil Field to estimate vertical hydraulic head difference between oil production and overlying groundwater aquifer zones.
Attribution: California Water Science Center -
Date published: February 8, 2021
Water chemistry data for samples collected at groundwater sites near the Oxnard oil field, June 2017-August 2017, Ventura County, California
In cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board's oil and gas Regional Monitoring Program, the U.S. Geological Survey collected and analyzed groundwater and associated quality control (QC) samples during June 2017 - August 2017.
Attribution: California Water Science Center -
Date published: November 25, 2020
Aquifer test data for the Belridge multiple-well monitoring site (BWSD), Kern County, California
To determine aquifer characteristics, pneumatic slug tests were performed on selected zones and aquifers at a monitoring site near the North and South Belridge oil fields in the Southern San Joaquin Valley in Kern County. On November 19th and 20th, 2018, pneumatic slug tests were performed at five monitoring wells located at the multiple-well groundwater-monitoring site BWSD (28S/21E-08
Attribution: California Water Science Center -
Date published: March 30, 2020
Historical produced water chemistry data compiled for selected oil fields in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, southern California
This digital dataset contains historical geochemical and other information for 200 samples of produced water from 182 sites in 25 oil fields in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, southern California. Produced water is a term used in the oil industry to describe water that is produced as a byproduct along with the oil and gas. The locations from which these historical samples have been collected...
Attribution: California Water Science Center -
Date published: December 13, 2019
Historical Produced Water Chemistry Data Compiled for the Elk Hills Oilfield, Kern County, California
This dataset contains geochemical and other information for 340 samples of produced water from the Elk Hills Oil Field. Water that is produced as a byproduct of oil production is called produced water. The publicly available produced water chemistry data was compiled by USGS staff using historical DOGGR datasets and scanned images. The data were transferred manually into a numerical dataset...
Attribution: California Water Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2019
Geological, geochemical, and geophysical data from the Lost Hills and Belridge oil fields (ver. 2.0, Sept 2019)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board compiled and analyzed data for mapping groundwater salinity and characterizing aquifer systems in and near selected oil and gas fields in California. Data for the Lost Hills, North Belridge, and South Belridge oil fields include production and injection volumes, oil show data, form
Attribution: California Water Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2019
Geochemical and geophysical data for selected wells in and surrounding the South Cuyama oil and gas field
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board and Bureau of Land Management compiled and analyzed data for mapping groundwater salinity in selected oil and gas fields in California. The data for the South Cuyama oil field includes well construction data, digitized borehole geophysical data, geochemical analyses of water samples fr
Attribution: California Water Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2019
Historical Produced Water Chemistry Data Compiled for the Lost Hills and North and South Belridge Oilfields, Kern County, California
This dataset contains geochemical and other information for 268 samples of produced water from the Lost Hills and North and South Belridge Oil Fields. Produced water is water coexisting with oil and gas. The historical produced water chemistry data was compiled from preexisting datasets and scanned images into a numerical dataset to characterize produced water chemical characteristics. Each...
Attribution: California Water Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2018
Historical produced water chemistry data compiled for the Fruitvale Oilfield, Kern County, California
This dataset contains geochemical and other information for 204 samples of produced water from the Fruitvale petroleum field. Produced water is water coexisting with oil and gas. The historical produced water chemistry data was compiled from preexisting datasets and scanned images into a numerical dataset to characterize produced water chemical characteristics. Each sample is identified by its...
Attribution: California Water Science Center
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Date published: February 16, 2021Public Webinar on the USGS study results for Groundwater Quality of Aquifers Overlying the Oxnard Oil Field, Ventura County, California
The USGS and State Water Board Oil and Gas Regional Groundwater Monitoring Program are hosting a webinar Friday, February 19 at 10am PT to discuss the scientific findings of the Groundwater Quality of Aquifers Overlying the Oxnard Oil Field, Ventura County, California study.
Attribution: California Water Science Center