Images

California Water Science Center Geologist Mackenzie Shepherd share drill shavings from groundwater well with a young student at the Children's Water Education Festival in Irvine, CA. 

Sunset over Bay-Delta wetland. Sunset over Bay-Delta wetland. Sunset over Bay-Delta wetland.

At the USGS, we monitor our nation’s water. Our data informs many people, from kayakers to water managers. Gage Greatness allows any Twitter user to vote for their favorite gage (data collection station).

This is the Truckee River at Tahoe City gage upon arrival during the cold and snowy December morning. The YAGI antenna was covered with over a foot of snow. This gaging station has been a part of the annual Lake Tahoe Summit, which takes place every summer.

Banner for 2023 IEP workshop. California Water Science Center has many presenters.

Pictured are a few of the 2023 CAWSC poster presenters: (from L to R) Danielle Palm, Matthew Uychutin, and  Andrea Jaegge.

Nine consecutive rainstorms have poured on California since December 26, 2022, after three years of intensive drought.

At atmospheric river brought heavy precipitation to California from December 31, 2022 through January 2, 2023.  USGS crews took 77 measurements at 58 sites across the state, with northern California being hardest hit.  This map shows where some of the highest streamflow occurred.  Data are provisional and subject to revision.

Sharon Mulready, USGS Hydrologic Technician, recording the high-water mark on gage 11161000 San Lorenzo River Santa Cruz. The stream is filled with a tremendous amount of sediment moved by the storm on December 31st, 2022.

High water on Alameda Creek, California. Taken at Alameda Diversion Dam near Sunol, CA.

USGS hydrologic technician Travis Hiett measures streamflow using a truck mounted boom and price AA meter at the Cosumnes River at Michigan Bar, California on December 31, 2022. Travis captured the highest direct measurement ever recorded at this site—63,700 cubic feet per second—in over 100 years of record.

The Consumes River experienced record streamflow over the 2022 New Year's holiday weekend as an atmospheric river moved through northern California.  Crews captured the highest direct measurement ever recorded at this site—63,700 cubic feet per second—in over 100 years of record. (Credit: Susan Brockner, USGS. Public domain.) 

High flows at streamgage 11172945 (Alameda Creek above Div Dam near Sunol, California) were captured by USGS hydrologic technician Louis Cannarozzi on 12/31/2022. Heavy precipitation caused higher-than-normal streamflow in many areas as an atmospheric river moved through northern California.

The MODFLOW-2005 framework branched into multiple specialized versions that are combined form the MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM).

Map showing principal aquifers (PAs) and wells that were sampled as part of a Nationwide assessment of the quality of groundwater used for public supply.  

Remotely sensed chlorophyll estimates during the 2022 HAB event (mg m^-3). Data are from the ESA Sentinel-3 satellite and are processed using a locally tuned algorithm for San Francisco Bay.

Webcam image and hydrograph from Truckee River webcam. Truckee River at Boca Bridge near Truckee, CA.

Kamahu’ehu’e Pond is covered in non-native pickleweed on the southeast coast of Moloka’i, Hawai’i.

Pepperwood-USGS-Black Swift Team with Super Swift UAS prior to launch, Pepperwood Preserve, Sonoma County, California. Left-to-right: Jack Elston, Michelle Stern, Maciej Stachura, Ryan Ferrell.

Ryan Ferrell (Pepperwood Preserve) collecting field soil moisture data using a HydroSenseII Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) probe and soil cores to validate remotely sensed soil moisture.

Working with the USGS and Pepperwood Preserve, Black Swift Technologies LLC deployed radiometers on a UAS, the Super Swift (S2).