Images

Location of the study area for the San Diego Hydrogeology project, and location of the major coastal river basins in San Diego County (San Dieguito River, San Diego River, Sweetwater River, Otay River, and Tijuana River).

USGS researcher collecting a water sample from Flea Valley Creek, California as part of effort to understand impacts on water quality caused by 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California.

Snow falls on USGS Hydrologist, Joe Nawikas, as he collects groundwater samples in Mammoth, California.

Drilling Capabilities- Kaiparowits UT Drill rig site. This is a drill rig site in Utah.

USGS scientist looking at laptop on boat

Annual time series of precipitation and average air temperature for three future climate models for Indian Wells Valley, California as simulated by the Basin Characterization Model. Three future climate projections were selected from among 20 models used for California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment for application to Indian Wells Valley.

water filtration plant in contra costa county, california

View of Mt. Diablo from Twitchell Island in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Joshua trees dot the desert landscape on Edwards Air Force Base in Antelope Valley, CA.  

Tableau visualization - Bay-Delta Regional Monitoring Program phytoplankton map showing levels of chlorophyll-a (µg/L) (FP) from May 2018.

SF Bay-Delta at Big Break Visitor Center, Oakley, CA

The Mojave Shallow Groundwater Study focused on two areas — the floodplain aquifer and the regional aquifer surrounding it. Both areas are tapped by private domestic wells with depths ranging from about 90—600 feet deep. A total of 59 domestic and monitoring wells were sampled from January through May 2018 with well depths ranging from about 50-250 feet deep.

This photo of Lake Shasta in Northern California shows low water levels during recent drought.

Photo of Nick Framsted, a Physical Scientist at the California Water Science Center.

Hypothetical model grid showing A, types of cascading hydrologic response units and B, land-surface altitudes and cascading flow directions.

USGS technician measuring streamflow in the Sisquoc River near Garey, California, upstream of the Santa Maria Mesa Road Bridge.

 USGS Streamgaging equipment and cableway on the Pit River near Canby, California operates year round.

USGS technicians preparing for a streamflow measurement by lowering an acoustic Doppler current profiler from a cable way on the American River near Fair Oaks, California. 

USGS technicians prepare to board a boat to go out to the center of the channel in the San Joaquin River below Friant Dam to get an accurate measurement of water flow during releases from the Dam for flood control.

USGS hydrographer measuring streamflow using a handheld Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter in fast moving floodwater Cajon Creek near Keenbrook, California. 

Turbid waters in the Little Holland Tract area of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, California. Turbidity affects light penetration and  ecological productivity, recreational values, and habitat quality, and causes lakes to fill in faster.