Publications
The following list of California Water Science Center publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1811
A perspective on modern pesticides, pelagic fish declines, and unknown ecological resilience in highly managed ecosystems A perspective on modern pesticides, pelagic fish declines, and unknown ecological resilience in highly managed ecosystems
Pesticides applied on land are commonly transported by runoff or spray drift to aquatic ecosystems, where they are potentially toxic to fishes and other nontarget organisms. Pesticides add to and interact with other stressors of ecosystem processes, including surface-water diversions, losses of spawning and rearing habitats, nonnative species, and harmful algal blooms. Assessing the...
Authors
Nathaniel L. Scholz, Erica Fleishman, Larry Brown, Inge Werner, Michael L. Johnson, Marjorie L. Brooks, Carys L. Mitchelmore, Daniel Schlenk
Groundwater quality in Coachella Valley, California Groundwater quality in Coachella Valley, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information...
Authors
Barbara J. Milby Dawson, Kenneth Belitz
Groundwater quality in the Mojave area, California Groundwater quality in the Mojave area, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information. Four
Authors
Barbara J. Milby Dawson, Kenneth Belitz
Interactive terrain visualization enables virtual field work during rapid scientific response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake Interactive terrain visualization enables virtual field work during rapid scientific response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake
The moment magnitude (Mw) 7.0 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake is the first major earthquake for which a large-footprint LiDAR (light detection and ranging) survey was acquired within several weeks of the event. Here, we describe the use of virtual reality data visualization to analyze massive amounts (67 GB on disk) of multiresolution terrain data during the rapid scientific response to...
Authors
Eric Cowgill, Tony S. Bernardin, Michael E. Oskin, Christopher Bowles, M. Burak Yikilmaz, Oliver Kreylos, Austin J. Elliott, Scott Bishop, Ryan D. Gold, Alexander Morelan, Gerald W. Bawden, Bernd Hamann, Louise Kellogg
Data from a thick unsaturated zone in Joshua Tree, San Bernardino County, California, 2007--09 Data from a thick unsaturated zone in Joshua Tree, San Bernardino County, California, 2007--09
Data were collected on the physical properties of unsaturated alluvial deposits, the chemical composition of leachate extracted from unsaturated alluvial deposits, the chemical and isotopic composition of groundwater and unsaturated-zone water, and the chemical composition of unsaturated-zone gas at four monitoring sites in the southwestern part of the Mojave Desert in the town of Joshua...
Authors
Matthew Burgess, John Izbicki, Nicholas Teague, David R. O’Leary, Dennis Clark, Michael Land
Status of groundwater quality in the California Desert Region, 2006-2008: California GAMA Priority Basin Project Status of groundwater quality in the California Desert Region, 2006-2008: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Groundwater quality in six areas in the California Desert Region (Owens, Antelope, Mojave, Coachella, Colorado River, and Indian Wells) was investigated as part of the Priority Basin Project of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The GAMA Priority Basin Project is being conducted by the California State Water Resources Control Board in collaboration with the...
Authors
Barbara J. Milby Dawson, Kenneth Belitz
Groundwater quality in the Antelope Valley, California Groundwater quality in the Antelope Valley, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information...
Authors
Barbara J. Milby Dawson, Kenneth Belitz
Methods to characterize environmental settings of stream and groundwater sampling sites for National Water-Quality Assessment Methods to characterize environmental settings of stream and groundwater sampling sites for National Water-Quality Assessment
Characterization of natural and anthropogenic features that define the environmental settings of sampling sites for streams and groundwater, including drainage basins and groundwater study areas, is an essential component of water-quality and ecological investigations being conducted as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment program. Quantitative...
Authors
Naomi Nakagaki, Kerie J. Hitt, Curtis V. Price, James A. Falcone
Associations of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages with environmental variables in the upper Clear Creek watershed, California Associations of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages with environmental variables in the upper Clear Creek watershed, California
Benthic macroinvertebrates are integral components of stream ecosystems and are often used to assess the ecological integrity of streams. We sampled streams in the upper Clear Creek drainage in the Klamath—Siskiyou Ecoregion of northwestern California in fall 2004 (17 sites) and 2005 (original 17 plus 4 new sites) with the objectives of documenting the benthic macroinvertebrate...
Authors
Larry R. Brown, Jason T. May, Marissa Wulff
Conceptual model of sedimentation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Conceptual model of sedimentation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
Sedimentation in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta builds the Delta landscape, creates benthic and pelagic habitat, and transports sediment-associated contaminants. Here we present a conceptual model of sedimentation that includes submodels for river supply from the watershed to the Delta, regional transport within the Delta and seaward exchange, and local sedimentation in open...
Authors
David H. Schoellhamer, Scott Wright, Judith Z. Drexler
Groundwater quality in the Indian Wells Valley, California Groundwater quality in the Indian Wells Valley, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information...
Authors
Barbara J. Milby Dawson, Kenneth Belitz
Groundwater quality in the Owens Valley, California Groundwater quality in the Owens Valley, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information...
Authors
Barbara J. Milby Dawson, Kenneth Belitz