Advanced Capabilities and Research
Advanced Capabilities and Research
The California Water Science Center is continually developing tools and technical capabilities to meet the ever-changing demands of hydrologic management, and to advance and support hydrologic research. The resulting solutions provide decision-makers with sophisticated information, insights, and data needed to address today’s water issues.
Organic Matter Research Laboratory
Organic Matter Research Laboratory
The Organic Matter Research Laboratory provides laboratory services and support to regional and national projects in the analysis of organic matter using the latest methods in absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy along with standard measurement of total dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen concentration.
Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory
Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory
The Organic Chemistry Research Laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation for the identification and quantification of trace level organic contaminants in a wide array of environmental media (water, sediment/soil, plants, biota, etc.).
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In situ chlorophyll fluorometer validation and comparison study
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) supplies drinking water to much of California. The Delta also provides irrigation water to the Central Valley and is an important habitat to many aquatic and terrestrial species. In the past decade, there has been an increase in harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Delta. While some HABs are nontoxic, others contain cyanobacteria that can produce dangerous...
Floods in California
Throughout the nation, the USGS operates a streamgage network in near real-time that helps emergency managers and others protect life and property due to floods and other water-related hazards. The USGS California Water Science Center maintains nearly 500 streamgages that provides key streamflow and water level data for flood forecasters, the public, and emergency managers at the federal, state...
Emergency Drought Barrier’s Impacts on cyanoHABs and Water Quality
Drought is making the Delta Saltier. Less freshwater coming from watershed runoff and reservoir releases means that more salty water flows into the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta (Delta) from the Pacific Ocean. Changes in Delta salinity have far-reaching impacts, affecting the water supply for agriculture, drinking, wildlife, and Delta ecosystems.
Monitoring and modeling soil moisture to improve runoff forecasting and drought characterization in the Feather River Basin
Drought, along with recent wildfires, have had enormous impacts downstream on water quantity and quality. These conditions have greatly impacted the agriculture and the residents of the nearby Central Valley.
New Technologies for Mapping Surface Soil Moisture Over Wildfire-Prone Landscapes
A partnership between the USGS, Pepperwood Preserve, and Black Swift LLC aims to map soil and fuel moisture over wildfire-prone landscapes.
Los Angeles Coastal Plain Groundwater-flow Model
The Los Angeles Coastal Plain Groundwater-flow Model (LACPGM) is a tool to help water managers better understand groundwater flow and seawater intrusion in the Los Angeles coastal plain basins. It is the culmination of years of data collection and studies in the area and builds on our understanding of the area’s geology and hydrology obtained through the geologic and groundwater flow models.
Biogeochemistry Group
The Biogeochemistry (BGC) Group uses an interdisciplinary approach to address surface water quality issues and food web dynamics throughout California, particularly in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.
Sediment transport, streamflow, and climate change: long-term resilience of the Bay-Delta
Sediment supply is important to the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay (Bay-Delta) ecosystem. Sediment eroded from upland source areas in the Sacramento and San Joaquin watersheds is transported through the rivers to the Bay-Delta where it is deposited in mudflats and tidal wetlands, which in turn helps protect against the effects of sea-level rise. Sediment...
MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model—Conjunctive Use Simulation Software (MF-OWHM)
The MODFLOW One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM) – Conjunctive Use Simulation Software (Boyce, 2022; Boyce and others, 2020; Hanson and others, 2014) builds upon the MODFLOW-2005 framework for the simulation and analyses of conjunctive-use, water-management, and climate-crop-water scenario problems.
Channel Complexity Synthesis - Trinity River Restoration Program
The Trinity River Restoration Program implements the Department of Interior directive to restore the fisheries of the Trinity River impacted by dam construction and related diversions. The multi-agency program is one of the nation’s largest adaptively managed river restoration efforts and requires periodic assessment to determine its effectiveness in restoring channel dynamics and habitat features...
Sediment Mobility and Riparian Corridor Assessment, Klamath River, CA
The Klamath River is the third largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the continental U.S. The headwaters of the Klamath are located in the Cascade Range in southeastern Oregon and the river flows through northern California to its estuary. Beginning in the 1860s, the flow and water quality of the Klamath started to change due to the building of dams and other water diversions for...
Examining Erosion at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, a Sierra Nevada Gold Mine
Located in Nevada County, California, Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park was the Sierra Nevada’s largest hydraulic gold mine, operating from 1866 to 1884. Historically, part of the process of hydraulic mining included using mercury to extract gold from produced sediment through the process of amalgamation. This process left thousands of pounds of mercury and other heavy metals in the area...