California Oil, Gas, and Groundwater (COGG) Program
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:
- 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
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Water chemistry data for samples collected at groundwater and surface-water sites near the Lost Hills and Belridge oil fields, November 2016-September 2017, Kern County, California
Data analyzed for the preliminary prioritization of California oil and gas fields for regional groundwater monitoring
Water and petroleum well data used for preliminary regional groundwater salinity mapping near selected oil fields in central and southern California
Water chemistry data for samples collected at groundwater sites near the Fruitvale oil field, September 2016-February 2017, Kern County, California
Historical produced water chemistry data compiled for the Fruitvale Oilfield, Kern County, California
Produced water chemistry for samples from four petroleum wells, southern San Joaquin Valley, California, 2014
Below are publications associated with this project.
Origin of methane and sources of high concentrations in Los Angeles groundwater
Mapping protected groundwater adjacent to oil and gas fields, San Joaquin Valley, California
Preliminary results from exploratory sampling of wells for the California oil, gas, and groundwater program, 2014–15
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
Discharges of produced waters from oil and gas extraction via wastewater treatment plants are sources of disinfection by-products to receiving streams
Remaining recoverable petroleum in giant oil fields of the Los Angeles Basin, southern California
Organic contaminants, trace and major elements, and nutrients in water and sediment sampled in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Ubiquitous tar balls with a California-source signature on the shorelines of Prince William Sound, Alaska
Ubiquitous tar balls with a California-source signature on the shorelines of Prince William Sound, Alaska
Use of geochemical biomarkers in bottom sediment to track oil from a spill, San Francisco Bay, California
The Sunset-Midway oil field, California, Part II, Geochemical relations of the oil, gas, and water
Below are news stories associated with this project.
The USGS is the technical lead in implementing the State Water Boards' Oil and Gas Regional Groundwater Monitoring Program through 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.
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:
- 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
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Water chemistry data for samples collected at groundwater and surface-water sites near the Lost Hills and Belridge oil fields, November 2016-September 2017, Kern County, California
Data analyzed for the preliminary prioritization of California oil and gas fields for regional groundwater monitoring
Water and petroleum well data used for preliminary regional groundwater salinity mapping near selected oil fields in central and southern California
Water chemistry data for samples collected at groundwater sites near the Fruitvale oil field, September 2016-February 2017, Kern County, California
Historical produced water chemistry data compiled for the Fruitvale Oilfield, Kern County, California
Produced water chemistry for samples from four petroleum wells, southern San Joaquin Valley, California, 2014
Below are publications associated with this project.
Origin of methane and sources of high concentrations in Los Angeles groundwater
Mapping protected groundwater adjacent to oil and gas fields, San Joaquin Valley, California
Preliminary results from exploratory sampling of wells for the California oil, gas, and groundwater program, 2014–15
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
Discharges of produced waters from oil and gas extraction via wastewater treatment plants are sources of disinfection by-products to receiving streams
Remaining recoverable petroleum in giant oil fields of the Los Angeles Basin, southern California
Organic contaminants, trace and major elements, and nutrients in water and sediment sampled in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Ubiquitous tar balls with a California-source signature on the shorelines of Prince William Sound, Alaska
Ubiquitous tar balls with a California-source signature on the shorelines of Prince William Sound, Alaska
Use of geochemical biomarkers in bottom sediment to track oil from a spill, San Francisco Bay, California
The Sunset-Midway oil field, California, Part II, Geochemical relations of the oil, gas, and water
Below are news stories associated with this project.
The USGS is the technical lead in implementing the State Water Boards' Oil and Gas Regional Groundwater Monitoring Program through 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.