Publications

Irrigated agriculture is vital to the livelihood of communities in the Elkhorn and Loup River Basins in Nebraska, and ground water is used to irrigate most of the cropland. Concerns about the sustainability of ground-water and surface-water resources have prompted State and regional agencies to evaluate the cumulative effects of ground-water irrigation in this area. To facilitate...

The central Platte River is a dynamic, braided, sand-bed river located near Grand Island, Nebraska. An understanding of the Platte River channel characteristics, hydrologic flow patterns, and geomorphic conditions is important for the operation and management of water resources by the City of Grand Island. The north channel of the Platte River flows within 1 mile of the municipal well...

Repeated flooding of Omaha Creek has caused damage in the Village of Homer. Long-term degradation and bridge scouring have changed substantially the channel characteristics of Omaha Creek. Flood-plain managers, planners, homeowners, and others rely on maps to identify areas at risk of being inundated. To identify areas at risk for inundation by a flood having a 1-percent annual...

This report presents water-quality data from two nationwide studies on the occurrence and distribution of organic wastewater contaminants. These data are part of the continuing effort of the U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program to collect baseline information on the environmental occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants. In 2000...

Storage capacity in John Redmond Reservoir is being lost to sedimentation more rapidly than in other federal impoundments in Kansas. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, initiated a study to characterize suspended-sediment loading to and from John Redmond Reservoir from February 21, 2007, through February 21, 2008. Turbidity sensors were...

Precipitation-frequency and discharge-frequency relations for small drainage basins with areas less than 32 square miles in Kansas were evaluated to reduce the uncertainty of discharge-frequency estimates. Gaged-discharge records were used to develop discharge-frequency equations for the ratio of discharge to drainage area (Q/A) values using data from basins with variable soil...

This report summarizes the results of algae and water-quality sampling on Rapid Creek and Canyon Lake during May and September 2007. The overall purpose of the study was to determine the algal community composition of Rapid Creek and Canyon Lake in relation to organisms that are known producers of unwanted tastes and odors in drinking-water supplies. Algal assemblage structure...

Created in 1954 by an impoundment on the San Jacinto River, Lake Houston currently (2008) supplies about 20 percent of the total source water for the city of Houston. Houston historically has relied on ground water as the major source of supply. As a result of regulations to limit ground-water withdrawals because of associated land subsidence (effective in 2010), the lake will become the...

Multi-year droughts have been a recurrent feature of the climate and hydrology of Kansas since at least the 1930s. Streamflow records collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) indicate that water years 2000 to 2006 (October 1, 1999, through September 30, 2006) represent the sixth hydrologic drought during the past eight decades, and that corresponding streamflow levels in some parts...

Cyanobacteria and associated toxins and taste-and-odor compounds are of increasing environmental concern. However, consistent guidelines for the development of studies assessing cyanobacterial toxins and taste-and-odor compounds presently are not available. This report provides guidance for the development of scientific studies of cyanobacteria and associated by-products in lakes and...

In 1991, a 76-mile reach of the Niobrara River in north-central Nebraska was designated as a National Scenic River (NSR). This reach of the river hosts a unique ecosystem that provides habitat for a diverse fish and wildlife population that include several threatened and endangered species. The Niobrara NSR also is a popular destination for campers, canoeists, kayakers, and tubers...

In cooperation with the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District for a collaborative study of the cumulative effects of water and channel management practices on stream and riparian ecology, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) compiled, analyzed, and summarized hydrologic information from long-term gaging stations on the lower Platte River to determine any significant temporal...