Publications

Major flooding occurred on June 20–July 6, 2024, in northwestern Iowa affecting the Big Sioux, Rock, Little Sioux, Ocheyedan, and Floyd River Basins. Heavy rain fell in northwestern Iowa, southwestern Minnesota, and southeastern South Dakota on June 20–22, 2024. Parts of northwestern Iowa recorded 2–6 inches of rainfall and localized amounts exceeding 12 inches. A maximum peak-of-record...

Information on the Special Contributing Area Loading Program execution and functions are presented in this user’s manual. An appendix presents a potential improvement for the user to consider. The hydrologic routing simulation method to model flow through multiple reservoirs, or sewer system components, is described. The use of Special Contributing Areas is described to run a successful...

The U.S. Geological Survey deployed instream chlorophyll fluorescence sensors on the Illinois River in Illinois to better understand the formation, dynamics, and persistence of riverine algal blooms. At five sensor locations across four U.S. Geological Survey streamgages, chlorophyll fluorescence (fChl) sensors were set to measure instantaneous fChl in micrograms per liter as chlorophyll...

Understanding the timing of life history processes of invasive fish species, such as adult aggregations during spawning, allows natural resource managers to optimize targeted population control efforts. Temperature-based estimates of the timing of spawning initiation for grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) exist from its native range, but have not previously been developed for grass...

The Silurian aquifer is an important water source for municipalities, industry, and rural households and communities in eastern Iowa, including Johnson County. Increasing demand for groundwater from the aquifer indicated that analytical tools may be beneficial to quantify groundwater resources and inform water-management decisions for the aquifer. The U.S. Geological Survey, in...

Digital flood-inundation maps for 35.5 miles of the Blue River, in and near Kansas City, Missouri, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the City of Kansas City. Maps were also developed for a combined 7.3 miles of Brush Creek (4.4 miles) and Indian Creek (2.9 miles), two primary tributaries to the Blue River in the study reach. The flood-inundation maps...

Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) is an invasive herbivore observed in small numbers in the Laurentian Great Lakes since the 1980 s with records from all lakes except Lake Superior. Identification of diploid, age-1 + grass carp from the Sandusky River, a Lake Erie tributary, in 2012, prompted targeted efforts to evaluate the status of grass carp reproduction in the Lake Erie Basin. In...

This systematic literature review critically examines 162 articles on harmful algal bloom (HAB) modeling in riverine systems to uncover persistent gaps, redefine critical challenges, and propose trackable opportunities to advance future modeling efforts. Articles largely focused on site-specific applications (93%) across more than 80 rivers worldwide. Most modeled systems were large...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, assessed flooding of the East Fork Little Blue River and tributaries for varying precipitation magnitudes and durations, varying antecedent runoff conditions, and projected climate-change conditions. The precipitation scenarios were used to develop a library of flood-inundation maps for a 2.95-mile reach...

Invasive carp pose ecological and economic risks to North American freshwater systems. This study uses the Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator to model the drift of invasive silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) eggs and larvae after hypothetical spawning in Pools 1–10 of the Upper Mississippi River. Although adult invasive carps have been detected in this region, no reproduction has been...

Illinois contributes substantial nutrient loads to the Gulf of America, warranting watershed-scale assessment. This study estimated nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate-N) and total phosphorus (TP) loads and yields for 49 Illinois 8-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC8) watersheds draining to the Mississippi River Basin from 1997–2022, comparing recent (2018–2022) to baseline (1997–2011) conditions...

Contaminants found in treated wastewater discharged to streams, including pharmaceuticals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are of global concern due to their deleterious effects on aquatic ecosystems and potential impacts to human health. Hyporheic zones have strong potential for contaminant attenuation. Assessing this potential requires collection of physical and...