Publications

In support of nutrient reduction efforts, nitrate (as nitrate plus nitrite) and phosphorus loads and yields were computed for selected streams in Iowa based on continuously monitored sensor data for 2008–17 and 2014–17, respectively. Sample data were used to assess nitrate sensor bias and to create phosphorus-turbidity surrogate models. Where needed, nitrate loads were corrected for site...

The USGS Water Mission Area’s Sediment Science Program provides leadership, training, and methods development in fluvial sediment science for the USGS and its external partners. Overarching objectives of the USGS Sediment Science Program (which includes the Federal Interagency Sedimentation Project) include: 1) developing and promoting innovative sediment monitoring techniques that...

The Federal Interagency Sedimentation Project (FISP) is an example of effective interagency cooperation a cross-cutting science issue. The FISP was created in 1939 to research and standardize fluvial sediment science methods and instruments. That mission remains relevant today as research continues on emerging tools and technologies for measurement and analysis of sediment properties.

Acoustics and other surrogates can be used to accurately and cost-effectively provide time-series estimates of suspended-sediment concentration and load, which is essential for creating informed solutions to many sediment-related environmental, engineering, and agricultural concerns. Interagency efforts in recent years have advanced the testing, methods development, operational...

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 9.3-mile reach of the Iowa River along the Meskwaki Settlement, Iowa, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science website at https://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/, depict...

The Great Lakes “Priority Watershed” effort targeted the Upper East River watershed, a 116.5 km2 tributary watershed to Green Bay in Wisconsin, to reduce sediment and nutrients entering Green Bay. A Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was created to determine the effectiveness of Best Management Practices (BMPs) derived from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources...

Hydrologic influences on water levels were investigated at Three Oaks Recreation Area (TORA), a former sand-and-gravel quarry converted into recreational lakes in Crystal Lake, Illinois. From 2009 to 2015, average water levels in the lakes declined nearly 4 feet. It was not clear if these declines were related to variations in weather (precipitation or evaporation) or other hydrologic...

The Alabama Power Company operates a series of dams on the Coosa River in east central Alabama. Seven dams impound the river to form six reservoirs: Weiss Lake, H Neely Henry Lake, Logan Martin Lake, Lay Lake, Lake Mitchell, and Lake Jordan. Streamflow below these reservoirs is primarily controlled by power generation at the dams, and there is ongoing concern about the stability of...

The Cedar River alluvial aquifer is the primary source of municipal water in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Municipal wells are completed in the alluvial aquifer about 40 to 80 feet below land surface. The City of Cedar Rapids and the U.S. Geological Survey have led a cooperative study of the groundwater-flow system and water quality of the aquifer since 1992. Cooperative reports between the City...

Much of the current understanding of pharmaceutical pollution in the aquatic environment is based on research conducted in Europe, North America and other select high-income nations. One reason for this geographic disparity of data globally is the high cost and analytical intensity of the research, limiting accessibility to necessary equipment. To reduce the impact of such disparities...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a network of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During water year 2017 (October 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017), data presented in this report were collected at 72 stations: 70 Ambient...

The Missouri groundwater-level observation well network is a series of wells across the State of Missouri in which groundwater levels are monitored in real time and periodically. The wells monitor the water levels in multiple key aquifers, such as the Ozark aquifer in the Salem and Springfield Plateaus and the Mississippi Alluvial Plain aquifer in the South-eastern Lowlands. As of 2018...