Publications

Results of a flood-hazard analysis conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Argonne National Laboratory, for four headwater streams within the Argonne National Laboratory property indicate that the 1-percent and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability floods would cause multiple roads to be overtopped. Results indicate that most of the effects on the...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During water year 2015 (October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2015), data were collected at 74 stations—72 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring...

Water-supply needs in LaSalle County in northern Illinois are met by surface water and groundwater. Water-supply needs are expected to increase to serve future residential and mining uses. Available information on water use, geology, surface-water and groundwater hydrology, and water quality provides a hydrogeologic framework for LaSalle County that can be used to help plan the future...

The use of oxbow wetlands has been identified as a potential strategy to reduce nutrient transport from agricultural drainage tiles to streams in Iowa. In 2013 and 2014, a study was conducted in north-central Iowa in a native oxbow in the Lyons Creek watershed and two restored oxbow wetlands in the Prairie Creek watershed (Smeltzer west and Smeltzer east) to assess their effectiveness at...

Three different geophysical sensor types were used to characterize the underwater pressure waves and ground velocities generated by the underwater firing of seismic water guns. These studies evaluated the use of water guns as a tool to alter the movement of Asian carp. Asian carp are aquatic invasive species that threaten to move into the Great Lakes Basin from the Mississippi River...

A statewide study was led to develop regression equations for estimating three selected spring and three selected fall low-flow frequency statistics for ungaged stream sites in Iowa. The estimation equations developed for the six low-flow frequency statistics include spring (April through June) 1-, 7-, and 30-day mean low flows for a recurrence interval of 10 years and fall (October...

Overview Heavy rainfall resulted in major flooding in the Meramec River Basin in eastern Missouri during late December 2015 through early January 2016. Cumulative rainfall from December 14 to 29, 2015, ranged from 7.6 to 12.3 inches at selected precipitation stations in the basin with flooding driven by the heaviest precipitation (3.9–9.7 inches) between December 27 and 29, 2015...

Sediment budgets of the Lower Missouri River were developed in a study led by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The scope of the study included the development of a long-term (post-impoundment, 1968–2014) average annual sediment budget and selected annual, monthly, and daily sediment budgets for a reach and period that adequate data were...

Large Electric Dispersal Barriers were constructed in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) to prevent the transfer of invasive fish species between the Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes Basin while simultaneously allowing the passage of commercial barge traffic. We investigated the potential for entrainment, retention, and transport of freely swimming fish within large...

The Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) includes the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) and the Calumet-Sag Channel (Cal-Sag), the two primary, man-made connections between the Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) monitors diversion of Great Lakes water at a streamgage just downstream of the confluence of the CSSC and Cal-Sag (known as Sag...

Animations of highly dynamic water-surface profiles through the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers have identified transient disturbances propagating from Lakes Huron and Erie into the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers, respectively. To determine any relation to seiche and tidal oscillations on Lakes Huron and Erie, a spectral analysis was performed on stage and discharge data from the Huron-Erie...

The Saline Valley Conservancy District (SVCD) operates wells that supply water to most of the water users in Saline and Gallatin Counties, Illinois. The SVCD wells draw water from a shallow sand and gravel aquifer located in close proximity to an abandoned underground coal mine, several abandoned oil wells, and at least one operational oil well. The aquifer that yields water to the SVCD...