Publications

Since 1995, a network of municipal wells in Iowa, representing all major aquifer types (alluvial, bedrock/karst region, glacial drift, bedrock/nonkarst region), has been repeatedly sampled for a broad suite of herbicide compounds yielding one of the most comprehensive statewide databases of such compounds currently available in the United States. This dataset is ideal for documenting the...

A neural network analysis of agrichemical occurrence in groundwater was conducted using data from a pilot study of 192 small-diameter drilled and driven wells and 115 dug and bored wells in Illinois, a regional reconnaissance network of 303 wells across 12 Midwestern states, and a study of 687 domestic wells across Iowa. Potential factors contributing to well contamination (e.g., depth...

Severe flooding occurred on June 4, 2002, in the Indian Creek Basin in Linn County, Iowa, following thunderstorm activity over east-central Iowa. The rain gage at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, recorded a 24-hour rainfall of 4.76 inches at 6:00 p.m. on June 4th. Radar indications estimated as much as 6 inches of rain fell in the headwaters of the Indian Creek Basin. Peak discharges on Indian Creek...

Flood-peak discharge magnitudes and frequencies at streamflow-gaging sites were developed with the annual maximum series (AMS) and the partial duration series (PDS) in this study. Regional equations for both flood series were developed for estimating flood-peak discharge magnitudes at specified recurrence intervals of rural Illinois streams. The regional equations are techniques for...

Long term data on surface water quality can sometimes be assembled by combining data collected by different agencies at different times and assuming that between agency differences in data quality are insignificant. The objective of this paper was to assess the quality of riverine nitrate (NO3) concentrations in Illinois measured and reported by four agencies from 1967 to 1974 by...

Water resources data for Iowa for the 2003 water year consists of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage, and/or contents of lakes and reservoirs; ground-water levels and water quality of ground-water wells. This report volume contains discharge records for 134 gaging stations; stage or contents for 9 lakes and reservoirs and 3 streams; water quality for 4...

Outflow from Table Rock Lake and other White River reservoirs support a cold-water trout fishery of substantial economic yield in south-central Missouri and north-central Arkansas. The Missouri Department of Conservation has requested an increase in existing minimum flows through the Table Rock Lake Dam from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to increase the quality of fishable waters...

Flooding and high ground-water levels after large or frequent rainstorms have occurred in an area of about 30 square miles along the eastern bank of the Cedar River from Cedar Falls in northwest Black Hawk County to Janesville in southwest Bremer County, Iowa. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Black Hawk County, conducted a hydrologic study of the Cedar River alluvium in...

This report describes a statewide study conducted to develop main-channel slope (MCS) curves for 138 selected streams in Iowa with drainage areas greater than 100 square miles. MCS values determined from the curves can be used in regression equations for estimating floodfrequency discharges. Multivariable regression equations previously developed for two of the three hydrologic regions...

Assessing the distribution of arsenic in ground water from community-water supplies, private supplies, or monitoring wells is part of the process of determining the risk of arsenic contamination of drinking water in Illinois. Lifestyle, genetic, and environmental factors make certain members of the population more susceptible to adverse health effects from repeated exposure to drinking...

Water samples were collected in streams of the Eastern Iowa Basins study unit from 1996 to 1998 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. More than 350 samples were collected to document the occurrence, distribution, and transport of pesticides and pesticide degradates. The Eastern Iowa Basins study unit encompasses about 50,500 square...

Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds are ubiquitous in ambient surface soils in the city of Chicago, Illinois. PAH concentrations in samples collected in June 2001 and January 2002 were typically in the following order from highest to lowest: fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, phenanthrene, benzo(a)pyrene, chrysene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, indeno(1...