Publications

National Water Summary 1988-89 - Hydrologic Events and Floods and Droughts documents the occurrence in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands of two types of extreme hydrologic events floods and droughts on the basis of analysis of stream-discharge data. This report details, for the first time, the areal extent of the most notable floods and droughts in each State...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the Red Rock Dam on the Des Moines River in Marion County, Iowa. The dam consists of a gravity concrete control structure between two earthen embankments and has an impoundment storage capacity of 1,700,000 acre-feet. Since the impoundment of Lake Red Rock commenced during 1969, water seepage beneath the dam has been significant enough to cause...

During the past few decades, several municipalities in northeastern Illinois have noted increases in the salinity of water from wells that tap aquifers in rocks of Cambrian and Ordovician age. The municipalities have discontinued the use of, or sealed-off sections of, those wells. The aquifers involved include the Ancell, the Ironton-Galesville, and the Elmhurst-Mt. Simon. To define the...

An approach was developed to obtain a consistent, regional distribution of herbicide and nitrate data from near-surface aquifers in the corn and soybean producing region of the mid-continent. Near-surface aquifers are defined as those with the top of aquifer material within 50 feet of land surface, regardless of whether the material is saturated or unsaturated. Three hundred wells will...

Flood-elevation profiles and flood-peak discharges for floods during 1972, 1982, and 1987 in the Nishnabotna River basin are given in this report. The profiles are for the 1972 flood on the West and East Nishnabotna Rivers, the 1982 flood on Indian Creek, and the 1987 flood on the lower West Nishnabotna River. A flood history describes rainfall conditions and reported damages for floods...

Hydrologic data for a study of pre-lllinoian glacial till were collected during the 1990 water year at a site in Linn County, Iowa. A hydrologic-data-collection network, consisting of 22 observation wells and a meteorological station, was installed at the site to describe the hydraulic properties of the till. Recorders were installed on 12 of the wells to continuously monitor water...

Water resources data for the 1990 water year for Iowa consist of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage, contents, and water quality of lakes and reservoirs; ground water levels and water quality of ground-water wells. This report contains records of water discharge for 117 stream-gaging stations; stage or contents for 9 lakes and reservoirs; water quality for 6...

An automatic system was designed to concurrently measure stage and discharge for the purpose of developing stage-discharge ratings and high flow hydrographs on small streams. Stage, or gage height, is recorded by an analog-to-digital recorder and discharge is determined by the constant-rate tracer-dilution method The system measures flow above a base stage set by the user. To test the

The St. Peter-Jordan aquifer includes the Cambrian Jordan Sandstone and the overlying Ordovician Prairie du Chien Group and St. Peter Sandstone. The aquifer is present throughout Iowa and is confined beneath other aquifers in much of the State. Information on the aquifer available from drillers and contractors, provided estimates of aquifer transmissivity values ranging from about 500 to...

Samples collected from wells in Carroll and Guthrie Counties, Iowa, were analyzed to describe the chemical quality of the ground water in shallow aquifers. The study began in June 1986 with the selection of 20 shallow wells in Carroll County and 22 shallow wells in Guthrie County. These wells were sampled in the summer and fall of 1986 and 1987. Samples from the wells were analyzed for...

Water use in the United States, as measured by freshwater withdrawals in 1985, averaged 338,000 Mgal/d (million gallons per day), which is enough water to cover the 48 conterminous States to a depth of about 2.4 inches. Only 92,300 Mgal/d, or 27.3 percent of the water withdrawn, was consumptive use and thus lost to immediate further use; the remainder of the withdrawals (72.7 percent)...

This is the second report in a series of U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Investigations Atlases to further supplement the National Park Service general management and development concept plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (National Park Service, 1981) in southeastern Missouri (fig. 1). The technical basis on which the National Park Service can develop flood-management plans...