Publications

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a volatile organic compound (VOC) that is added to gasoline either seasonally or year round in many parts of the United States to increase the octane level and to reduce carbon monoxide and ozone levels in the air. The chemical properties and widespread use of MTBE can result in contamination of private and public drinking-water sources. MTBE...

Free-phase hydrocarbons are present in the alluvial aquifer at Mandan, North Dakota. A large contaminant body of the hydrocarbons [light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL)] floats on the water table about 20 feet below land surface. The main LNAPL body is about 6 feet thick, and the areal extent is about 657,000 square feet. A study was conducted to describe the hydrologic setting and...

This fact sheet describes a simple device for measuring the vertical hydraulic gradient (VHG) of shallow ground water beneath a stream bed. The VHG can be used to determine whether a stream is receiving or losing water at the point of measurement. Used as part of a spatial or temporal survey, such measurements can yield valuable information about the local hydrology of a stream/ground...

The Devils Lake Basin is a 3,810-square-mile subbasin in the Red River of the North Basin. At an elevation of about 1,447 feet above sea level, Devils Lake begins to spill into Stump Lake; and at an elevation of about 1,459 feet above sea level, the combined lakes begin to spill through Tolna Coulee into the Sheyenne River. Since the end of glaciation about 10,000 years ago, Devils Lake...

Water samples from 27 wells completed in and near the Shell Valley aquifer were analyzed for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and pentachlorophenol (PCP) using the enzyme-linked immunoassay method. The analyses indicated the presence of PAH, PCB, and PCP in the study area. However, an individual...

Devils Lake is a natural lake in northeastern North Dakota that is the terminus of a nearly 4,000-square-mile subbasin in the Red River of the North Basin. The lake has not reached its natural spill elevation to the Sheyenne River (a tributary of the Red River of the North) in recorded history. However, geologic evidence indicates a spill occurred sometime within the last 1,800 years...

The vulnerability of wetlands to changes in climate depends on their position within hydrologic landscapes. Hydrologic landscapes are defined by the flow characteristics of ground water and surface water and by the interaction of atmospheric water, surface water, and ground water for any given locality or region. Six general hydrologic landscapes are defined; mountainous, plateau and...

The Wyoming snow fence (shield) has been widely used with precipitation gauges for snowfall measurement at more than 25 locations in Alaska since the late 1970s. This gauge's measurements have been taken as the reference for correcting wind‐induced gauge undercatch of snowfall in Alaska. Recently, this fence (shield) was tested in the World Meteorological Organization Solid Precipitation

This report presents a proposal for conducting a water-quality modeling study at drought streamflow, a detailed comprehensive plan for collecting the data, and an annual drought-formation monitoring plan. A 30.8 mile reach of the Red River of the North receives treated wastewater from plants at Fargo, North Dakota, and Moorhead, Minnesota, and streamflow from the Sheyenne River. The...

No abstract available.

Statistical summaries of high-streamflow data through water year 1997 for selected active U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations for the Red River of the North Basin upstream of and including Emerson, Manitoba, but excluding the Devils Lake Basin, are presented in this report. The summaries for each streamflow-gaging station include (1) station description, (2) graph of the annual mean...

No abstract available.