Publications

This map report describes the sampling design for a comprehensive regional assessment of water quality in the Red River of the North Basin, a study unit under the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment Program. The sampling design was developed to address questions about the presence, distribution, and loads of nutrients and pesticides associated with large...

Fish community composition was determined at 33 reaches (average length 150 meters) at 22 sites in the Red River of the North Basin during 1994. Sites were selected to represent a range of stream sizes and ecoregions within the basin. Physical and chemical characteristics (classified in data sets of instream habitat, terrestrial habitat, hydrology, and water quality) were determined for...

No abstract available.

The Garrison Diversion Unit project was authorized as part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin program to divert water from Lake Sakakawea to irrigation areas in North Dakota. A special Garrison Commission was created to evaluate an environmental concern that return flow from the irrigation areas might contain metals in toxic concentrations. This report summarizes the results of...

No abstract available.

The Devils Lake Basin is a 3,810-square-mile (mi2) closed basin (fig. 1) in the Red River of the North Basin. About 3,320 mi2 of the total 3,810 mi2 is tributary to Devils Lake; the remainder is tributary to Stump Lake. Since glaciation, the lake level of Devils Lake has fluctuated from about 1,457 feet (ft) above sea level (asl), the natural spill elevation of the lake to the Sheyenne...

During spring and summer 1993, record flooding inundated much of the upper Mississippi River Basin. The magnitude of the damages-in terms of property, disrupted business, and personal trauma was unmatched by any other flood disaster in United States history. Property damage alone is expected to exceed $10 billion. Damaged highways and submerged roads disrupted overland transportation...

Located in the Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota, receives and stores runoff from the northern section of the basin and recharges Devils Lake. Hydrologic and water- quality conditions can vary greatly in the basin, resulting in potential economic damage. This report describes the seasonal and spatial variations in surface-water quality in the chain of lakes and its tributaries. Long-term...

The Tretyakov non-recording precipitation gauge has been used historically as the official precipitation measurement instrument in the Russian (formerly the USSR) climatic and hydrological station network and in a number of other European countries. From 1986 to 1993, the accuracy and performance of this gauge were evaluated during the WMO Solid Precipitation Measurement Intercomparison...

Pesticides are used extensively in the largely agricultural Red River of the North (Red River) Basin, but, unlike many other agricultural basins, only small amounts are routinely detected in samples from streams in the basin. The pesticides detected comprise less than 2 percent of the amount applied and usually are at concentrations far less than established drinking water standards...

Sediment data were collected on and along the Missouri River downstream from Garrison Dam during May 1988, May 1989, and April 1991 to characterize sediment transport in the river. Specific study objectives were to (1) identify erosional and depositional reaches during two steady-state low-flow periods and one steady-state high-flow period; (2) determine if the reaches are consistently...

Available data on the ecology of aquatic organisms in the Red River of the North Basin, a study unit of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment program, were collated from numerous sources. Lack of information for invertebrates and algae precluded a general summary of distribution and ecology throughout the basin. Data on fish species distributions in the major...