Publications

Dissolved oxygen is a critical constituent in reservoirs and lakes because it is essential for metabolism by all aerobic aquatic organisms. In general, hypolimnetic temperature and dissolved-oxygen concentrations vary from summer to summer in reservoirs, more so than in natural lakes, largely in response to the magnitude of flow into and release out of the water body. Because eutrophication is oft

Only four families within the Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera orders were found during a 1999 survey of aquatic macroinvertebrates in Autauga Creek, Autauga County, Alabama, by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. The low number of taxa of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera families indicated that the aquatic macroinvertebrate community was in poor condition, and

Predictive equations were developed using stepbackward regression for 19 ecologically relevant streamflow characteristics grouped in five major classes (magnitude, ratio, frequency, variability, and date) for use in the Tennessee and Cumberland River watersheds. Basin characteristics explain 50 percent or more of the variation for 10 of the 19 equations. Independent variables identified through st

Fresh groundwater and surface water resources are available in Lafayette Parish, which is located in south-central Louisiana. In 2005, more than 47 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) were withdrawn from water sources in Lafayette Parish. About 92 percent (43.7 Mgal/d) of withdrawals was groundwater, and 8 percent (3.6 Mgal/d) was surface water. Public-supply withdrawals accounted for nearly 49 perce

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Tennessee Water Science Center and the College of Engineering and Technology at Tennessee State University developed a Partnership in Environmental Education and Research (PEER) to support environmental research at TSU and to expand the environmental research capabilities of the USGS in Tennessee. The PEER program is driven by the research needs to better define t

Lake Maumelle is one of two principal drinking-water supplies for the Little Rock and North Little Rock metropolitan areas. Lake Maumelle and the Maumelle River (its primary tributary) are more pristine than most other reservoirs and streams in the region. However, as the Lake Maumelle watershed becomes increasingly more urbanized and timber harvesting becomes more frequent, concerns about the sus

The aftermath, recovery, and lessons of the future following a major flood that inundated the greater Nashville area one year ago are the subjects of this article. The authors discuss what led up to the event, its impacts, and what, if anything, can be done to prevent or diminish the reoccurrence of such flooding in the future.

Freshwater flow is generally held to be one of the most influential factors affecting community structure and production in estuaries. In coastal Louisiana, the Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion (CFD) is managed to control freshwater discharge from the Mississippi River into Breton Sound basin. Operational since 1991, CFD has undergone several changes in management strategy including pulsed spring f

The Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer is a water-bearing assemblage of gravels and sands that underlies about 32,000 square miles of Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. Pumping of groundwater from the alluvial aquifer for agriculture started in the early 1900s in the Grand Prairie area for the irrigation of rice and soybeans. From 1965 to 2005, water use in

Beaver Lake is a large, deep-storage reservoir used as a drinking-water supply and considered a primary watershed of concern in the State of Arkansas. As such, information is needed to assess water quality, especially nutrient enrichment, nutrient-algal relations, turbidity, and sediment issues within the reservoir system. Water-quality samples were collected at three main inflows to Beaver Lake:

During the spring of 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and the Arkansas Geological Survey, measured 670 water levels in 659 wells completed in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas. Groundwater levels are affected by groundwater withdrawals resulting in potentiometric-surface depressions. In 2008, the lowest

Suspended-sediment-concentration (SSC) regimes of five biological reference streams in Tennessee were characterized from 15-minute SSC records spanning 1 to 4 water years (October 1 through September 30) between 2004 and 2008. These streams represent least disturbed conditions for their respective ecoregions and have exceptional biodiversity in terms of fish or aquatic invertebrates. SSC regimes i