Surface Water

The LaWSC, in collaboration with researchers from the National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC), the NRP program, Auburn University, and Clemson University, is documenting conditions in tidal swamps in Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina as a baseline with which to compare future data to assess the impacts of climate change in such areas. Tidal swamps in these states offer an array of freshwater...

In early 2009, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) constructed a rock barrier across the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), a navigation channel between the Port of New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. In August 2008, prior to construction of the rock barrier, the LaWSC, in cooperation with the USACE, began monitoring specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and discharge in the MRGO to...

Wetlands in the Bayou aux Carpes area, south of New Orleans, La., currently are isolated from direct inflow of storm water runoff by levees and spoil banks. The USACE is considering removal of a spoil bank that would allow storm-water runoff to flow through and across the wetlands. . The wetlands consist of floating marshes, with a predominately organic substrate, and forested wetlands, some of...

Short Title: Mississippi River NRSA Project Chief: Billy Justus Cooperator: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Project Time Frame: 2008 - 2009 The USGS Arkansas and Missouri Water Science Centers (WSC) are conducting a study for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for an ecological assessment of the Lower Mississippi River for USEPA Office of Water's National Rivers and Streams...

Water resources within Mississippi are abundant but can be limited both seasonally and long-term due to extended periods of drought. Quantifying these resources can become critical when trying to strike a balance between the demand of municipal and industrial requirements and the environmental health of streams.

The Black Warrior - Cahaba Rivers Land Trust and City of Tarrant (as part of the Fivemile Creek Greenway Partnership) are among the new USGS cooperators for 2003 -04. These organizations are spearheading an effort to restore Fivemile Creek in Jefferson County to its place as an important asset in daily lives for those who live and work along the creek in northern Jefferson County. The Greenway...

More surface water than ground water was withdrawn for all categories except aquaculture, mining, and self-supplied residential. During 2005, estimated withdrawals by category and in descending order were: thermoelectric power, 8,274 Mgal/d; public supply, 802 Mgal/d; self-supplied industrial, 550 Mgal/d; irrigation, 161 Mgal/d; aquaculture, 75 Mgal/d; self-supplied residential, 39 Mgal/d...

In June, 2004, the Black Warrior - Cahaba Rivers Land Trust (Land Trust) was awarded a Brownfield Grant from the Region 4 US Environmental Protection Agency for 2005. The Land Trust will utilize funding from the Brownfield Assessment Grant program to perform assessment of sites which may have handled hazardous substances from former industrial or commercial activities. The Land Trust is working...

The magnitude and frequency of floods are important factors in the design of bridges, culverts, highway embankments, dams, and other hydraulic structures near streams. Information on flood magnitude and frequency is also used in flood plain management and development, and in establishing flood insurance rates. The objective of this project is to develop improved methods and equations for...

The Mississippi Delta Management Systems Evaluation Areas (MDMSEA) Project began in 1995 with two purposes: 1) to assess how agricultural activities affect water quality; and 2) to evaluate Best Management Practices (BMPs) that mitigate agricultural nonpoint source pollution. The project is located in the northwestern portion of Mississippi, an area of intense agriculture referred to as the...