Publications
USGS Nebraska Water Science Center scientists publish results of their research in USGS series reports as well as in peer-reviewed journals. Publications produced by the USGS Nebraska Water Science Center are listed in reverse chronological order below.
Filter Total Items: 183
Groundwater discharge characteristics for selected streams within the Loup River Basin, Nebraska, 2014–16
Streams in the Loup River Basin are sensitive to groundwater withdrawals because of the close hydrologic connection between groundwater and surface water. Groundwater discharge is the primary component of streamflow in the Loup River Basin and constitutes more than 90 percent of streamflow in the central part of the Sand Hills. To improve the understanding of geologic controls and various climatic
Authors
Christopher M. Hobza, Aaron R. Schepers
Irrigated agriculture and future climate change effects on groundwater recharge, northern High Plains aquifer, USA
Understanding the controls of agriculture and climate change on recharge rates is critically important to develop appropriate sustainable management plans for groundwater resources and coupled irrigated agricultural systems. In this study, several physical (total potential (ψT) time series) and chemical tracer and dating (3H, Cl−, Br−, CFCs, SF6, and 3H/3He) methods were used to quantify diffuse r
Authors
Zachary H. Lauffenburger, Jason J. Gurdak, Christopher M. Hobza, Duane Woodward, Cassandra Wolf
Documentation of particle-size analyzer time series, and discrete suspended-sediment and bed-sediment sample data collection, Niobrara River near Spencer, Nebraska, October 2014
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, monitored a sediment release by Nebraska Public Power District from Spencer Dam located on the Niobrara River near Spencer, Nebraska, during the fall of 2014. The accumulated sediment behind Spencer Dam ordinarily is released semiannually; however, the spring 2014 release was postponed until the fall. Because
Authors
Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Anthony M. Coleman, Ronald B. Zelt
Suitability of river delta sediment as proppant, Missouri and Niobrara Rivers, Nebraska and South Dakota, 2015
Sediment management is a challenge faced by reservoir managers who have several potential options, including dredging, for mitigation of storage capacity lost to sedimentation. As sediment is removed from reservoir storage, potential use of the sediment for socioeconomic or ecological benefit could potentially defray some costs of its removal. Rivers that transport a sandy sediment load will depos
Authors
Ronald B. Zelt, Christopher M. Hobza, Bethany L. Burton, Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Nadine M. Piatak
Flood-inundation maps for the Meramec River at Valley Park and at Fenton, Missouri, 2017
Two sets of digital flood-inundation map libraries that spanned a combined 16.7-mile reach of the Meramec River that extends upstream from Valley Park, Missouri, to downstream from Fenton, Mo., were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, Missouri Department of Transportation, Missouri American Water,
Authors
Benjamin J. Dietsch, Jacob N. Sappington
Brackish groundwater and its potential to augment freshwater supplies
Secure, reliable, and sustainable water resources are fundamental to the Nation’s food production, energy independence, and ecological and human health and well-being. Indications are that at any given time, water resources are under stress in selected parts of the country. The large-scale development of groundwater resources has caused declines in the amount of groundwater in storage and declines
Authors
Jennifer S. Stanton, Kevin F. Dennehy
Water-level and recoverable water in storage changes, High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2015 and 2013–15
The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (about 175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial irrigation with groundwater in the aquifer area (about 1950). This report presents water-level changes an
Authors
Virginia L. McGuire
Groundwater-flow model of the northern High Plains aquifer in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming
The High Plains aquifer is a nationally important water resource underlying about 175,000 square miles in parts of eight states: Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Droughts across much of the Northern High Plains from 2001 to 2007 have combined with recent (2004) legislative mandates to elevate concerns regarding future availability of groundwater a
Authors
Steven M. Peterson, Amanda T. Flynn, Jonathan P. Traylor
Flood-inundation maps for a 12.5-mile reach of Big Papillion Creek at Omaha, Nebraska
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 12.5-mile reach of the Big Papillion Creek from 0.6 mile upstream from the State Street Bridge to the 72nd Street Bridge in Omaha, Nebraska, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science W
Authors
Kellan R. Strauch, Benjamin J. Dietsch, Kayla J. Anderson
Effects of streamflows on stream-channel morphology in the eastern Niobrara National Scenic River, Nebraska, 1988–2010
The Niobrara River is an important and valuable economic and ecological resource in northern Nebraska that supports ecotourism, recreational boating, wildlife, fisheries, agriculture, and hydroelectric power. Because of its uniquely rich resources, a 122-kilometer reach of the Niobrara River was designated as a National Scenic River in 1991, which has been jointly managed by the U.S. Fish and Wild
Authors
Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Jason S. Alexander, Kiernan Folz-Donahue
Water balance monitoring for two bioretention gardens in Omaha, Nebraska, 2011–14
Bioretention gardens are used to help mitigate stormwater runoff in urban settings in an attempt to restore the hydrologic response of the developed land to a natural predevelopment response in which more water is infiltrated rather than routed directly to urban drainage networks. To better understand the performance of bioretention gardens in facilitating infiltration of stormwater in eastern Neb
Authors
Kellan R. Strauch, David L. Rus, Kent E. Holm
Sediment loads and transport at constructed chutes along the Missouri River - Upper Hamburg Chute near Nebraska City, Nebraska, and Kansas Chute near Peru, Nebraska
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, monitored suspended sediment within constructed Missouri River chutes during March through October 2012. Chutes were constructed at selected river bends by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help mitigate aquatic habitat lost through the creation and maintenance of the navigation channel on the Missouri River. The r
Authors
Brenda K. Densmore, David L. Rus, Matthew T. Moser, Brent M. Hall, Michael J. Andersen