New England Water Science Center Projects
The New England Water Science Center monitors, analyzes, and communicates information on the quality and movement of surface water and groundwater within the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Explore our projects to learn more about the scientific investigations we conduct. Use keywords and the available filters to narrow your search scope.
Explore Our Projects
Explore Our Projects
Filter Total Items: 89
Water Quality Monitoring in the Cambridge Drinking-Water Source Area, Massachusetts
The Cambridge Water Department supplies approximately 13 million gallons per day of drinking water to more than 100,000 customers. Raw water is obtained from a serial system of three primary storage reservoirs—Cambridge Reservoir (also known as the Hobbs Brook Reservoir), Stony Brook Reservoir, and Fresh Pond Reservoir—in parts of Cambridge, Lexington, Lincoln, Waltham, and Weston, Massachusetts...
Evaluation of Lakes and Impoundments Drought Index for the Massachusetts Drought Management Plan
Lake and impoundment levels are used for calculating a drought severity index.
Effects of Sea-Level Rise and Climate Change on the Groundwater-Flow System of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), is investigating the effects of sea-level rise and climate change on the groundwater resources of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Developing Synthetic Historical Record at Groundwater Wells Using Record Extension Techniques
The Groundwater Index in the Massachusetts Drought Management Plan provides a general overview of groundwater levels relative to long-term groundwater levels in Massachusetts. The methods used to compute the Groundwater Index were revised for the 2019 version of the Drought Management Plan. The 2019 plan aligns the drought categories and specifies the drought status from select percentile ranges...
New England Lidar-Derived Hydrography Project
High-quality light detection and ranging (lidar) data from USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) has unlocked the potential to derive new and innovative hydrography datasets such as the USGS next generation 3D Hydrography Program (3DHP) that can be used for many hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) modeling applications. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) mapping partners require elevation and...
Characterizing Future Flood Flows for Flood Insurance Studies
Current methods of flood-frequency analyses for flood insurance studies assume that the statistical distribution of data from past observations will continue unchanged in the future. This is known as the assumption of stationarity. This assumption allows scientists to estimate flood magnitude and frequency based on past records and the expectation that those estimates will represent current and...
Satellite-based Remote Sensing of River Discharge
The U.S. Geological Survey and NASA are collaborating on a study to develop methods to estimate river flows from satellite observations.
Characterizing Future Climate and Hydrology in Massachusetts using Stochastic Modeling Methods
Communities across Massachusetts may face potential consequences of climate change, ranging from more extreme rainfall to more pronounced and frequent droughts. Climate change could alter the state’s hydrology in potentially complex and unanticipated ways. Typical approaches for projecting hydrologic risk under climate change can misrepresent and underestimate the variability of climate and...
Predictive Analysis of Water Demand for Providence, Rhode Island
The Providence Water Supply Board (Providence Water) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are collaborating on a study to predict future water demand in and around the city of Providence.
Base-Flow Water Quality Sampling in Small Basins Draining to Long Island Sound
During the past 20 years, nitrogen loads to Long Island Sound (LIS) have been substantially reduced in large watersheds affected by municipal wastewater loads.
Research on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the New England Water Science Center
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a diverse group of over 4,000 different compounds. Since the 1940s, PFAS have been manufactured and used around the globe, including in the United States. PFAS are resistant to chemical and thermal breakdown and impart stain and water-resistance properties, making them useful for a variety of commercial applications, but also persistent in the...
USGS Groundwater data for Connecticut
This web page provides the user with access to a table showing current conditions for active groundwater level sites, historical observations, and various summary statistics for both currently active and discontinued sites, for stations in Connecticut.