Publications

Since the discovery of acid rain in the 1970's, scientists have been concerned that deposition of acids could cause depletion of calcium in forest soils. Research in the 1980's showed that the amount of calcium in forest soils is controlled by several factors that are difficult to measure. Further research in the 1990's, including several studies by the U.S. Geological Survey, has shown...

Hydrogeologic investigations in an industrial area in Wolcott and Waterbury, Connecticut, have provided information on the geology, ground-water flow, and water quality of the area. Ground-water contamination by volatile organic compounds was discovered in the 1980?s in the Nutmeg Valley area, where approximately 43 industries and 25 residences use ground water for industrial and...

The use of environmental tracers in characterization of ground-water systems is investigated through mathematical modeling of ground-water age and atmospheric tracer transport, and by a field study at the Mirror Lake site, New Hampshire. Theory is presented for modeling ground-water age using the advective-dispersive transport equation. The transport equation includes a zero-order source...

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Many studies have been conducted since 1970 to characterize concentrations of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in highway runoff and urban stormwater. To a lesser extent, studies also have characterized concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), estimated loads of SVOCs, and assessed potential impacts of these contaminants on receiving streams. This review evaluates the...

A ground water basin is defined as the volume of subsurface through which ground water flows from the water table to a specified discharge location. Delineating the topographically defined surface water basin and extending it vertically downward does not always define the ground water basin. Instead, a ground water basin is more appropriately delineated by tracking ground water flowpaths...

Introduction The Cambridge Water Department (CWD) supplies about 15 million gallons of water each day to more than 95,000 customers in the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most of this water is obtained from a system of reservoirs located in Cambridge and in parts of five other suburban-Boston communities. The drainage basin that contributes water to these reservoirs includes several...

ABSTRACT: A multivariate approach was used to analyze hydrologic, geologic, geographic, and water-chemistry data from small order watersheds in the Quabbin Reservoir Basin in central Massachusetts. Eighty three small order watersheds were delineated and landscape attributes defining hydrologic, geologic, and geographic features of the watersheds were compiled from geographic information...

More than 10 inches of rain fell on some areas of eastern Massachusetts and more than 7 inches fell on some areas of Rhode Island during and intense and prolonged rainstorm from June 12 through June 15, 1998. On some streams, the magnitude of the floods resulting from the rain would be exceeded, on average, only once every 50 years. Estimated property damage from the June 1998 floods...

The Federal Highway Administration and State transportation agencies have the responsibility of determining and minimizing the effects of highway runoff on water quality; therefore, they have been conducting an extensive program of water-quality monitoring and research during the last 25 years. The objectives and monitoring goals of highway runoff studies have been diverse, because the...