Publications

The Chipuxet River and Chickasheen Brook Basins in southern Rhode Island are an important water resource for public and domestic supply, irrigation, recreation, and aquatic habitat. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Rhode Island Department of Health, began a study in 2012 as part of an effort to protect the source of water to six large-capacity production wells that...

The distributional pattern of dissolved arsenic concentrations from landfill plumes can provide clues to the source of arsenic contamination. Under simple idealized conditions, arsenic concentrations along flow paths in aquifers proximal to a landfill will decrease under anthropogenic sources but potentially increase under in situ sources. This paper presents several conceptual...

We compare total mercury (HgT) loading and methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation in streams and lakes from an urbanized area (Boston, Massachusetts) to rural regions of southern New Hampshire and Maine. The maximum HgT loading, as indicated by HgT atmospheric deposition, HgT emissions, and sediment HgT concentrations, did not coincide with maximum MeHg concentrations in fish. Urbanized...

To understand the hydrogeochemical processes regulating well water arsenic (As) evolution in fractured bedrock aquifers, three domestic wells with [As] up to 478 μg/L are investigated in central Maine. Geophysical logging reveals that fractures near the borehole bottom contribute 70-100% of flow. Borehole and fracture water samples from various depths show significant proportions of As...

Digital flood-inundation maps were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District for a 25-mile reach of the Ottauquechee River and a 2-mile reach of Reservoir Brook in Vermont. The reach of the Ottauquechee River that was studied extends from River Road Bridge in Killington, Vt., to the Taftsville Dam in the village...

This report is the product of a 2013 cooperative agreement between the U.S. Geological Survey, the International Joint Commission, and the Maine Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat to quantify the effects of meteorological conditions (from 1970 through 2008) on the survival of smallmouth bass ( Micropterus dolomieu) in the first year of life in Spednic Lake. This report documents the...

Hydro-ecological stream classification-the process of grouping streams by similar hydrologic responses and, by extension, similar aquatic habitat-has been widely accepted and is considered by some to be one of the first steps towards developing ecological flow targets. A new classification of 1543 streamgauges in the contiguous USA is presented by use of a novel and parsimonious approach...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, investigated the use of acoustic backscatter to estimate concentrations of suspended sediment and total phosphorus at the Barton River near Coventry, Vermont. The hypothesis was that acoustic backscatter—the reflection of sound waves off objects back to the source from which they came...

Landsat 5 and moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer satellite imagery were used to map the area of inundation of Lake Champlain, which forms part of the border between New York and Vermont, during May 2011. During this month, the lake’s water levels were record high values not observed in the previous 150 years. Lake inundation area determined from the satellite imagery is...

Annual and daily concentrations and fluxes of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, chloride, and total suspended solids were estimated for 18 monitored tributaries to Lake Champlain by using the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Seasons regression model. Estimates were made for 21 or 23 years, depending on data availability, for the purpose of providing timely and...

Groundwater is the sole source of drinking water and a major source of freshwater for domestic, industrial, and agricultural uses on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Groundwater discharged from aquifers also supports freshwater pond and stream ecosystems and coastal wetlands. Six hydraulically distinct groundwater-flow systems (lenses) have been delineated on Cape Cod. Of the approximately 450...

Seven existing road crossing structures at streams in Massachusetts were evaluated hydraulically and compared to hypothetical alternative structures designed for Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) using standards developed by the Massachusetts River Continuity Partnership. Hydraulic simulations made for flood flows ranging from 20- to 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability (AEP) indicate...