Publications
The list below includes official USGS publications and journal articles authored by New England Water Science Center scientists. The USGS Pubs Warehouse link provides access to all USSG publications.
Filter Total Items: 1077
Assessing the impact of chloride deicer application in the Siskiyou Pass, southern Oregon
Chloride deicers have been applied by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to Interstate Route 5 (I–5) from the Oregon-California border north to mile marker 10 for several years in the high-elevation area known as the Siskiyou Pass. Magnesium chloride (MgCl2) and sodium chloride (NaCl) are applied to keep the interstate highway safe for drivers and allow for efficient transport of goods
Authors
Adam J. Stonewall, Matthew C. Yates, Gregory E. Granato
Attribution of monotonic trends and change points in peak streamflow across the conterminous United States using a multiple working hypotheses framework, 1941–2015 and 1966–2015
The U.S. Geological Survey has a long history of leading flood-frequency analysis studies. These studies play a critical role in the assessment of risk, protection of lives, and planning and design of flood protection infrastructure. Standard flood-frequency analysis is based on the assumption of stationarity—that is, that the distribution of floods at a given site varies around a particular mean
Going beyond low flows: Streamflow drought deficit and duration illuminate distinct spatiotemporal drought patterns and trends in the U.S. during the last century
Streamflow drought is a recurring challenge, and understanding spatiotemporal patterns of past droughts is needed to manage future water resources. We examined regional patterns in streamflow drought metrics and compared these metrics to low flow timing and magnitude using long-term daily records for 555 minimally disturbed watersheds. For each streamgage, we calculated streamflow drought duration
Authors
John C. Hammond, Caelan E. Simeone, Jory Seth Hecht, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Melissa Lombard, Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock, Michael Wieczorek, Carolyn G Olson, Todd Caldwell, Robert W. Dudley, Adam N. Price
Water-quality conditions and constituent loads, water years 2013–19, and water-quality trends, water years 1983–2019, in the Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island
The Scituate Reservoir is the primary source of drinking water for more than 60 percent of the population of Rhode Island. From October 1, 1982, to September 30, 2019, water years (WYs) 1983–2019 (a water year is the period between October 1 and September 30 and is designated by the year in which it ends), the Providence Water Supply Board maintained a fixed-frequency sampling program at 37 statio
Authors
Alana B. Spaetzel, Kirk P. Smith
Bedrock depth influences spatial patterns of summer baseflow, temperature and flow disconnection for mountainous headwater streams
In mountain headwater streams, the quality and resilience of summer cold-water habitat is generally regulated by stream discharge, longitudinal stream channel connectivity and groundwater exchange. These critical hydrologic processes are thought to be influenced by the stream corridor bedrock contact depth (sediment thickness), a parameter often inferred from sparse hillslope borehole information,
Authors
Martin Briggs, Phillip J. Goodling, Zachary Johnson, Karli M. Rogers, Nathaniel P. Hitt, Jennifer Burlingame Hoyle Fair, Craig D. Snyder
Concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in selected rivers and streams in Massachusetts, 2020
Water samples collected from 27 rivers and streams in Massachusetts were analyzed to characterize the presence and concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (collectively known as PFAS) in surface waters across the Commonwealth. Sampling sites were selected in urban rivers where PFAS were expected to be present, such as those that receive treated municipal wastewater, and in rural rive
Authors
Jennifer G. Savoie, Denise M. Argue
Methods for computing 7Q2 and 7Q20 low-streamflow statistics to account for possible trends
Low-streamflow statistics, such as the annual minimum 7-day streamflow (which is the 7-day streamflow likely to be exceeded in 9 out of 10 years on average [7Q10]), that are computed by using the full historical streamflow record may not accurately represent current conditions at sites with statistically significant trends in low streamflow over time. Recent research suggests that using a contempo
Authors
Luther Schalk, Robert W. Dudley, Annalise G. Blum
Spatially averaged stratigraphic data to inform watershed sediment routing: An example from the Mid-Atlantic United States
New and previously published stratigraphic data define Holocene to present sediment storage time scales for Mid-Atlantic river corridors. Empirical distributions of deposit ages and thicknesses were randomly sampled to create synthetic age-depth records. Deposits predating European settlement accumulated at a (median) rate of 0.06 cm yr−1, range from ∼18,000 to 225 yr old, and represent 39% (media
Authors
James Pizzuto, Katherine Skalak, Adam Benthem, Shannon A. Mahan, Mahmoud Sherif, Adam Pearson
U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Toolbox — A graphical and mapping interface for analysis of hydrologic data
The Hydrologic Toolbox is a Windows-based desktop software program that provides a graphical and mapping interface for analysis of hydrologic time-series data with a set of widely used and standardized computational methods. The software combines the analytical and statistical functionality provided in the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater and Surface-Water Toolboxes and provides several enhancem
Authors
Paul M. Barlow, Amy R. McHugh, Julie E. Kiang, Tong Zhai, Paul Hummel, Paul Duda, Scott Hinz
Areas contributing recharge to selected production wells in unconfined and confined glacial valley-fill aquifers in Chenango River Basin, New York
In the Chenango River Basin of central New York, unconfined and confined glacial valley-fill aquifers are an important source of drinking-water supplies. The risk of contaminating water withdrawn by wells that tap these aquifers might be reduced if the areas contributing recharge to the wells are delineated and these areas protected from land uses that might affect the water quality. The U.S. Geol
Authors
Paul J. Friesz, John H. Williams, Jason S. Finkelstein, Joshua C. Woda
Surface-water-quality data to support implementation of revised freshwater aluminum water-quality criteria in Massachusetts, 2018–19
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, performed a study to inform the development of the department’s guidelines for the collection and use of water-chemistry data to support calculation of site-dependent aluminum criteria values. The U.S. Geological Survey collected and analyzed discrete water-quality samples at four wastewater-t
Authors
David S. Armstrong, Jennifer G. Savoie, Leslie A. DeSimone, Kaitlin L. Laabs, Richard O. Carey