Publications

Concentrations of insecticides sprayed from truck or helicopter onto selected surface-water bodies in Suffolk County, N.Y., during the summers of 2002-04 decreased to below detection limits within 4 days after application. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Suffolk County Department of Health Services (SCDHS), sampled surface waters from selected wetlands for...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been publishing estimates of water use every five years since 1950 in the Estimated use of water in the United States circular series. In 1978, the Congress expanded the water-use activities of the USGS by establishing the National Water-Use Information Program (NWUIP). The water-use program in New York is part of the NWUIP and is based on a...

The laboratory for analysis of low-ionic-strength water at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) office in Troy, N.Y. analyzes samples collected by USGS projects in the Northeast. The laboratory’s quality-assurance program is based on internal and interlaboratory quality-assurance samples and quality-control procedures developed to ensure proper sample collection, processing, and analysis...

Ground water on the North Fork of Long Island is the sole source of drinking water, but the supply is vulnerable to saltwater intrusion and upconing in response to heavy pumping. Information on the area's hydrogeologic framework is needed to analyze the effects of pumping and drought on ground-water levels and the position of the freshwater-saltwater interface. This will enable water...

Water-quality data from public and private drinking-water supply wells that were sampled from October 1997 through March 2001 in Suffolk County, New York were evaluated to define the occurrence and concentrations of arsenic throughout the county. The data bases of the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) and the Suffolk County Department of Health Services (SCDHS) included 14 wells at...

Base-flow samples were collected seasonally from 20 small streams in the 372-square-mile Pepacton Reservoir watershed to evaluate the effects of hydrogeologic factors and nonpoint sources of contamination on the chemical composition of ground-water discharge. The reservoir provides part of New York City?s water supply. The subbasins represented one of three general types of land use...

Estimates of the quantity and quality of ground-water discharge from valley-fill deposits were calculated for nine valley reaches within the Pepacton watershed in southeastern New York in July and August of 2001. Streamflow and water quality at the upstream and downstream end of each reach and at intervening tributaries were measured under base-flow conditions and used in mass-balance...

Baseflow samples were collected from 20 small streams in the Pepacton Reservoir watershed in Delaware County, N.Y., from December 2000 through November 2001 as part of an investigation to define the occurrence of pesticides in shallow ground water in watersheds containing either a recent (2001) corn crop, a previous (1993-94) corn crop, or no history of row-crop cultivation. Baseflow...

One normal episode of pump operation in domestic wells drilled into bedrock in New York typically lasts about 1 minute and lowers the water level about 1 meter. Measurement of water levels in the pumped well before and during pumping and recovery can be completed in 2 to 3 hours and requires negligible disturbance of the well, so can be easily arranged. Such a test involves less...

It is commonly believed that fine-textured soils developed on carbonate parent material are well buffered from possible acidification. There are no data, however, that document resistance of such soils to acidic deposition exposure on a timescale longer than 30-40 years. In this paper, we report on directly testing the long-term buffering capacity of nineteenth century forest soils...

Ground water is the sole source of freshwater on the North Fork of Long Island. Future demands for the limited freshwater supply during a prolonged drought could cause drawdowns that induce saltwater intrusion and render the supply unusable. The freshwater system on the North Fork contains several localized, hydraulically isolated aquifers bounded by salty water. The need for information...

The hydrogeology of the 372-square-mile Pepacton Reservoir watershed (herein called the East Branch Delaware River Basin) in the southwestern Catskill Mountain region of Southeastern New York is described and depicted in a detailed surficial geologic map and two geologic sections. An analysis of stream discharge records and estimates of mean annual ground-water recharge and stream base...