Publications
Publications authored by the Nevada Water Science Center scientists are listed below. Older publications may not be available in electronic form yet. If a Nevada Water Science Center publication that you would like to view isn't listed below, please send email to GS-W-NVpublic-info@ usgs.gov.
Filter Total Items: 373
Soil moisture product validation good practices protocol, version 1.0
The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) included soil moisture in the list of Essential
Climate Variables (ECVs) to express its important role in Earth’s water, energy and carbon cycle.
Soil moisture has a major impact on agriculture, land surface hydrology, weather, and climate
forecasting. This document is a community-based effort to provide recommendations on good
practices for the validatio
Authors
Carsten Montzka, Michael H. Cosh, Bagher Bayat, Ahmad Al Bitar, Aaron Berg, Rajat Bindlish, Heye Reemt Bogena, John D. Bolton, Francois Cabot, Todd Caldwell, Steven Chan, Andreas Colliander, Wade Crow, Narendra Das, Gabrielle De Lannoy, Wouter Dorigo, Steven R. Evett, Alexander Gruber, Sebastian Hahn, Thomas Jagdhuber, Scott F. Jones, Yann Kerr, Seung-bum Kim, Christian Koyama, Mehmed Kurum, Ernesto Lopez-Baeza, Francesco Mattia, Kaighin A. McColl, Susanne Mecklenburg, Binayak Mohanty, Peggy O´Neill, Dani Or, Thierry Pellarin, George P. Petropoulos, Maria Piles, Rolf H. Reichle, Nemesio Rodriguez-Fernandez, Christoph Rüdiger, Tracy Scanlon, Robert C. Schwartz, Daniel Spengler, Prashant K. Srivastava, Swati Suman, Robin van der Schalie, Wolfgang Wagner, Urs Wegmüller, Jean-Pierre Wigneron, Fernando Camacho, Jaime Nickeson
Simulated effects of pumping in the Death Valley Regional Groundwater Flow System, Nevada and California—Selected management scenarios projected to 2120
Declining water levels and reduced natural discharge at springs, seeps, and phreatophyte areas primarily are the result of decades of groundwater development in the Death Valley regional flow system, in Nevada and California. A calibrated groundwater-flow model was used to simulate potential future effects of groundwater pumping on water levels and natural groundwater discharge in the study area.
Authors
Nora C. Nelson, Tracie R. Jackson
Delineation of flood-inundation areas in Grapevine Canyon near Scotty’s Castle, Death Valley National Park, California
On October 18, 2015, a large flood caused considerable damage in Grapevine Canyon near Death Valley Scotty Historic District, in Death Valley National Park, California. Significant channel changes had limited the applicability of previously created flood-inundation maps to current conditions. Predicted flood-inundation maps for Scotty’s Castle were updated using one-dimensional hydraulic models. A
Authors
Christopher M. Morris, Toby L. Welborn, J. Toby Minear
Select techniques for detecting and quantifying seepage from unlined canals
Canal seepage losses affect the ability of water conveyance structures to maximize efficiency and can be a precursor to canal failure. Identification and quantification of canal seepage out of unlined canals is a complex interaction affected by geology, canal stage, operations, embankment geometry, siltation, animal burrows, structures, and other physical characteristics. Seepage out of unlined ca
Authors
Evan J. Lindenbach, Jong Beom Kang, Justin B. Rittgers, Ramon C. Naranjo
Trends in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment concentrations and loads in streams draining to Lake Tahoe, California, Nevada, USA
Lake Tahoe, a large freshwater lake of the eastern Sierra Nevada in California and Nevada, has 63 tributaries that are sources of nutrients and sediment to the lake. The Tahoe watershed is relatively small, and the surface area of the lake occupies about 38% of the watershed area (1313 km2). Only about 6% of the watershed is urbanized or residential land, and as part of a plan to maintain water cl
Authors
Joseph L. Domagalski, Eric D. Morway, Nancy L. Alvarez, Juliet Hutchins, Michael R. Rosen, Robert Coats
Rethinking a groundwater flow system using a multiple-tracer geochemical approach: A case study in Moab-Spanish Valley, Utah
The Glen Canyon Group Aquifer (GCGA) is the sole source of public water supply for the city of Moab, Utah, a domestic and international tourist destination. Population and tourism growth are likely to target the GCGA for future water resources, but our analysis indicates that additional withdrawals would likely be sourced from groundwater storage and not be sustained by recharge. A quantitative es
Authors
Philip M. Gardner, Nora C. Nelson, Victor M. Heilweil, John E. Solder, Douglas K. Solomon
Estimates of groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration, Stump Spring and Hiko Springs, Clark County, southern Nevada, 2016–18
This report documents methodology and results of a study that estimated groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (GWET) from phreatophytic vegetation in two desert riparian areas with ephemeral spring discharge in Clark County, southern Nevada. The phreatophytes consisted primarily of western honey mesquite [Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana (L.D. Benson) M.C. Johnst.] at Stump Spring and mixe
Authors
Michael T. Moreo, Susan G. Buto, David W. Smith, Nora C. Nelson
Hydrologic monitoring networks in the Death Valley Regional Flow System, Nye County, Nevada and Inyo County, California
IntroductionWater is an important resource in the arid southwest region of the United States where there is a limited supply of surface water and groundwater. In the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system (DVRFS) in southern Nevada and eastern California, groundwater is the main source of supply for agricultural, commercial, and domestic water needs.For over four decades, the United States
Authors
Steven R. Reiner, Peggy E. Elliott, Katherine J. Earp, Wayne R. Belcher
Li and Ca enrichment in the Bristol Dry Lake brine compared to brines from Cadiz and Danby Dry Lakes, Barstow-Bristol Trough, California, USA
Relatively few discharging playas in western United States extensional basins have high concentrations of lithium (Li) and calcium (Ca) in the basin-center brines. However, the source of both these ions is not well understood, and it is not clear why basins in close proximity within the same extensional trough have notably different concentrations of Li and Ca. In the Barstow-Bristol Trough, Calif
Authors
Michael R. Rosen, Lisa L. Stillings, Tyler Kane, Kate M. Campbell, Matthew Vitale, Ray Spanjers
Emerging and historical contaminants detected in desert rodents collected near a low‐level radioactive waste site
In an effort to determine contaminant presence, concentrations, and movement from a low‐level radioactive waste (LLRW) burial disposal site to ecosystems in the surrounding area, a study was developed to assess concentrations of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and tritium. To complete this assessment small mammals, vegetation, soil, and insect samples
Authors
Ryan S. Cleary, Adcharee Karnjanapiboonwong, William A. Thompson, Steven J. Lasee, Seenivasan Sabbiah, Ronald Kauble, Brian J. Andraski, Todd A. Anderson
A comparison of groundwater sampling technologies, including passive diffusion sampling, for radionuclide contamination
Using traditional high-flow purge methods for long-term water quality monitoring of deep groundwater wells can be expensive, affect contaminant migration, and produce excessive volumes of discharge water that can be difficult to manage. The use of low-flow pumping methods and depth discrete bailers (DDBs) can reduce the cost of sampling deep groundwater wells. In general, using different pumping m
Authors
Rebecca J. Frus, Thomas Imbrigiotta
Groundwater characterization and effects of pumping in the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system, Nevada and California, with special reference to Devils Hole
Groundwater flow and development were characterized in four groundwater basins of the Death Valley regional flow system in Nevada and California with calibrated, groundwater-flow models. Natural groundwater discharges in the Furnace Creek, Lower Amargosa, and Saratoga Spring areas were defined and distributed consistently with a revised hydrogeologic framework. This simplified hydrogeologic framew
Authors
Keith J. Halford, Tracie R. Jackson