Water Use and Availability Science
Water Use and Availability Science
Demand for water in the U.S. is unevenly distributed. Because of increasing competition for local supplies that could lead to shortages, it is expedient to know how and where water is withdrawn, delivered, and used. The NYWSC studies how the interactions of humans affect the water cycle, including how much water is withdrawn from natural sources, where this water goes, how this water is used, what happens to the water after it is used, and how water moves from its source to its outlet. These studies are a first step in understanding how future water demands can be met while maintaining adequate water quality and balancing the needs of human and ecological water needs. Studies on water use and availability also explore the nature of and outlook for water stored in ice and the oceans, examine the effects of climate change on water systems and ecosystems, analyze the effects of major storms on habitats, human populations, and coastal regions, and track and predict flooding and areas that could potentially be inundated.
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The Use of Solute-transport Methods to Estimate Time-varying Nitrogen Loading Rates to the Peconic Estuary Resulting from Wastewater and Fertilizer Inputs to Groundwater in Suffolk County, New York (Peconic Solute Transport)
Problem The Peconic Estuary of eastern Long Island, New York, is undergoing development as the region transitions from a rural area dependent on agriculture and tourism to a suburban one with a larger year-round population. The glacial and coastal-plain sediments underlying Long Island comprise a sole-source aquifer system that supplies the region’s communities with potable water. The area surrou
New York Flood Information
For emergency situations, please contact Chris Gazoorian, Surface Water Specialist at the USGS New York Water Science Center or call our general number (518) 285-5600 and follow the directions to leave voicemail which will be immediately forwarded to a responsible party and responded to as quickly as possible.
Detailed Aquifer Mapping of the Oneonta Area Otsego and Delaware Counties, New York
Introduction The City of Oneonta and surrounding area is the major population center in Otsego County, N.Y. and home to two colleges (SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College). The public water supply draws on both surface-water and groundwater sources and serves 15,954 people in the City of Oneonta and parts of the surrounding Town of Oneonta (City of Oneonta, 2013). The remaining population uses domest
Mohawk River Basin Water Quality
Elevated levels of nutrients (for example, phosphorus) in the Mohawk River can lead to eutrophication and potentially toxic blue-green algal blooms. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) collected nutrient samples and measured streamflow in the Mohawk River. These data are being used to develop a water-quality model...
An Investigation into the Water Surface Elevation Changes of Moreau Lake, Moreau Lake State Park, Saratoga County, NY
Background: Moreau Lake is located within Moreau Lake State Park, a 4,100 acre park divided by the Hudson River in northern Saratoga and southern Warren Counties of upstate New York. Moreau Lake has a surface area of 128 acres, a watershed of 469 acres, and 3.6 miles of shoreline. The lake has a “normal” mean depth of 32 feet and a maximum depth of 50 feet. An outlet control structure at the so
New York State Flood Investigations
Flooding can be a serious problem in many parts of New York State. Information on floods and analyses of flood data are needed to aid in the design of bridges, culverts, dams, highways, and buildings, and for the prudent management of flood-prone areas. Documentation of floods and a more thorough understanding of flood hydrology and hydraulics will result in more effective management of flood...
New York Drought Information
New York Drought Information: definitions, information resources, maps, and tools
Long Island Topography
The present landforms of Long Island are the result of many geologic processes, some of which began many millions of years ago and some of which began only recently. Most of the major features of the present-day topography, however, are related to the last glaciation, which ended approximately 22,000 years ago.
Long Island Land Use and Land Cover
On Long Island, land use includes the human activities and management practices for which land is used. Land cover is a mosaic of developed, forest, agriculture, and wetlands areas. Both land use and land cover are usually discussed in similar environments. The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) serves as the definitive LANDSAT-based, 30-meter resolution, land cover database for the Nation. NLCD...
Long Island Freshwater
Long Island is surrounded by an almost limitless amount of saltwater in the Atlantic Ocean, in the Long Island Sound, and in the many bays bordering Long Island. Although the salty water is important to the economy of the area and is of significant recreational value, this website is mainly concerned with the fresh water of Long Island, which from many standpoints, is even more important than the...
Hydrologic Cycle
The water cycle has no starting point, but we'll begin in the oceans, since that is where most of Earth's water exists. The sun, which drives the water cycle, heats water in the oceans. Some of it evaporates as vapor into the air; a relatively smaller amount of moisture is added as ice and snow sublimate directly from the solid state into vapor. Rising air currents take the vapor up into the...
Long Island Hydrogeologic Units
Long Island’s aquifer system consists of a seaward-dipping wedge of mostly unconsolidated stratified sediments comprised of sand, gravel, silt and clay.