Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and in partnership with Texas Tech University, investigated a refinement of the regional regression method and developed alternative equations for estimation of peak-streamflow frequency for undeveloped watersheds in Texas. A common model for estimation of peak-streamflow frequency is based on the...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the International Boundary and Water Commission - U.S. and Mexican Sections, the National Park Service, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales in Mexico, the Area de Proteccion de Flora y Fauna Canon de Santa Elena in Mexico, and the Area de Proteccion de Flora y Fauna Maderas...

The Texas Department of Transportation spends considerable money for maintenance and replacement of low-water crossings of streams in the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas as a result of damages caused in part by the transport of cobble- and gravel-sized bed material. An investigation of the problem at low-water crossings was made by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the...

The Texas Department of Transportation commonly builds and maintains low-water crossings (LWCs) over streams in the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. LWCs are low-height structures, typically constructed of concrete and asphalt, that provide acceptable passage over seasonal rivers or streams with relatively low normal-depth flow. They are designed to accommodate flow by roadway...

Analytical results on sediment and associated ground water from the Canadian River alluvium collected subsequent to those described in Breit and others (2005) are presented in this report. The data presented herein were collected primarily to evaluate the iron and sulfur species within the sediment at well sites IC 36, IC 54, and IC South located at the USGS Norman Landfill study site...

Created in 1954 by an impoundment on the San Jacinto River, Lake Houston currently (2008) supplies about 20 percent of the total source water for the city of Houston. Houston historically has relied on ground water as the major source of supply. As a result of regulations to limit ground-water withdrawals because of associated land subsidence (effective in 2010), the lake will become the...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Region VI of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and the Osage Nation presented three 3-day workshops, in June-August 2007, entitled ?Introduction to Field Water-Quality Methods for the Collection of Metals.? The purpose of the workshops was to provide instruction to tribes within USEPA Region VI on various USGS surface-water measurement...

Lake Arrowhead is a reservoir about 24 kilometers southeast of Wichita Falls, Texas, that provides drinking water for the city of Wichita Falls and surrounding areas. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Wichita Falls, did a study in 2006 to assess conditions contributing to elevated arsenic concentrations in Lake Arrowhead. This report describes the sampling and...

Harmful algal blooms can occur when certain types of microscopic algae grow quickly in water, forming visible patches that might harm the health of the environment, plants, or animals. In freshwater, species of Cyanobacteria (also known as bluegreen algae) are the dominant group of harmful, bloom-forming algae. When Cyanobacteria form a harmful algal bloom, potential impairments include...

The City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, uses Lake Eucha and Spavinaw Lake in the Eucha-Spavinaw basin in northwestern Arkansas and northeastern Oklahoma for public water supply. Taste and odor problems in the water attributable to blue-green algae have increased in frequency. Changes in the algae community in the lakes may be attributable to increases in nutrient levels in the lakes, and in the...

The Eucha-Spavinaw basin is the source of water for Lake Eucha and Spavinaw Lake, which are part of the water supply for the City of Tulsa. The City of Tulsa has received complaints of taste and odor in the finished drinking water because of deteriorating water quality. The deterioration is largely because of algal growth from the input of nutrients from the Eucha-Spavinaw basin. The U.S

This report by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System, describes the results of a statistical analysis of major ion and trace element geochemistry of water at seven wells transecting the freshwater/saline-water interface of the Edwards aquifer in San Antonio, Texas, either over time or in response to variations in hydrologic conditions. The data used...