Publications

Since the early 1900s, groundwater withdrawn from the primary aquifers that compose the Gulf Coast aquifer system—the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers—has been an important source of water in the greater Houston area, Texas. This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, City of Houston, Fort Bend Subsidence...

In the two decades, since the advent of the term “flash drought,” considerable research has been directed toward the topic. Within the scientific community, we have actively forged a new paradigm that has avoided a chaotic evolution of conventional drought but instead recognizes that flash droughts have distinct dynamics and, particularly, impacts. We have moved beyond the initial debate...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) conducted a series of four Listening Sessions in 2022 – each with a different application or topical focus – to seek input on priorities and needs related to predicting water availability changes under drought conditions at national and regional scales. This input was gathered to help...

RiverWare is a river system modeling tool developed by CADSWES (Center of Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems) that allows the user to simulate complex reservoir operations and perform period-of-record analyses for different scenarios. For the InFRM hydrology studies, RiverWare is used to generate a homogeneous regulated POR by simulating the basin as if the...

Statistical analysis of the observational record from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgages and period of historical flow observations prior to the gage installation provides an informative means of estimating flood flow frequency. The U.S. Geological Survey contributed to the InFRM team’s efforts by performing the statistical analysis of the gaged record and authored this Appendix...

VNIR-SWIR (400–2500 nm) reflectance measurements were made on the surfaces of various cores, cuttings and sample splits of sedimentary rocks from the Tertiary Jackson Group, and Catahoula, Oakville and Goliad Formations. These rocks vary in composition and texture from mudstone and claystone to sandstone and are known host rocks for roll front uranium occurrences in Karnes and Live Oak...

The goal of Component 1 is to identify available data and data gaps in the Texas coastal region and to establish a plan for obtaining data critical for successful coastal flood analysis in these regions. This component is supporting the expansion and improvement of data observations for inland, coastal, and ocean systems.

A variety of data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of South Padre Island, to better understand the physical and biological habitat in Tompkins Channel and adjacent seagrass beds in the lower Laguna Madre, Texas, where the construction of berms has been proposed in the City of South Padre Island’s Shoreline Master Plan. These berms would be used...

The Mekong River provides water, food security, and many other valuable benefits to the more than 60 million Southeast Asian residents living within its basin. However, the Mekong River Basin is increasingly stressed by changes in climate, land cover, and infrastructure. These changes can affect water quantity and quality and exacerbate related hazards such as land subsidence and...

During August 2018 – November 2019, the transport pathways of dredge material from a specially constructed nearshore feeder berm were investigated as part of a collaborative study by the City of South Padre Island, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–Galveston District, U.S. Geological Survey, Partrac GeoMarine Inc., and Texas A&M University, into the efficacy of beneficial use dredge material...

In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District and the Texas Water Development Board, studied floods to produce a library of flood-inundation maps for the Sabinal River near Utopia, Texas. Digital flood-inundation maps were created for a 10-mile reach of the Sabinal River from USGS streamgage 08197936 Sabinal...

Karst aquifers are a vital groundwater resource globally, but features such as rapid recharge and conduit flow make them highly vulnerable to land-surface contamination. We apply environmental age tracers to the south-central Texas Edwards aquifer, a karst resource in a rapidly urbanizing and drought-prone region, to assess vulnerability to land-surface contamination and risks unique to...