Pennsylvania Water Science Center
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The USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center is your direct link to all kinds of water-resource information. Data collection and interpretive studies are done in cooperation with local, state, and federal agencies.
PA Drought Condition Monitoring
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection relies upon a number of parameters to monitor water-supply-drought conditions.
Drought ConditionsNews
Drought Streamflow Probabilities in Northeast Region
Maximum likelihood logistic regression (MLLR) is used to estimate drought probabilities for selected Northeast rivers and streams. Winter streamflows are used to estimate the chance of hydrologic drought during summer months. This application allows the display and query of these drought streamflow probabilities for Northeastern streams.
High Levels of Radon Found in Some Wells Across Pennsylvania
A new U.S. Geological Survey study has discovered high levels of radon in wells across certain areas of Pennsylvania.
USGS Finds Elevated Levels of Arsenic, Radon, Methane in Some Private Wells in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Tests of 75 private drinking water wells in Lycoming County, in north-central Pennsylvania, found water from most of the sampled wells contained concentrations of radon that exceeded a proposed, nonbinding health standard for drinking water. Smaller percentages of the wells contained concentrations of arsenic or methane that exceed existing drinking water standards.
Publications
Tritium as an indicator of modern, mixed, and premodern groundwater age
Categorical classification of groundwater age is often used for the assessment and understanding of groundwater resources. This report presents a tritium-based age classification system for the conterminous United States based on tritium (3H) thresholds that vary in space and time: modern (recharged in 1953 or later), if the measured value is...
Lindsey, Bruce D.; Jurgens, Bryant C.; Belitz, Kenneth
Hydrocarbons in upland groundwater, Marcellus Shale Region, Northeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New York, USA
Water samples from 50 domestic wells located <1 km (proximal) and >1 km (distal) from shale-gas wells in upland areas of the Marcellus Shale region were analyzed for chemical, isotopic, and groundwater-age tracers. Uplands were targeted because natural mixing with brine and hydrocarbons from deep formations is less common in those areas...
McMahon, Peter B.; Lindsey, Bruce D.; Conlon, Matthew D.; Hunt, Andrew G.; Belitz, Kenneth; Jurgens, Bryant; Varela, Brian
Remote sensing of river flow in Alaska—New technology to improve safety and expand coverage of USGS streamgaging
The U.S. Geological Survey monitors water level (water surface elevation relative to an arbitrary datum) and measures streamflow in Alaska rivers to compute and compile river flow records for use by water resource planners, engineers, and land managers to design infrastructure, manage floodplains, and protect life, property, and aquatic resources...
Conaway, Jeff; Eggleston, John R.; Legleiter, Carl J.; Jones, John W.; Kinzel, Paul J.; Fulton, John W.