Nutrients

In Pennsylvania, the USGS's water-resources roots date back to the late 1800's, with the initiation of streamflow gaging on the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers and assessments of groundwater resources near Philadelphia. The USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center continues to provide scientific information about the water resources of the Susquehanna River Basin, in cooperation with regional and...

USGS provides monitoring, analysis, modeling and research on streams and water quality to better understand the fate and transport of nutrients and sediment to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries and eventually to the Chesapeake Bay. Additional research efforts in the Susquehanna River basin focus on emerging contaminants and other stressors that effect human and aquatic life in the...

USGS conducted synoptic sampling of major-ion chemistry and the nitrogen and oxygen isotopic composition of nitrate in Fishing Creek during base flow to evaluate the occurrence and distribution of nutrients and to characterize biogeochemical processes.

Sediment in streams, from land surface erosion in watersheds, is an important factor in determining the quality of Pennsylvania's surface waters and of downstream water bodies such as the Delaware Estuary and Chesapeake Bay. The USGS has a long-standing tradition of measuring suspended-sediment concentrations and estimating loads. Recent technological advances allow real-time estimates of...