Pacific Islands Water Science Center
Publications
Publications from the Pacific Islands Water Science Center are geographically grouped.
- State of Hawaiʻi
- Kauaʻi
- Oʻahu
- Molokaʻi
- Maui
- Kahoʻolawe
- Hawaiʻi Island
- Guam
- Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
- American Samoa
- Republic of the Marshall Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Republic of Palau
- Diego Garcia
Search the USGS Pubs Warehouse for products written for the general public and scientists.
The ‘Ike Wai Hawai‘i groundwater recharge tool
This paper discusses the design and implementation of the ‘Ike Wai Hawai‘i Groundwater Recharge Tool, an application for providing data and analyses of the impacts of land-cover and climate modifications on groundwater-recharge rates for the island of O‘ahu. This application uses simulation data based on a set of 29 land-cover types and two...
McLean, Jared H.; Cleaveland, Sean B.; Rotzoll, Kolja; Izuka, Scot K.; Leigh, Jason; Jacobs, Gwen A.; Theriot, Ryan
Estimated groundwater recharge from a water-budget model incorporating selected climate projections, Island of Maui, Hawai‘i
Demand for freshwater on the Island of Maui is expected to increase by 45 percent between 2015 and 2035. Groundwater availability on Maui is affected by changes in climate and agricultural irrigation. To evaluate the availability of fresh groundwater under projected future climate conditions and changing agricultural irrigation practices,...
Mair, Alan; Johnson, Adam G.; Rotzoll, Kolja; Oki, Delwyn S. Enabling real-time user interaction for decision support: Experiences extending a local agave platform metadata service
The University of Hawai'i Information Technology Services Cyber-infrastructure team in partnership with the United States Geological Survey developed the Hawai'i groundwater recharge tool, a decision support tool, as part of the 'Ike Wai Gateway to support water sustainability research for the state of Hawai'i. To enable the development of the...
Cleveland, Sean B.; McClean, Jared H.; Rotzoll, Kolja; Izuka, Scot K.; Jacobs, Gwen A. Hawai‘i Groundwater Recharge Tool
The Hawai‘i Groundwater Recharge Tool allows users to evaluate the potential effects of land-cover and climate changes on groundwater recharge. This website provides a baseline estimate of recharge representing recent conditions of precipitation (1978–2008 average) and land cover (2010). Users can change land cover and rainfall conditions to...
McLean, Jared H.; Rotzoll, Kolja; Cleaveland, Sean B.; Izuka, Scot K. Tropical cyclone projections: Changing climate threats for Pacific Island defense installations
Potential changing climate threats in the tropical and subtropical North Pacific Ocean were assessed, using coupled ocean-atmosphere and atmosphere-only general circulation models, to explore their response to projected increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical cyclone occurrence, described by their frequency and intensity, near islands...
Widlansky, Matthew J.; Annamalai, Hariharasubramanian; Gingerich, Stephen B.; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Marra, John J.; Hodges, Kevin I.; Choy, Barry; Kitoh, Akio
Groundwater-level, groundwater-temperature, and barometric-pressure data, July 2017 to February 2018, Hālawa Area, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
The Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, operated by the U.S. Navy and located in the Hālawa area, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, includes 20 underground storage tanks that can hold a total of 250 million gallons of fuel. In January 2014, the U.S. Navy notified the Hawaiʻi Department of Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of release of an estimated...
Mitchell, Jackson N.; Oki, Delwyn S.
Volcanic aquifers of Hawai‘i—Hydrogeology, water budgets, and conceptual models
Hawai‘i’s aquifers have limited capacity to store fresh groundwater because each island is small and surrounded by saltwater. Saltwater also underlies much of the fresh groundwater. Fresh groundwater resources are, therefore, particularly vulnerable to human activity, short-term climate cycles, and long-term climate change. Availability of fresh...
Izuka, Scot K.; Engott, John A.; Rotzoll, Kolja; Bassiouni, Maoya; Johnson, Adam G.; Miller, Lisa D.; Mair, Alan
Spatially distributed groundwater recharge estimated using a water-budget model for the Island of Maui, Hawai`i, 1978–2007
Demand for freshwater on the Island of Maui is expected to grow. To evaluate the availability of fresh groundwater, estimates of groundwater recharge are needed. A water-budget model with a daily computation interval was developed and used to estimate the spatial distribution of recharge on Maui for average climate conditions (1978–2007 rainfall...
Johnson, Adam G.; Engott, John A.; Bassiouni, Maoya; Rotzoll, Kolja
Measuring surface-water loss in Honouliuli Stream near the ‘Ewa Shaft, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply is currently concerned with the possibility of bacteria in the pumped water of the ‘Ewa Shaft (State well 3-2202-21). Groundwater from the ‘Ewa Shaft could potentially be used to meet future potable water needs in the ‘Ewa area on the island of O‘ahu. The source of the bacteria in the pumped water is unknown,...
Rosa, Sarah N. Seawater-flooding events and impact on freshwater lenses of low-lying islands: Controlling factors, basic management and mitigation
An unprecedented set of hydrologic observations was collected after the Dec 2008 seawater-flooding event on Roi-Namur, Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. By two days after the seawater flooding that occurred at the beginning of dry season, the observed salinity of water withdrawn by the island’s main skimming well increased to 100...
Gingerich, Stephen B.; Voss, Clifford I.; Johnson, Adam G.
Spatially distributed groundwater recharge for 2010 land cover estimated using a water-budget model for the Island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i
Owing mainly to projected population growth, demand for freshwater on the Island of Oʻahu is expected to increase by about 26 percent between 2010 and 2030, according to the City and County of Honolulu. Estimates of groundwater recharge are needed to evaluate the availability of fresh groundwater. For this study, a water-budget model with a daily...
Engott, John A.; Johnson, Adam G.; Bassiouni, Maoya; Izuka, Scot K.; Rotzoll, Kolja Panel regressions to estimate low-flow response to rainfall variability in ungaged basins
Multicollinearity and omitted-variable bias are major limitations to developing multiple linear regression models to estimate streamflow characteristics in ungaged areas and varying rainfall conditions. Panel regression is used to overcome limitations of traditional regression methods, and obtain reliable model coefficients, in particular to...
Bassiouni, Maoya; Vogel, Richard M.; Archfield, Stacey A.