South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC)

Cristal Younker of the SAWSC drives a boat to site 02226160, Altamaha River at Everett City, Georgia, to collect samples for the National Water Quality Program (NWQP) trends sampling. The NWQP provides an understanding of water-quality conditions; whether conditions are getting better or worse over time; and how natural features and human activities affect those conditions

Anna McKee of the SAWSC, Norcross, GA, prepares DNA from water samples to test for bacteria that indicate sources of fecal contamination. Understanding the sources of contamination can help target mitigation and outreach efforts.

Kelsey Simmons and Kaamilya Najeeullah of the SAWSC prepare a sample from site 02336240 S.F Peachtree Creek Johnson Rd, near Atlanta, GA. The sample is part of routine water-quality monitoring for water-shed protection in Dekalb County, GA.

This flood event viewer map, dated Oct. 3, 2018, shows the extent and type of information collected by USGS hydrologists in North and South Carolina in the wake of historic flooding brought on by Hurricane Florence.

USGS hydrographer Daniel McCay uses a level to double-check a high water mark on a church door near Maxton, NC as his USGS colleague Mary Winsor observes on Sept. 25, 2018, in the wake of flooding brought on by Hurricane Florence.

USGS hydrologic technician Rob Forde flags a high water mark above the eaves at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, 118 Manchester Road, Spring Hill, North Carolina on Sept. 21, 2018, in the wake of flooding brought on by Hurricane Florence.

USGS hydrographer Kyle Marchman measures a high water mark on the rear wall of a Kangaroo gas station on Highway 24 north of Fayetteville, NC on Sept. 18, 2018, after flooding caused by Hurricane Florence.

James Stonecypher measures flood waters from the Lumber River that breached a dam in Lumberton, North Carolina after the passage of Hurricane Florence, Sept. 17, 2018. 

A WaterWatch web map shows streamgages in North and South Carolina that approached or exceeded major flood stage EST on September 19, 2018, as the former Hurricane Florence, now downgraded to a tropical depression, deluged the states with rain.

David Stillwell, USGS hydrologic technician, performs a discharge measurement to help document and forecast flooding caused by Hurricane Florence at Long Creek in Rhyne, North Carolina on Sept. 16. 

A USGS hydrologic scientist installs a storm-tide sensor near the North Carolina coast as Hurricane Florence approaches.