Upper Midwest Water Science Center
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Our USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and community. Based on guidance from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting our operations to a virtual mode and have minimal staffing within our offices. If you need additional assistance, please contact Center Director John Walker at jfwalker@usgs.gov.
Current conditions in MI, MN, and WI
Explore real-time streamflow, groundwater, and water-quality conditions and access data with our interactive map application.
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Learn more about the Upper Midwest Water Science Center from John Walker, our Center Director.
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Project Underway to Identify Algal Toxins in US National Park Waterways
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service partnered on a first-of-its-kind, nationwide harmful algal bloom, or HAB, field study that began this summer and will continue over the next two years.
Water Resources in Minnesota Significantly Improved by Land Restoration
Conversion of agricultural lands to wetland and native prairie greatly enhanced the quality of water resources, increased groundwater recharge and decreased floodwaters in the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge, Minnesota, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study.
Surface-Air Mercury Fluxes and a Watershed Mass Balance in Forested and Harvested Catchments
Forest soils can act as repositories for atmospherically deposited mercury, yet forestry practices can influence mercury mobility and fluxes, food web dynamics, and bioaccumulation processes.
Publications
Evidence for interannual persistence of infectious influenza A viruses in Alaska wetlands
Influenza A viruses (IAVs) deposited by wild birds into the environment may lead to sporadic mortality events and economically costly outbreaks among domestic birds. There is a paucity of information, however, regarding the persistence of infectious IAVs within the environment following deposition. In this investigation, we assessed the...
Ramey, Andrew M.; Reeves, Andrew B.; Lagassé, Benjamin Joel; Patil, Vijay P.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Kolpin, Dana W.; McCleskey, R. Blaine; Repert, Deborah A.; Stallknecht, David E.; Poulson, Rebecca L.
Factors affecting uncertainty of public supply, self-supplied domestic, irrigation, and thermoelectric water-use data, 1985–2015—Evaluation of information sources, estimation methods, and data variability
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water-Use Program is responsible for compiling and disseminating the Nation's water-use data. Working in cooperation with local, State, and Federal agencies, the USGS has collected and published national water-use estimates every 5 years, beginning in 1950. These water-use data may vary because of actual changes...
Luukkonen, Carol L.; Belitz, Kenneth; Sullivan, Samantha L.; Sargent, Pierre
Groundwater/surface-water interactions in the Partridge River Basin and evaluation of hypothetical future mine pits, Minnesota
The Partridge River Basin (PRB) covers 156 square miles in northeastern Minnesota with headwaters in the Mesabi Iron Range. The basin is characterized by extensive wetlands, lakes, and streams in poorly drained and often thin glacial material overlying Proterozoic bedrock. To better understand the interaction between these extensive surface water...
Haserodt, Megan J.; Hunt, Randall J.; Fienen, Michael N.; Feinstein, Daniel T.