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.
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Learn more about the Upper Midwest Water Science Center from John Walker, our Center Director.
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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.
USGS Unveils Mobile Flood Tool for the Nation
The U.S. Geological Survey announced Friday the completion of a new mobile tool that provides real-time information on water levels, weather and flood forecasts all in one place on a computer, smartphone or other mobile device.
Publications
Instruments, methods, rationale, and derived data used to quantify and compare the trapping efficiencies of four types of pressure-difference bedload samplers
Bedload and ancillary data were collected to calculate and compare the bedload trapping efficiencies of four types of pressure-difference bedload samplers as part of episodic, sediment-recirculating flume experiments at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in January–March 2006. The bedload-sampler experiments,...
Gray, John R.; Schwarz, Gregory E.; Dean, David J.; Czuba, Jonathan A. ; Groten, Joel T.
Sources and risk factors for nitrate and microbial contamination of private household wells in the fractured dolomite aquifer of northeastern Wisconsin
Background:Groundwater quality in the Silurian dolomite aquifer in northeastern Wisconsin, USA, has become contentious as dairy farms and exurban development expand.Objectives:We investigated private household wells in the region, determining the extent, sources, and risk factors of nitrate and microbial contamination.Methods:Total coliforms,...
Borchardt, Mark A.; Stokdyk, Joel P.; Kieke, Burney A; Muldoon, Maureen A.; Spencer, Susan K.; Firnstahl, Aaron; Bonness, Davina; Hunt, Randall J.; Burch, Tucker R. Quantitative microbial risk assessment for contaminated private wells in the fractured dolomite aquifer of Kewaunee County, Wisconsin
Background:Private wells are an important source of drinking water in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin. Due to the region’s fractured dolomite aquifer, these wells are vulnerable to contamination by human and zoonotic gastrointestinal pathogens originating from land-applied cattle manure and private septic systems.Objective:We determined the magnitude...
Burch, Tucker R.; Stokdyk, Joel P.; Spencer, Susan K.; Kieke, Burney A; Firnstahl, Aaron; Muldoon, Maureen A.; Borchardt, Mark A.