Publications

The Galena-Platteville bedrock unit is a dependable source of ground water for many private well owners and some municipal-water-supply systems in northern Illinois (Hackett, 1960) and in Wisconsin. The carbonate lithology of the unit contributes to the availability of ground water and also to the susceptibility of the unit to ground-water contamination. Susceptibility to contamination...

Excessive inflow of sediment and nutrients has contributed to eutrophication of Delavan Lake in southeastern Wisconsin. A wetland restoration project at the mouth of the lake's principal inflowing stream system was implemented in 1992, primarily for the purpose of reducing sediment and nutrient loading to the lake. This function of the wetland system, which includes three retention ponds...

In 1992, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, began a land-use inventory to identify sources of contaminants and track the land-management changes for eight evaluation monitoring watersheds in Wisconsin. An important component of the land-use inventory has been developing descriptions and preliminary assessments for the eight...

This report presents an evaluation of generalized skew coefficients used in flood-frequency analysis. Station skew coefficients were computed for 267 long-term stream-gaging stations in Minnesota and the surrounding states of Iowa, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. Generalized skew coefficients were computed from station skew...

This report is a compilation of data on the physical and chemical properties of water and sediments in Grand Portage and Wauswaugoning Bays of Lake Superior along the shoreline of the Grand Portage Indian Reservation. The data were collected during 1993-96 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Grand Portage Indian Reservation. The data include: (1) temperature, pH, and...

As part of the National Water-Use Information Program, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stores water-use data in standardized format for different categories of water use. The data base (Site Specific Water Use Data System) is updated annually or as more current water-use information becomes available. Information about amounts of water withdrawn, sources of water, how the water was...

Nitrate concentrations (as nitrogen) were analyzed in water from 73 wells completed in surficial aquifers. Water from about one-third of the wells had concentrations greater than 10 mg/L (milligrams per liter), the regulatory limit for drinking water established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Nitrate concentrations: (1) were greater in water from wells in agricultural...

Boron-isotope (δ11B) values may be useful as surrogate tracers of contaminants and indicators of water mixing in agricultural settings. This paper characterizes the B contents and isotopic compositions of hog manure and selected fertilizers, and presents δ11B data for ground and surface water from two agricultural areas. Boron concentrations in dry hog manure averaged 61 mg/kg and in...

The objectives of this study are to provide continuous discharge records for selected rivers at specific sites to supply the needs for regulation, analytical studies, definition of statistical properties, trends analysis, determination of the occurrence, and distribution of water in streams for planning. The project is also designed to determine lake levels and to provide discharge for...

N-sodium-N-chloro-ρ-toiuenesulfonamide (chloramine-T) effectively controls bacterial gill disease (BGD) in cultured fishes. BGD, a common disease of hatchery-reared salmonids, causes more fish losses than any other disease among these species. This study describes a liquid chromatographic (LC) method that is capable of direct, simultaneous analysis of chloramine-T and its primary...

This study was part of the Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA) Program, a multi-scale, inter-agency initiative to evaluate the effects of agricultural systems on water quality in the midwest corn belt. The research was part of the U.S. Geological Survey Toxics Substances Hydrology Program. The research area was located in the Anoka Sand Plain about 5 kilometers southwest of...

Phosphorus retention by wetland sediments and vegetation was investigated in Jackson Creek wetland, an extension of an existing prairie marsh in southeastern Wisconsin. The extended wetland construction was undertaken in 1992-93 to help reduce the phosphorus loading to a downstream eutrophic lake. Two approaches were used to study potential and actual phosphorus retention in the system...