Publications

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This report describes the environmental setting of 20 benchmark streams in agricultural areas of eastern Wisconsin that are part of the Western Lake Michigan Drainages, National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Benchmark streams are defined as those that show minimal adverse effects from human activity, and they were selected on the basis of field reconnaissance and the following...

The Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer is a major source of water for many communities in southeastern Minnesota. The water-supply well for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community derives water from the Jordan part of the aquifer. An aquifer test in the Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer in the area of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community was completed in November 1995. The test consisted...

Chemical and stable-isotope data for water from wells completed in the Glaciofluvial aquifer in the central Lower Peninsula of Michigan were used to prepare maps that show the areal variation of 8180; distribution of dissolved solids, dissolved chloride, dissolved iron, and dissolved sulfate; and distribution of hydrochemical facies. Delta oxygen-18 values indicate the presence of modem...

The U.S. Geological Survey began full-scale implementation of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program in 1991. The purposes of NAWQA are to describe the status and trends in the quality of the Nation's water resources and aquatic ecosystems, and to determine factors affecting water quality at local, regional, and national scales. The Upper Mississippi River (UMIS) NAWQA...

The quality of runoff from residential lawns is a concern for municipal stormwater management programs. Land-use based computer models are increasingly being used to assess the impact of lawn runoff on urban watersheds. To accurately model the runoff for residential lawns, the variation in the relation of rainfall to runoff from lawns must be understood. The study described in this...

Late Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks form part of a regional system of aquifers and confining units in the central Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The upper part of the Pennsylvanian rock sequence constitutes the Saginaw aquifer, which consists primarily of sandstone. This sandstone aquifer overlies the Saginaw confining unit, which consists primarily of shale. The Saginaw...

Physical and aquatic biological conditions differ among the Mississippi River and its major tributaries (the St. Croix and Minnesota Rivers) in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The quality of surface water and the ecological condition of rivers affect the ways in which we use them. The St. Croix River is used for recreation; the Mississippi River is used for recreation and is a corridor for...

Data that describe the physical characteristics of stream subbasins upstream from selected sites on streams in the Hawk Creek-Yellow Medicine River Basin, located in southwestern Minnesota and eastern South Dakota are presented in this report. The physical characteristics are the drainage area of the subbasin, the percentage area of the subbasin covered only by lakes, the percentage area...

For more than 100 years, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has provided earth-science information on which managers, scientists, and other interested citizens base decisions regarding Michigan’s natural resources and natural hazards. The non-regulatory and scientific nature of the USGS work ensures that our products are technically sound, unbiased, and equally accessible and...

Our current understanding of wetlands is insufficient to assess the effects of past and future wetland loss. While knowledge of wetland hydrology is crucial, groundwater flows are often neglected or uncertain. In this paper, groundwater inflows were estimated in wetlands in southwestern Wisconsin using traditional Darcy's law calculations and three independent methods that included (1)...

Maps showing predevelopment freshwater heads were developed for the major aquifers in the Michigan Basin. The Michigan Basin is an isolated, regional ground-water-flow system consisting of a glaciofluvial aquifer and three bedrock aquifers separated by confining units. The bedrock aquifers investigated are the Saginaw, Parma-Bayport, and Marshall aquifers. Fractured sandstones within the...