Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with local and other agencies, collects data at selected lakes throughout Wisconsin. These data, accumulated over many years, provide a data base for developing an improved understanding of the water quality of lakes. To make these data available to interested parties outside the USGS, the data are published annually in this report series...

The proposed removal of the remnants of a hydroelectric dam in the Muskegon River at Big Rapids, Michigan, will potentially affect flow of the river at the city's water intake system. Fifteen boreholes were augered in bottom sediments in the river just upstream from the dam relic, and streambottom profiles were made using ground-penetrating radar. Data from boreholes show that sediments...

A relatively new method for age dating recent ground water along with other investigative tools improve our understanding of land-use effects on the water quality in a surficial aquifer and adjacent streams in the Red River of the North Basin: Ground water commonly takes more than 20 years to reach depths in the surficial aquifer where it is withdrawn for use. Water withdrawn from most...

Physical conditions differ among the Mississippi River and its major tributaries in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Analysis of the environmental framework of the basin and analysis of historical water-quality information by the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program shows that nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in streams in the Upper Mississippi River Basin are influenced...

The concentrations of contaminants generated from discrete source areas are critical to urban nonpoint Source Load and Management Model (SLAMM) loading calculations to Lake Superior. This study summarizes data-collection efforts during 12 storms in October 1993 and from May through August 1994, in which stormwater data were collected concurrently at 33 sites representing the eight major...

Habitat characteristics of 11 fixed sites in the Western Lake Michigan Drainages were examined by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1993 through 1995 as part of the ecological assessment of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Evaluation of habitat consisted of more than 75 measurements at three spatial levels: drainage basin, stream segment between major tributaries (length from...

The objective of the watershed-management evaluation monitoring program in Wisconsin is to evaluate the effectiveness of best-management practices (BMP's) for controlling nonpoint-source contamination in eight rural and four urban watersheds. This report, the fourth in an annual series of reports, presents a summary of the data collected for the program by the U.S. Geological Survey and...

The discharge of untreated sewage is illegal in Michigan unless permitted under Act 245 due to public health concerns. In October, 1992, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR, now the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality) issued a discharge permit to Detroit authorizing discharge from the City's 78 combined-sewer overflows (CSOs), and requiring that a long-term...

Data that describe the physical characteristics of stream subbasins upstream from selected sites on streams in the Lower Minnesota River Basin, located in south-central Minnesota 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 of the subbasin covered by both...

An understanding of the magnitude and frequency of low-flow discharges is an important part of protecting surface-water resources and planning for municipal and industrial economic expansion. Low-flow characteristics are summarized for 7 continuous-record gaging stations and 23 partial-record measuring sites in the Deep River Basin in North Carolina. Records of discharge collected...

In 1990, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a study of the hydrogeology of Huron County, Michigan (Sweat, 1991). In 1993, Huron County and the USGS entered into an agreement to continue collecting water levels at selected wells throughout Huron County. As part of the agreement, the USGS has provided training and instrumentation for County personnel to measure, on a quarterly...

The statewide average precipitation of 33.37 inches for the 1996 water year was 105 percent of the normal annual precipitation of 31.79 inches for water years 1961-90. Average precipitation values ranged from 77 percent of normal at Trempealeau Dam 6 weather station in west central Wisconsin to 151 percent of normal at Oconto 4 W weather station in northeast Wisconsin (State...