Publications

Water quality in the 1,700-square-mile Anoka Sand Plain aquifer is affected by irrigated and nonirrigated agriculture and by residential land use. Concentrations of sulfate, chloride, nitrite plus nitrate nitrogen, and pesticides in ground water are related to human activities; nitrite plus nitrate nitrogen concentrations are affected more than concentrations of other chemical...

Although considerable effort has been expended during the past two decades to control nonpoint-source contamination of streams and lakes in urban and rural watersheds, little has been published on the effectiveness of various management practices at the watershed scale. This report presents a discussion of several parametric and nonparametric statistical techniques for detecting changes...

This report describes the physical, chemical, and aquatic-biological characteristics that could affect regional water quality in the Red River of the North study unit. These characteristics define the overall environmental setting of the study unit. This report provides base line and historical information for future reports that will address specific water-quality issues and processes...

A 5,670-sq m wet detention pond was monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey to determine its effect on the water quality of urban runoff. The pond has a drainage area of 0.96-sq km, composed primarily of single-family residential land use. Event-mean concentrations (EMC) were determined from samples collected for sediment, nutrients, and selected metals at the pond's inflow and outflow...

Hydraulic and sediment data were collected at three sites on the Chippewa River (near Caryville, at Durand, and near Pepin); at one site near Galesville on the Black River; and at one site at Muscoda on the Wisconsin River during water years 1976-83. This report summarizes an interpretation of those data by providing (1) a description of the relation of suspended sediment, bedload, and...

Mercury, which is transported globally by atmospheric pathways to remote aquatic environments, is a ubiquitous contaminant at very low (nanograms Hg per liter) aqueous concentrations. Until recently, however, analytical and sampling techniques were not available for freshwater systems to quantify the actual levels of mercury concentrations without introducing significant contamination...

A six-State area in the northern Midwest of the United States has become increasingly dependent on ground water from the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system, which consists of a sequence of sandstones, carbonate rocks, and shales. Ground-water withdrawals from the aquifer system began in the late 1800's and increased to approximately 684 million gallons per day (1,058 cubic feet per...

More than three thousand kettle lakes, widely dispersed within a mixed temperate forest ecosystem, are predominant features of the Northern Highland area of north-central Wisconsin. A hydrological and biogeochemical investigation of seven of these lakes and their watershed area is currently in progress as part of the Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program of the U.S...

Statistical models for estimating daily streamflow were analyzed for 25 pairs of streamflow-gaging stations in Michigan. Stations were paired by randomly choosing a station operated in 1989 at which 10 or more years of continuous flow data had been collected and at which flow is virtually unregulated; a nearby station was chosen where flow characteristics are similar. Streamflow data...

This report was compiled to provide information on the water resources activities of the U.S. Geological Survey in Michigan

This report presents data describing the physical characteristics of stream basins upstream from selected points on streams in the Blue Earth River basin, located in south-central Minnesota and north-central Iowa. The physical characteristics are the drainage area of the basin, the percentage area of the basin covered only by lakes, the percentage area of the basin covered by both lakes...

This report is a compilation of data on surface- and ground-water quality, lake sediment, and lake-level fluctuation collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) during 1981- 87 on or near the St. Croix Indian Reservation. The purpose of this report is to provide baseline data on selected aspects of the water resources of the St. Croix Indian Reservation as a referenceby which future...