Publications

A narrow plume of warm, moist tropical air produced prolonged precipitation and melted snow in low-to-mid elevations throughout western Washington in January 2009. As a result, peak-of-record discharges occurred at many long-term streamflow-gaging stations in the region. A disaster was declared by the President for eight counties in Washington State and by May 2009, aid payments by the...

The input of freshwater and associated nutrients into Lynch Cove and lower Hood Canal (fig. 1) from sources such as groundwater seeps, small streams, and ephemeral creeks may play a major role in the nutrient loading and hydrodynamics of this low dissolved-oxygen (hypoxic) system. These disbursed sources exhibit a high degree of spatial variability. However, few in-situ measurements of...

A study of the water resources of the unconsolidated groundwater system of the Chamokane Creek basin was conducted to determine the hydrogeologic framework, interactions of shallow and deep parts of the groundwater system with each other and the surface-water system, changes in land use and land cover, and water-use estimates. Chamokane Creek basin is a 179 mi2 area that borders and...

Winter snow accumulation and summer snow and ice ablation were measured at South Cascade Glacier, Washington, to estimate glacier mass balance quantities for balance years 2006 and 2007. Mass balances were computed with assistance from a new model that was based on the works of other glacier researchers. The model, which was developed for mass balance practitioners, coupled selected...

Lake Roosevelt (Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake) is the impoundment of the upper Columbia River behind Grand Coulee Dam, and is the largest reservoir within the Bureau of Reclamation's Columbia Basin Project (CBP). The reservoir is located in northeastern Washington, and stretches 151 miles from Grand Coulee Dam north to the Canadian border. The 15-20 miles of the Columbia River downstream of...

Since 1950, the U.S. Geological Survey Washington Water Science Center (USGS-WAWSC) has collected, compiled, and published, at 5-year intervals, statewide estimates of the amounts of water withdrawn and used for various purposes in Washington State. As new data and methods became available, some of the original datasets were recompiled. The most recent versions of these datasets were...

Organic contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), pose a risk to water quality and the health of ecosystems. This study was designed to determine if a coastal community lacking point sources, such as waste water treatment plant effluent, could release PPCPs, herbicides, and plasticizers at detectable levels to their surface water and groundwater. Research...

Different removal strategies are described for dams in three diverse drainage basins (Wind River, White Salmon River, and Elwha River basins) in the State of Washington (USA). The comparisons between the strategies offer the opportunity to track the effects of sediment resulting from dam decommissioning in the Pacific Northwest and to determine possible effects on socio-economically...

Groundwater levels for selected wells in the Chehalis River basin, Washington, are presented on an interactive web-based map to document the spatial distribution of groundwater levels in the study area during late summer 2009. Groundwater level data and well information were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey using standard techniques. The data are stored in the USGS National Water

The Nature Conservancy has been working with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) through the Sustainable Rivers Project (SRP) to modify operations of dams to achieve ecological objectives in addition to meeting the authorized purposes of the dams. Modifications to dam operations are specified in terms of environmental flow prescriptions that quantify the magnitude, duration, frequency...

This report presents information used to characterize the groundwater-flow system in the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed and vicinity, and includes descriptions of the geology and hydrogeologic framework; groundwater recharge and discharge; groundwater levels and flow directions; seasonal groundwater level fluctuations; interactions between aquifers and the surface-water system; and a...

Historical records of mercury contamination in dated sediment cores from Sinclair Inlet are coincidental with activities at the U.S. Navy Puget Sound Naval Shipyard; peak total mercury concentrations occurred around World War II. After World War II, better metallurgical management practices and environmental regulations reduced mercury contamination, but total mercury concentrations in...