Publications
The following list of California Water Science Center publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1814
A multi-scale soil moisture monitoring strategy for California: Design and validation A multi-scale soil moisture monitoring strategy for California: Design and validation
A multi‐scale soil moisture monitoring strategy for California was designed to inform water resource management. The proposed workflow classifies soil moisture response units (SMRUs) using publicly available datasets that represent soil, vegetation, climate, and hydrology variables, which control soil water storage. The SMRUs were classified, using principal component analysis and...
Authors
Jennifer Curtis, Lorraine E. Flint, Michelle A. Stern
Factors affecting 1,2,3-trichloropropane contamination in groundwater in California Factors affecting 1,2,3-trichloropropane contamination in groundwater in California
1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP) is a volatile organic chemical of eminent concern due to its carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reproductive effects, and its frequent occurrence at concentrations of concern worldwide. In California, 1,2,3-TCP was detected in 6.5% of 1237 wells sampled by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). About 8% of domestic wells had a detection of 1,2,3-TCP, compared to...
Authors
Karen R. Burow, Walter D. Floyd, Matthew K. Landon
Agricultural chemical concentrations and loads in rivers draining the Central Valley, California: Before, during, and after an extended drought Agricultural chemical concentrations and loads in rivers draining the Central Valley, California: Before, during, and after an extended drought
Drought or near drought conditions persisted in California from 2012 through 2016, followed by a high precipitation year in 2017. Long-term water quality monitoring of two key river stations, the Sacramento River at Freeport and the San Joaquin River near Vernalis, located within the largely agricultural Central Valley, allow for an examination of pesticide concentrations and mass...
Authors
Joseph L. Domagalski
Methane emissions from groundwater pumping in the USA Methane emissions from groundwater pumping in the USA
Atmospheric methane accumulation contributes to climate change, hence quantifying methane emissions is essential to assess and model the impacts. Here we estimate methane emissions from groundwater pumping in the Los Angeles Basin (LAB), north-eastern Pennsylvania, and the Principal aquifers of the USA using the average concentrations of methane in groundwater and annual groundwater...
Authors
Justin T. Kulongoski, Peter B. McMahon
User’s manual for the Draper climate-distribution software suite with data‑evaluation tools User’s manual for the Draper climate-distribution software suite with data‑evaluation tools
Development of a time series of spatially distributed climate data is an important step in the process of developing physically based environmental models requiring distributed inputs of climate data beyond what is available from observations collected at climate stations. To prepare inputs required for model-mapping units across the study area, climate data (temperature and...
Authors
John M. Donovan, Kathryn M. Koczot
Widespread global peatland establishment and persistence over the last 130,000 y Widespread global peatland establishment and persistence over the last 130,000 y
Glacial−interglacial variations in CO2 and methane in polar ice cores have been attributed, in part, to changes in global wetland extent, but the wetland distribution before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21 ka to 18 ka) remains virtually unknown. We present a study of global peatland extent and carbon (C) stocks through the last glacial cycle (130 ka to present) using a newly compiled...
Authors
Claire C. Treat, Thomas Kleinen, Nils Broothaerts, April S. Dalton, Rene Dommain, Thomas A. Douglas, Judith Z. Drexler, Sarah A Finkelstein, Guido Grosse, Geoffrey Hope, Jack Hutchings, Miriam C. Jones, Peter Kuhry, Terri Lacourse, Outi Lahteenoja, Julie Loisel, Bastiaan Notebaert, Richard Payne, Dorothy M. Peteet, A. Britta K. Sannel, Jonathan M. Stelling, Jens Strauss, Graeme T. Swindles, Julie Talbot, Charles Tarnocai, Gert Verstraeten, Christopher J. Williams, Zhengyu Xia, Zicheng Yu, Minna Valiranta, Martina Hattestrand, Helena Alexanderson, Victor Brovkin
Characterizing the influence of fire on hydrology in southern California Characterizing the influence of fire on hydrology in southern California
The chaparral-dominated national forests of southern California were in part established to provide water provision services to the surrounding urban populations and irrigation for agriculture. However, water provision in the form of groundwater recharge and surface runoff depends on the climatological conditions of any given year and also landscape-scale disturbances such as fire. Fire...
Authors
Lorraine E. Flint, Emma C Underwood, Alan L. Flint, Allan Hollander
Assessing the lead solubility potential of untreated groundwater of the United States Assessing the lead solubility potential of untreated groundwater of the United States
In the U.S., about 44 million people rely on self-supplied groundwater for drinking water. Because most self-supplied homeowners do not treat their water to control corrosion, drinking water can be susceptible to lead (Pb) contamination from metal plumbing. To assess the types and locations of susceptible groundwater, a geochemical reaction model that included pure Pb minerals and solid...
Authors
Bryant Jurgens, David L. Parkhurst, Kenneth Belitz
Carbon accumulation and vertical accretion in a restored vs. historic salt marsh in southern Puget Sound, Washington, United States Carbon accumulation and vertical accretion in a restored vs. historic salt marsh in southern Puget Sound, Washington, United States
Few comparisons exist between vertical accretion (VA) and carbon accumulation rates (CARs), in restored vs. historic (i.e., reference) marshes. Here we compare these processes in a formerly diked, sparsely vegetated, restored salt marsh (Six Gill Slough, SG), whose surface is subsided relative to the tidal frame, to an adjacent, relatively pristine, historic salt marsh (Animal Slough, AS...
Authors
Judith Z. Drexler, Isa Woo, Christopher C. Fuller, Glynnis Nakai
Quantification of sucralose in groundwater well drinking water by silylation derivatization and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry Quantification of sucralose in groundwater well drinking water by silylation derivatization and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
Sucralose is an increasingly popular artificial sweetener and has been found in the environment in groundwater, surface water, and wastewater treatment plant effluent. Its chemical properties make it strongly recalcitrant in the environment and it has been used as a conservative tracer of human wastewater in recent years. Most current methods of sucralose analysis use high performance...
Authors
Stefan Voss, Elisabeth Newman, Justin P Miller-Schulze
Toxicokinetics of imidacloprid-coated wheat seeds in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) and an evaluation of hazard Toxicokinetics of imidacloprid-coated wheat seeds in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) and an evaluation of hazard
Birds are potentially exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides by ingestion of coated seeds during crop planting. Adult male Japanese quail were orally dosed with wheat seeds coated with an imidacloprid (IMI) formulation at either 0.9 mg/kg body weight (BW) or 2.7 mg/kg BW (~3 and 9% of IMI LD50 for Japanese quail, respectively) for 1 or 10 days. Quail were euthanized between 1 and 24 h...
Authors
Thomas G. Bean, Michael S. Gross, Natalie Karouna-Renier, Paula F. P. Henry, Sandra L. Schultz, Michelle L. Hladik, Kathryn Kuivila, Barnett A. Rattner
Coagulant and sorbent efficacy in removing mercury from surface waters in the Cache Creek watershed, California Coagulant and sorbent efficacy in removing mercury from surface waters in the Cache Creek watershed, California
Cache Creek drains part of northern California’s Coast Ranges and is an important source of mercury (Hg) to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. Cache Creek is contaminated with Hg from several sources, including historical Hg and gold mines, native Hg in the soils, and active mineral springs. In laboratory experiments in a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with...
Authors
Erica R. De Parsia, Jacob A. Fleck, David P. Krabbenhoft, Kim Hoang, David Roth, Paul Randall