Publications
This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 19030
Microplastics Microplastics
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working with Federal, State, and local partners to monitor and evaluate microplastics in our lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic, some-times so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. The USGS is taking an active role in monitoring and assessing our natural resources in New York and throughout...
Authors
Updated study reporting levels (SRLs) for trace-element data collected for the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project, October 2009–October 2018 Updated study reporting levels (SRLs) for trace-element data collected for the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project, October 2009–October 2018
Groundwater samples have been collected in California as part of statewide investigations of groundwater quality conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Priority Basin Project (PBP) since 2004. The GAMA-PBP is being conducted in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board to assess and monitor the...
Authors
George L. V Bennett
Passive sampling of groundwater wells for determination of water chemistry Passive sampling of groundwater wells for determination of water chemistry
Introduction Passive groundwater sampling is defined as the collection of a water sample from a well without the use of purging by a pump or retrieval by a bailer (Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council [ITRC], 2006; American Society for Testing and Materials [ASTM], 2014). No purging means that advection of water is not involved in collecting the water sample from the well...
Authors
Thomas E. Imbrigiotta, Philip T. Harte
Nutrient status of San Francisco Bay and its management implications Nutrient status of San Francisco Bay and its management implications
Nutrient enrichment has degraded many of the world’s estuaries by amplifying algal production, leading to hypoxia/anoxia, loss of vascular plants and fish/shellfish habitat, and expansion of harmful blooms (HABs). Policies to protect coastal waters from the effects of nutrient enrichment require information to determine if a water body is impaired by nutrients and if regulatory actions...
Authors
James E. Cloern, Tara Schraga, Erica Nejad, Charles A. Martin
Benthic vertical hydraulic gradients in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2017 Benthic vertical hydraulic gradients in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2017
Groundwater piezometers and lake stilling wells were deployed as paired sets at 10 locations in Upper Klamath Lake in south-central Oregon from May to October 2017 to measure hydraulic heads in and beneath the lake. Continuous water-level data from piezometers and stilling wells were then used to calculate the vertical hydraulic gradient (VHG) across the sediment-water interface to...
Authors
Nicholas Corson-Dosch
Characterization of water-quality and bed-sediment conditions in Currituck Sound, North Carolina, prior to the Mid-Currituck Bridge construction, 2011–18 Characterization of water-quality and bed-sediment conditions in Currituck Sound, North Carolina, prior to the Mid-Currituck Bridge construction, 2011–18
The North Carolina Turnpike Authority plans to improve transportation in the Currituck Sound area by constructing a two-lane bridge—the Mid-Currituck Bridge—across Currituck Sound from the mainland to the Outer Banks, North Carolina. The results of the final environmental impact statement for the project indicate potential water-quality and habitat effects for Currituck Sound associated...
Authors
Stephen L. Harden, Sharon A. Fitzgerald, Chad R. Wagner, Emilia L. Bristow, Keith A. Loftin, Barry H. Rosen
Atmospheric dust deposition varies by season and elevation in the Colorado Front Range, USA Atmospheric dust deposition varies by season and elevation in the Colorado Front Range, USA
As atmospheric dust deposition continues to increase across the southwestern United States, it has the potential to alter ecosystem productivity and structure by delivering nutrients, base cations, and pollutants to remote mountain sites. Due to the sparse distribution of dust monitoring sites, open questions remain about the spatial and temporal variability of dust fluxes and...
Authors
Ruth C. Heindel, Annie L. Putman, Sheila F. Murphy, Deborah A. Repert, Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley
Effects of legacy sediment removal and effects on nutrients and sediment in Big Spring Run, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 2009–15 Effects of legacy sediment removal and effects on nutrients and sediment in Big Spring Run, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 2009–15
Big Spring Run is a 1.68-square mile watershed underlain by mostly carbonate rock in a mixed land-use setting (part agricultural and part developed) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Big Spring Run is a subwatershed of Mill Creek, a tributary to the Conestoga River. These watersheds are known contributors of nutrient and sediment loads to the Chesapeake Bay and several stream reaches...
Authors
Michael J. Langland, Joseph W. Duris, Tammy M. Zimmerman, Jeffrey J. Chaplin
Zero or not? Causes and consequences of zero-flow stream gage readings Zero or not? Causes and consequences of zero-flow stream gage readings
Streamflow observations can be used to understand, predict, and contextualize hydrologic, ecological, and biogeochemical processes and conditions in streams. Stream gages are point measurements along rivers where streamflow is measured, and are often used to infer upstream watershed‐scale processes. When stream gages read zero, this may indicate that the stream has dried at this location...
Authors
Margaret Zimmer, Kendra E. Kaiser, Joanna Blaszczak, Samuel Zipper, John C. Hammond, Ken M. Fritz, Katie H. Costigan, Jacob D. Hosen, Sarah E Godsey, George H. Allen, Stephanie K. Kampf, Ryan Burrow, Corey Krabbenhoft, Walter Dodds, Rebecca Hale, Julian D. Olden, Margaret Shanafield, Amanda DelVecchia, Adam S Ward, Meryl C. Mims, Thibault Datry, Michael A. Bogan, Kate Boersma, Michelle Busch, Nathan M. Jones, Amy Burgin, Daniel C. Allen
Groundwater chloride concentrations in domestic wells and proximity to roadways in Vermont, 2011–2018 Groundwater chloride concentrations in domestic wells and proximity to roadways in Vermont, 2011–2018
The Vermont Department of Health and the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed the concentrations of chloride in groundwater samples collected from 4,319 domestic wells across Vermont between 2011 and 2018. Ninety of these wells were sampled twice and the remaining 4,229 were sampled once. This sample size represents approximately 4 percent of all wells in the State of Vermont. More than half...
Authors
Joseph P. Levitt, Sille L. Larsen
The relation of geogenic contaminants to groundwater age, aquifer hydrologic position, water type, and redox conditions in Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers, eastern and south-central USA The relation of geogenic contaminants to groundwater age, aquifer hydrologic position, water type, and redox conditions in Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers, eastern and south-central USA
Groundwater age distributions developed from carbon-14 (14C), tritium (3H), and helium-4 (4He) concentrations, along with aquifer hydrologic position, water type, and redox conditions, were compared to geogenic contaminants of concern (GCOC) from 252 public-supply wells in six Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain unconsolidated-sediment aquifers. Concentrations of one or more GCOCs in 168 (67...
Authors
James R. Degnan, Bruce D. Lindsey, Joseph Patrick Levitt, Zoltan Szabo
Rio Grande transboundary integrated hydrologic model and water-availability analysis, New Mexico and Texas, United States, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico Rio Grande transboundary integrated hydrologic model and water-availability analysis, New Mexico and Texas, United States, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico
Changes in population, agricultural development and practices (including shifts to more water-intensive crops), and climate variability are increasing demands on available water resources, particularly groundwater, in one of the most productive agricultural regions in the Southwest—the Rincon and Mesilla Valley parts of Rio Grande Valley, Doña Ana and Sierra Counties, New Mexico, and El...
Authors
Randall T. Hanson, Andre B. Ritchie, Scott E. Boyce, Amy E. Galanter, Ian A. Ferguson, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Wesley R. Henson