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: 19004
Reducing wastewater nitrogen loading by >90% with carbon-amended septic systems: A field demonstration in Barnstable (Cape Cod), Massachusetts Reducing wastewater nitrogen loading by >90% with carbon-amended septic systems: A field demonstration in Barnstable (Cape Cod), Massachusetts
Onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) are a major source of excess nutrients and co-pollutants in watersheds across the United States. In Barnstable County (Cape Cod), Massachusetts, effluent from septic systems and cesspools contributes approximately 80% of the controllable reactive nitrogen (N) load to numerous impaired estuaries and degrades water quality in the region's sole...
Authors
Laura Erban, Sara Wigginton, Brian Baumgaertel, Bryan Horsley, Timothy D. McCobb, Zee Crocker, Scott Horsley, Timothy Gleason
Predictive understanding of stream salinization in a developed watershed using machine learning Predictive understanding of stream salinization in a developed watershed using machine learning
Stream salinization is a global issue, yet few models can provide reliable salinity estimates for unmonitored locations at the time scales required for ecological exposure assessments. Machine learning approaches are presented that use spatially limited high-frequency monitoring and spatially distributed discrete samples to estimate the daily stream-specific conductance across a...
Authors
Jared Smith, Lauren Koenig, Margaux Sleckman, Alison Appling, Jeffrey M Sadler, Vincent DePaul, Zoltan Szabo
Environmental and societal consequences of winter ice loss from lakes Environmental and societal consequences of winter ice loss from lakes
More than half a billion people live near lakes that freeze over in the winter. However, lakes are rapidly losing winter ice cover in response to warming, and the rate of loss has accelerated over the past 25 years. Hampton et al. reviewed the state of seasonal ice cover on lakes and discuss some of the consequences of its disappearance. Ice loss will affect culture, economy, water...
Authors
Stephanie Hampton, Stephen Powers, Hilary Dugan, Lesley Knoll, Bailey McMeans, Michael Meyer, Catherine O’Reilly, Ted Ozersky, Sapna Sharma, David Barrett, Sudeep Chandra, Joachim Jansen, Ryan McClure, Milla Rautio, Gesa Weyhenmeyer, Xiao Yang
State of science, gap analysis, and prioritization for southeastern United States water-quality impacts from coastal storms—Fiscal year 2023 program report to the Water Resources Mission Area from the Water Availability Impacts of Extreme Events Program—H State of science, gap analysis, and prioritization for southeastern United States water-quality impacts from coastal storms—Fiscal year 2023 program report to the Water Resources Mission Area from the Water Availability Impacts of Extreme Events Program—H
Tropical cyclones (coastal storm events that include tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes) cause landscape-scale disturbances that can lead to impaired water quality and thus reduce water availability for use. Stakeholders and scientists at local and national scales have illustrated a need for understanding these risks to water quality. A regional and comprehensive...
Authors
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Tara Root, Matthew Petkewich, MaryLynn Musgrove, Amy C. Gill, J. Weaver, Christopher H. Conaway, Bruce Lindsey, Francis Parchaso, Noah Knowles, Elizabeth Tomaszewski
Hyperspectral Image Transects during Transient Events in Rivers (HITTER): Framework development and application to a tracer experiment on the Missouri River, USA Hyperspectral Image Transects during Transient Events in Rivers (HITTER): Framework development and application to a tracer experiment on the Missouri River, USA
Rivers convey a broad range of materials, such as sediment, nutrients, and contaminants. Much of this transport can occur during or immediately after an episodic, pulsed event like a flood or an oil spill. Understanding the flow processes that influence the motion of these substances is important for managing water resources and conserving aquatic ecosystems. This study introduces a new...
Authors
Carl Legleiter, Victoria Scholl, Brandon Sansom, Matthew Burgess
Dynamic water-quality responses to wildfire in Colorado Dynamic water-quality responses to wildfire in Colorado
In 2020, Colorado experienced the most severe wildfire season in recorded history, with wildfires burning 625 357 acres across the state. Two of the largest fires burned parts of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), and a study was initiated to address concerns about potential effects on drinking water quality from mobilization of ash and sediment. The study took advantage of a wealth of...
Authors
David Clow, Garrett Akie, Sheila Murphy, Evan Gohring
Correlation analysis of groundwater and hydrologic data, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Hawai‘i Correlation analysis of groundwater and hydrologic data, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Hawai‘i
Designated in 1978, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park is located on the west coast of the Island of Hawaiʻi. The Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park encompasses about 1,200 acres of coastal land and nearshore ecosystems, which include wetlands, anchialine pools (landlocked bodies of brackish water with hydrologic connections to the ocean), fishponds, a fishtrap, and coral...
Authors
Brytne Okuhata, Delwyn Oki
Mixed contaminant exposure in tapwater and the potential implications for human-health in disadvantaged communities in California Mixed contaminant exposure in tapwater and the potential implications for human-health in disadvantaged communities in California
Water is an increasingly precious resource in California as years of drought, climate change, pollution, as well as an expanding population have all stressed the state's drinking water supplies. Currently, there are increasing concerns about whether regulated and unregulated contaminants in drinking water are linked to a variety of human-health outcomes particularly in socially...
Authors
Kelly Smalling, Kristin M. Romanok, Paul M. Bradley, Michelle Hladik, James Gray, Leslie Kanagy, R. Blaine McCleskey, Diana Stavreva, Annika Alexander-Ozinskas, Jesus Alonso, Wendy Avila, Sara Breitmeyer, Roberto Bustillo, Stephanie Gordon, Gordon Hager, Rena Jones, Dana W. Kolpin, Seth Newton, Peggy Reynolds, John Sloop, Andria Ventura, Julie Von Behren, Mary Ward, Gina Solomon
New insights on the origin of the Richardson-Richards equation New insights on the origin of the Richardson-Richards equation
The Richardson-Richards equation (RRE), despite known shortcomings especially in regard to preferential flow, provides the basis of the vast majority of unsaturated flow models in use today. L.F. Richardson published this equation in 1922, nine years before L.A. Richards. Whereas Richards approached this problem directly from the groundbreaking developments of Edgar Buckingham...
Authors
John Nimmo
Dust in the Critical Zone: North American case studies Dust in the Critical Zone: North American case studies
The dust cycle facilitates the exchange of particles among Earth's major systems, enabling dust to traverse ecosystems, cross geographic boundaries, and even move uphill against the natural flow of gravity. Dust in the atmosphere is composed of a complex and ever-changing mixture that reflects the evolving human footprint on the landscape. The emission, transport, and deposition of dust...
Authors
Janice Brahney, Ruth Heindel, Thomas Gill, Gregory Carling, Juan Gonzalez-Olalla, Jenny Hand, Derek Mallia, Jeffrey Munroe, Kevin Perry, Annie Putman, S. Skiles, Brad Adams, Zachary Aanderud, Sarah Aarons, Daniela Aguirre, Karin Ardon-Dryer, Molly Blakowski, Jessie Creamean, Diego Fernandez, Hosein Foroutan, Cassandra Gaston, Maura Hahnenberger, Sebastian Hoch, Daniel Jones, Kerry Kelly, Otto Lang, Josh Lemonte, Richard Reynolds, Ramesh Singh, Mark Sweeney, Thorn Merrill
Quantifying fine sediment infiltration in spawning gravel used by Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Sauk River Basin, Washington, 2018–21 Quantifying fine sediment infiltration in spawning gravel used by Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Sauk River Basin, Washington, 2018–21
Fine sediment can infiltrate into river substrate that salmonid fish species (Oncorhynchus spp.) use to spawn. High levels of sediment infiltration can increase egg-to-fry mortality, which corresponds to the period when salmonids are still residing in the subsurface gravels. This study quantifies fine sediment infiltration of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawning habitat...
Authors
Kristin Jaeger, Scott Anderson, Anya C. Leach, Scott Morris
Fall 2024 Fall 2024
This issue highlights our long history of outreach on Cape Cod in an article and video. It also features a story about our crest-stage gage network in Vermont, which provisionally hit high-water records during flash floods this summer. Also, we discuss a USGS study that examined trends of extreme low-flows across multiple continents.
Authors
Katrina Rossos