Agriculture, Livestock, and Aquaculture

Pesticides are chemicals designed to kill pests, including insects (insecticides), weeds (herbicides), and fungi (fungicides). The USGS assesses the occurrence and behavior of pesticides in streams, lakes, and groundwater and the potential for pesticides to contaminate our drinking-water supplies or harm aquatic ecosystems.

The sources, biogeochemistry, and ecotoxicology of selenium (Se) combine to produce a widespread potential for ecological risk such as deformities in birds and fish. Linking the understanding of source characteristics to a mechanistic, biodynamic dietary model of Se exposure on an ecosystem-scale improves the prediction of Se effects and its potential remediation.

Regional groundwater availability studies enable information about groundwater to be integrated and consistent, so that this resource can be analyzed and understood on an aquifer–wide scale. These studies provide decision–makers with a better understanding of the status and trends in the Nation's groundwater availability.

The goals of the Regional Stream Quality Assessment (RSQA) are to characterize multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life (contaminants, nutrients, sediment, and streamflow alteration) and to develop a better understanding of the relation of these stressors to ecological conditions in streams throughout the region.

The USGS is undertaking a 3-year study of water availability and use to investigate competing societal and ecological needs in Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Basins of the Carolinas. This study will compile existing information, add new scientific data and interpretation, and develop tools to help resource managers and stakeholders address current and future water-use challenges.

The USGS is undertaking a 3-year study of water use, availability, and change in the Red River basin, which covers more than 93,000 square miles in New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Water resources are being stressed by increasing water demands and increasingly severe droughts, and a comprehensive water-resource assessment of the basin is needed to enable sustainable water use.

As one of several National Focus Area Studies within the USGS National Water Census (NWC) the USGS completed a 3-year study of water availability and use in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin.

USGS is undertaking a 3-year study of water use, availability, and change in the Upper Rio Grande Basin. This study area runs 670 miles from its headwaters in Colorado through New Mexico and northern Mexico to Texas, and will compile existing information and add new scientific data and interpretation to help stakeholders face current and future water issues.

Groundwater provides nearly one-half of the Nation’s drinking water, and sustains the steady flow of streams and rivers and the ecological systems that depend on that flow. Unless we drill a well, how can we know the quality of the groundwater below? Learn about how the USGS is using sophisticated techniques to predict groundwater quality and view national maps of groundwater quality.

Research by the USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project on water quality of rivers and streams covers a broad range of topics, from nonpoint pollution issues to vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems. Dive in and find out more about current water-quality conditions, how and where water quality is changing, and the latest information on pesticides, nutrients, and other contaminants.

These tables, maps, and graphs provide estimates of U.S. agricultural pesticide use suitable for evaluating national and regional patterns and trends of annual pesticide use.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals that both vaporize into air and dissolve in water. VOCs are pervasive in daily life, because they’re used in industry, agriculture, transportation, and day-to-day activities around the home. Once released into groundwater, many VOCs are persistent and can migrate to drinking-water supply wells.