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James Richard Degnan

James Degnan is a hydrologist in the New England Water Science Center.

He is currently finishing a 4 year detail with the Groundwater Status and Trends, National Water Quality Program and working on some new program opportunities with the New England Water Science Center. James has been on numerous project teams tasked with multi-disciplinary investigations of hydrogeology, water chemistry, groundwater recharge dates, and riverbed sediment to help answer questions about water supply and contamination issues. He began work for the USGS in 1994 as a student working on a bridge scour project. He also participated in an exchange program in Budapest, Hungary in 1995 and received his B.S. in Geology from the University of New Hampshire in 1997. After graduation, his first duties as a hydrologist with the NH Bedrock Aquifer Assessment project included remote sensing, GIS, geophysics, and water quality data analysis. James has been involved in applied science and research projects across the US, and in Honduras and Abu Dhabi.

Professional Experience

  • 1997 - present, U.S. Geological Survey - Hydrologist

    1994 - 1997, U.S. Geological Survey - Student Trainee

Science and Products

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Study area, Wickford, Rhode Island

Assessment of Nutrient Transport and Discharge to Coastal Embayments, Wickford, Rhode Island

In 2020 the USGS began a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 Southeast New England Program for Coastal Watershed Restoration (SNEP) and EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD), Atlantic Coastal Sciences Division, Narragansett, RI in support of water-quality and ecological monitoring being conducted by ORD in the coastal waters around Wickford, RI. The USGS...
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New England Water Science Center
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Assessment of Nutrient Transport and Discharge to Coastal Embayments, Wickford, Rhode Island

In 2020 the USGS began a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 Southeast New England Program for Coastal Watershed Restoration (SNEP) and EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD), Atlantic Coastal Sciences Division, Narragansett, RI in support of water-quality and ecological monitoring being conducted by ORD in the coastal waters around Wickford, RI. The USGS...
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Groundwater sampling array Cape Cod Massachusetts

Preliminary Research into the Causes of Iron Fouling in Water at Roadway Construction Sites

The USGS and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation are conducting preliminary research into the causes of iron fouling in water at roadway construction sites where blasted bedrock is used as on-site fill material.
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New England Water Science Center
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Preliminary Research into the Causes of Iron Fouling in Water at Roadway Construction Sites

The USGS and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation are conducting preliminary research into the causes of iron fouling in water at roadway construction sites where blasted bedrock is used as on-site fill material.
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Groundwater level trends for 110 U.S. Geological Survey observation wells in the Delaware River Basin

This data release contains groundwater level trend results from 110 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) observation wells in and near the Delaware River Basin. Mean annual groundwater level elevations from water years 2000-2020 were computed from mean daily recorded groundwater levels and discretely measured groundwater levels. Both time series were analyzed using the Mann-Kendall test for monotonic tre
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Pennsylvania Water Science Center

Passive Seismic Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio Measurements at Transportation Infrastructure Sites in New Hampshire, 2022

In 2022, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) made 107 horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) passive seismic geophysical measurements at four transportation infrastructure sites in New Hampshire to determine the benefits of HVSR as an enhancement to traditional geotechnical site characterizations performed by NHDOT. Typ
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New England Water Science Center

Data for depth of groundwater used for drinking-water supplies in the United States

This data release includes grids representing the depth and thickness of drinking-water withdrawal zones, polygons of hydrogeologic settings, an inventory of sources of well construction data, and summaries of data comparisons used to assess the depth of groundwater used for drinking-water supplies in the United States. Well construction data sources are documented in Table1_DataSources.xlsx. Data
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Water Resources Mission Area

Borehole, Surface and Water-Borne Geophysical Surveys at the Callahan Mine Superfund Site in Brooksville, Maine: October 2016 to July 2018

From October 2016 to July 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Maine Department of Transportation, collected surface, marine and borehole geophysical surveys to characterize the subsurface materials on land and under the water at a former mine facility in Brooksville, Maine. Three water-based geophysical methods were used to evaluate the geomet
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New England Water Science Center

Datasets of Groundwater-Quality and Select Quality-Control Data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, January 2017 through December 2019

Groundwater-quality data were collected from 983 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Program and are included in this report. The data were collected from six types of well networks: principal aquifer study networks, which are used to assess the quality of groundwater used for public water supply; land-use study networ
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Water Resources Mission Area

Iron fouling data associated with drainage from roadway sites constructed with rock fill in New Hampshire

This data release contains files that are associated with the publication 'Understanding and predicting iron fouling associated with drainage from roadway sites constructed with rock-fill in New Hampshire, USA'. Each zipped file contains a data table or raster file and an associated metadata file. IronFoulingCutFillData.zip contains a .csv file and .xml metadata file related to the roadcut and roc
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New England Water Science Center

Datasets from Groundwater-Quality and Select Quality-Control Data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, January through December 2016, and Previously Unpublished Data from 2013 to 2015

Groundwater-quality data were collected from 648 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Program and are included in this report. Most of the wells (514) were sampled from January through December 2016 and 60 of them were sampled in 2013 and 74 in 2014. The data were collected from seven types of well networks: principal a
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Central Midwest Water Science Center

Data for Time Scales of Arsenic Variability and the Role of High-Frequency Monitoring at Three Water-Supply Wells in New Hampshire, USA

This data release consists of data (in four tables) for assessing the time scales of arsenic variability in three production wells in New Hampshire; tables that describe the data fields in the data tables are also included in the data release. High-frequency (every 5 to 15 minutes) and bi-monthly water-quality monitoring of a bedrock-aquifer domestic well (425651070573701), a bedrock-aquifer publi
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New England Water Science Center
A tide gage, Wickford, Rhode Island
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A tide gage, Wickford, Rhode Island
Groundwater sampling along the shoreline of Academy Cove, Wickford, Rhode Island, February 9, 2021
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Groundwater sampling, Wickford, Rhode Island
Instrumentation at a groundwater well
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Real-time measurement of variability in groundwater properties
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Depth of groundwater used for drinking-water supplies in the United States

Groundwater supplies 35 percent of drinking water in the United States. Mapping the quantity and quality of groundwater at the depths used for potable supplies requires an understanding of locational variation in the characteristics of drinking-water wells (depth and open interval). Typical depths of domestic- and public-drinking-water supply wells vary by and within aquifer across the United Stat
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James R. Degnan, Leon J. Kauffman, Melinda L. Erickson, Kenneth Belitz, Paul E. Stackelberg
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Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Groundwater quality in the Colorado Plateaus aquifers, western United States

Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water. The Colorado Plateaus aquifers constitute one of the important areas being evaluated.
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James R. Degnan, MaryLynn Musgrove
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Water Resources Mission Area

Groundwater-quality and select quality-control data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, January 2017 through December 2019

Groundwater-quality environmental data were collected from 983 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Program and are included in this report. The data were collected from six types of well networks: principal aquifer study networks, which are used to assess the quality of groundwater used for public water supply; land-us
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James A. Kingsbury, Laura M. Bexfield, Terri Arnold, MaryLynn Musgrove, Melinda L. Erickson, James R. Degnan, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Bruce D. Lindsey, Kenneth Belitz
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Water Resources Mission Area, National Water Quality Program, Central Midwest Water Science Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

A multi-model approach toward understanding iron fouling at rock-fill drainage sites along roadways in New Hampshire, USA

Factors affecting iron fouling in wet areas adjacent to roadways were investigated by collecting field rock cut and aqueous physicochemical data; developing exploratory predictive models; and developing geochemical models. Basic data included the identification of iron fouling from aerial imagery and field visits at 374 New Hampshire rock cut locations, and their associated rock-fill sites. Based
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Melissa Lombard, Pamela J. Lombard, Craig J. Brown, James Degnan
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Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Groundwater-quality and select quality-control data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, January through December 2016, and previously unpublished data from 2013 to 2015

Environmental groundwater-quality data were collected from 648 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Program and are included in this report. Most of the wells (514) were sampled from January through December 2016, and 60 of them were sampled in 2013 and 74 in 2014. The data were collected from seven types of well networ
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Terri Arnold, Laura M. Bexfield, MaryLynn Musgrove, Melinda L. Erickson, James A. Kingsbury, James R. Degnan, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Justin T. Kulongoski, Kenneth Belitz
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Central Midwest Water Science Center

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%) wells
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James R. Degnan, Bruce D. Lindsey, Joseph Patrick Levitt, Zoltan Szabo
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Water Resources Mission Area, New Jersey Water Science Center

Time scales of arsenic variability and the role of high-frequency monitoring at three water-supply wells in New Hampshire, USA

Groundwater geochemistry, redox process classification, high-frequency physicochemical and hydrologic measurements, and climate data were analyzed to identify controls on arsenic (As) concentration changes. Groundwater was monitored in two public-supply wells (one glacial aquifer and one bedrock aquifer), and one bedrock-aquifer domestic well in New Hampshire, USA, from 2014 to 2018 to identify ti
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James R. Degnan, Joseph P. Levitt, Melinda Erickson, Bryant C. Jurgens, Bruce D. Lindsey, Joseph D. Ayotte
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Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Arsenic variability and groundwater age in three water supply wells in southeast New Hampshire

Three wells in New Hampshire were sampled bimonthly over three years to evaluate the temporal variability of arsenic concentrations and groundwater age. All samples had measurable concentrations of arsenic throughout the entire sampling period and concentrations in individual wells varied, on average, by more than 7 µg/L. High arsenic concentrations (>10 µg/L) were measured in bedrock wells KFW-87
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Joseph Levitt, James Degnan, Sarah Flanagan, Bryant Jurgens
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Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center, New England Water Science Center

Brackish groundwater in the United States

For some parts of the Nation, large-scale development of groundwater has caused decreases in the amount of groundwater that is present in aquifer storage and that discharges to surface-water bodies. Water supply in some areas, particularly in arid and semiarid regions, is not adequate to meet demand, and severe drought is affecting large parts of the United States. Future water demand is projected
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Jennifer S. Stanton, David W. Anning, Craig J. Brown, Richard B. Moore, Virginia L. McGuire, Sharon L. Qi, Alta C. Harris, Kevin F. Dennehy, Peter B. McMahon, James R. Degnan, John Karl Böhlke
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Water Resources Mission Area, Arizona Water Science Center, New England Water Science Center, Western Fisheries Research Center, Klamath Falls Field Station (KFFS)

Identification of groundwater nitrate contamination from explosives used in road construction: Isotopic, chemical, and hydrologic evidence

Explosives used in construction have been implicated as sources of NO3– contamination in groundwater, but direct forensic evidence is limited. Identification of blasting-related NO3– can be complicated by other NO3– sources, including agriculture and wastewater disposal, and by hydrogeologic factors affecting NO3– transport and stability. Here we describe a study that used hydrogeology, chemistry,
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James R. Degnan, John Karl Böhlke, Krystle Pelham, David M. Langlais, Gregory J. Walsh
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Water Resources Mission Area, Ecosystems Mission Area, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Environmental Health Program, New England Water Science Center

Surface geophysics and porewater evaluation at the Lower Darby Creek Area Superfund Site, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2013

In cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 3, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is participating in an ongoing study to aid in the identification of subsurface heterogeneities that may act as preferential pathways for contaminant transport in and around the Lower Darby Creek Area (LDCA) Superfund Site, Philadelphia Pa. Lower Darby Creek, which flows into the Delawar
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Charles W. Walker, James R. Degnan, Michael J. Brayton, Roberto M. Cruz, Michelle M. Lorah
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Water Resources Mission Area, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center

Hydrogeologic framework, hydrology, and refined conceptual model of groundwater flow for Coastal Plain aquifers at the Standard Chlorine of Delaware, Inc. Superfund Site, New Castle County, Delaware, 2005-12

From 1966 to 2002, activities at the Standard Chlorine of Delaware chemical facility in New Castle County, Delaware resulted in the contamination of groundwater, soils, and wetland sediment. In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3, and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control began a multi-year
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Michael J. Brayton, Roberto M. Cruz, Luke Myers, James R. Degnan, Jeff P. Raffensperger
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Water Resources Mission Area, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center
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Naturally Occurring Contaminants in "Ancient" Groundwater of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers

Groundwater in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers is old—more than 21,300 years old in more than half of 252 public-supply wells sampled...

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