Patrick Moran

The USGS Alaska Science Center operates super gages on the Alsek, Taku, Stikine, Unuk and Salmon Rivers. Discrete water quality, sediment, and biological sampling are also collected at each gage location. Discrete water quality samples are also collected annually at the Canada-Alaska border crossings of the Taku, Stikine, and Unuk Rivers. Water quality data collection began in 2018 on the Unuk...

Project Overview Harmful algal blooms (HABs), caused by cyanobacteria, are increasingly a global concern due to their potential to produce toxins harmful to human and animal health. This study aims to develop tools for forecasting toxin concentrations. The study combines continuous water quality monitoring, satellite data analysis, and toxin verification to enhance our understanding and management...

Like people, plants need nutrients, but too much of a good thing can be a problem. Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, occur naturally, but most of the nutrients in our waterways come from human activities and sources—fertilizers, wastewater, automobile exhaust, animal waste. The USGS investigates the source, transport, and fate of nutrients and their impacts on the world around us.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can affect the human nervous system. Eating fish contaminated with mercury can cause serious harm to people and wildlife.

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.

Emerging contaminants are a group of chemical compounds that generally include pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, surfactants, industrial and household chemicals, and food additives. Their presence in the environment is typically associated with discharges from wastewater treatment-plants (WWTP), on-site septic systems, and some animal production operations. They are of particular interest...

The Unuk River is the second smallest watershed in the transboundary study of Southeast Alaska, but has three large mining projects in development (Kerr-Sulplherets-Mitchell (KSM), Brucejack, and Eskay Creek).

The Alsek River is the furthest north watershed in the transboundary study of Southeast Alaska, reaching 300 miles north of Haines Junction, Yukon Territory.

The Stikine River near Wrangell and Petersburg is the largest watershed in the transboundary study of Southeast Alaska.

Adverse water quality from a trio of historic mines in the Tulsequah River watershed, a tributary of the Taku River, have caused concern in local communities including Juneau, Alaska, and Atlin, British Columbia

The Salmon River, located near Hyder, Alaska, and Stewart, British Columbia, is the smallest watershed in the transboundary study of Southeast Alaska.

The Issue: Federal and state natural resource managers and Tribes are concerned with the environmental impacts from unintentional release of coal dust from train cars during transport through the Northwest. Proposed new coal export terminals in Washington and Oregon would substantially increase rail traffic through the Northwest and the release of coal dust to the environment. How USGS will help...