Mission Areas
Water Resources
Water information is fundamental to national and local economic well-being, protection of life and property, and effective management of the Nation’s water resources. The USGS works with partners to monitor, assess, conduct targeted research, and deliver information on a wide range of water resources and conditions including streamflow, groundwater, water quality, and water use and availability.
USGS Water Data for the Nation
Surface-water, groundwater, water-quality, and water-use data collected at approximately 1.9 million sites across all 50 states.
Get DataMessage from the Associate Director for Water
Learn more about the WMA from Dr. Don Cline, the Associate Director for Water Resources.
ReadPopular Water Data and Tools
Explore our science by the topical areas that drive the research and projects conducted by our Programs.
USGS Water Data for the Nation
National Groundwater Monitoring Network Data Portal
More data and toolsNews
Marcellus Shale natural-gas production not currently causing widespread hydrocarbon contamination of domestic wells that tap shallow upland groundwater
A new USGS study reports that shale-gas production in northern Pennsylvania has not currently caused widespread hydrocarbon contamination in the upland aquifer zone used for domestic supply.
Bringing USGS hydrologic science and data to the 150th-anniversary Powell Colorado River Expedition
Jessica Lucido (Water Resources Mission Area) joins the 1,000-mile expedition following John Wesley Powell’s historic journey down the Colorado River on July 5.
Very large dead zone forecast for the Gulf of Mexico
NOAA's annual prediction based on USGS data
Publications
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2016 through September 2017) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in selected streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the Clark Fork Basin of western Montana. The sampling program was led by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to characterize aquatic resources in the Clark...
Cleasby, Thomas E.; Hornberger, Michelle I.; Heinert, Terry L. ; Turner, Matthew A.
Hydrologic study at Farm Creek Marsh, Dorchester County, Maryland, from April 2015 to April 2016
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey began a 1-year hydrologic study to investigate the extent and cause of inundation at Farm Creek Marsh, in Dorchester County, Maryland. In combination with a tide and precipitation gage, a representative section of the marsh was instrumented with surface-water monitors and shallow groundwater piezometers to...
Walker, Charles W.; Lester, Todd R.; Nealen, Christopher W.
Timber harvest alters mercury bioaccumulation and food web structure in headwater streams
Timber harvest has many effects on aquatic ecosystems, including changes in hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological processes that can influence mercury (Hg) cycling. Although timber harvest’s influence on aqueous Hg transformation and transport are well studied, the effects on Hg bioaccumulation are not. We evaluated Hg bioaccumulation,...
Willacker, James; Eagles-Smith, Collin A.; Kowalski, Brandon M; Danehy, Robert J; Jackson, Allyson K.; Adams, Evan M.; Evers, David C.; Eckley, Chris S.; Tate, Michael T.; Krabbenhoft, David P.