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
Equus Beds Aquifer Water Quality Nearly Unchanged between 2001 and 2016
Study Shows Water Quality Minimally Affected by Artificial Recharge
Groundwater age-dating simplified
A new USGS report documents a simple method to classify groundwater age as premodern (recharged before 1953), modern (recharge in 1953 or later), or a mix of the two. The method—tritium-based age classification, or TBAC—requires just a single measurement of tritium, along with knowledge of sample date and location...
USGS Scientists Document Hurricane Dorian’s Impacts
Editor’s Note: This story was revised Sept. 10, 2019 to include the later phases of USGS’ response to Hurricane Dorian.
To learn more about USGS’ role providing science to decision makers before, during and after Hurricane Dorian, visit the USGS Hurricane Dorian page at www.usgs.gov/dorian.
Publications
Baseline environmental monitoring of groundwater, surface water, and soil at the Ammonium Perchlorate Rocket Motor Destruction Facility at the Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 2016
Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, built an Ammonium Perchlorate Rocket Motor Destruction (ARMD) facility in 2016. The ARMD Facility was designed to centralize rocket motor destruction and contain or capture all waste during the destruction process. Ideally, there would be no contaminant transport to air, soil, or water from the...
Galeone, Daniel G.
Real-time assessments of water quality—A nowcast for Escherichia coli and cyanobacterial toxins
Threats to our recreational and drinking waters include disease-causing (pathogenic) organisms from fecal contamination and toxins produced by some species of cyanobacteria (cyanotoxins) that can cause acute and (or) chronic illnesses. Because traditional laboratory methods for detecting these threats take too long for prompt public health...
Francy, Donna S.; Brady, Amie M.; Zimmerman, Tammy M.
Changes in event‐based streamflow magnitude and timing after suburban development with infiltration‐based stormwater management
Green stormwater infrastructure implementation in urban watersheds has outpaced our understanding of practice effectiveness on streamflow response to precipitation events. Long‐term monitoring of experimental urban watersheds in Clarksburg, Maryland, USA, provided an opportunity to examine changes in event‐based streamflow metrics in two treatment...
Hopkins, Kristina G.; Bhaskar, Aditi S.; Woznicki, Sean; Fanelli, Rosemary