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.
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Learn more about the WMA from Dr. Don Cline, the Associate Director for Water Resources.
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Explore our science by the topical areas that drive the research and projects conducted by our Programs.
USGS Water Data for the Nation
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More data and toolsNews
Urban growth in the southeastern U.S. potentially threatens health of small streams
Projected impacts include widespread loss of fish and invertebrate species in the region
Flights Above the Mississippi Alluvial Plain to Continue Aquifer Mapping
New Phase of USGS Low-level Surveys Begins in November
Southeast streams see loss of native fish species and increased species “homogenization” among streams
Southeast streams are becoming less biologically unique, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey. Fish species present in any given Southeast stream are becoming more similar to those present in other Southeast streams, a phenomenon known as homogenization that is considered an emerging...
Publications
Low streamflow trends at human-impacted and reference basins in the United States
We present a continent-scale exploration of trends in annual 7-day low streamflows at 2482 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages across the conterminous United States over the past 100, 75, and 50 years (1916–2015, 1941–2015 and 1966–2015). We used basin characteristics to identify subsets of study basins representative of reference basins with...
Dudley, Robert; Hirsch, Robert M.; Archfield, Stacey A.; Blum, Annalise G.; Renard, Benjamin De facto water reuse: Bioassay suite approach delivers depth and breadth in endocrine active compound detection
Although endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) have been detected in wastewater and surface waters worldwide using a variety of in vitro effects-based screening tools, e.g. bioassays, few have examined potential attenuation of environmental contaminants by both natural (sorption, degradation, etc) and anthropogenic (water treatment practices)...
Medlock Kakaley, Elizabeth K; Blackwell, Brett R.; Cardon, Mary C.; Conley, Justin M.; Evans, Nicola; Feifarek, David J.; Furlong, Edward; Glassmeyer, Susan T.; Gray, L. Earl Jr.; Hartig, Phillip C.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Mills, Marc A.; Rosenblum, Laura; Villeneuve, Daniel L.; Wilson, Vickie S.
Instructions for running the analytical code PAT (Purge Analyzer Tool) for computation of in-well time of travel of groundwater under pumping conditions
IntroductionUnderstanding the optimal time needed to purge a well while pumping to collect a representative groundwater sample requires an understanding of groundwater flow in wells (in-well flow). Parameters that affect in-well flow include the hydraulic properties of the aquifer, well construction, drawdown from pumping, and pump rate. The time...
Harte, P.T.; Huffman, B.J.; Perina, Tomas; Levine, Herb; Rojas-Mickelson, Daewon