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Publications

This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.

Filter Total Items: 18326

An introduction to Criteria for Reporting and Evaluating Exposure Datasets (CREED) for use in environmental assessments

Risks posed by environmental exposure to chemicals are routinely assessed to inform activities ranging from environmental status reporting to authorization and registration of chemicals for commercial uses. Environmental risk assessment generally relies on two key values generated from exposure data and ecotoxicity data. Data sets of measured concentrations of chemicals in environmental matrices,
Authors
Graham Merrington, Lisa H. Nowell, Charles Peck

Hydrologic analysis of an earthen embankment dam in southern Westchester County, New York

In 2001, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection installed 25 wells on the southern embankment of the Hillview Reservoir in Westchester County in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the source of a large seep (seep A) that began flowing continuously in 1999. In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative study with the NYCDEP to characterize the hydrology of the local groun
Authors
Anthony Chu, Michael L. Noll, William D. Capurso, Robert J. Welk

Yellowstone River fish bypass channel physical and hydraulic monitoring, Montana

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, began monitoring the Yellowstone River fish bypass channel according to the specifications of the Lower Yellowstone Adaptive Management and Monitoring Plan. The fish bypass channel was constructed to provide upstream migrating fish with a route around a diversion dam. The objective of this study is to monitor the physical a
Authors
J. Brooks Stephens, Jason S. Alexander, Seth A. Siefken

An update of hydrologic conditions and distribution of selected constituents in water, eastern Snake River aquifer and perched groundwater zones, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, emphasis 2019–21

Since 1952, wastewater discharged to infiltration ponds (also called “percolation ponds”) and disposal wells at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has affected water quality in the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer and perched groundwater zones underlying the INL. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), maintains groundwater-monitoring ne
Authors
Kerri C. Treinen, Allison R. Trcka, Jason C. Fisher

Pesticides in small volume plasma samples: Method development and application to smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) from the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA

Nontarget organisms are exposed to pesticides following applications in agricultural and urban settings, potentially resulting in deleterious effects. Direct measurements of pesticides in biological tissues may aid in characterizing exposure, accumulation, and potential toxicity versus analyses in environmental media alone (e.g., water, soil, and air). Plasma represents a nonlethal sampling medium
Authors
Michael S. Gross, Vicki S. Blazer, Michelle Hladik

Evaluating the reliability of environmental concentration data to characterize exposure in environmental risk assessments

Environmental risk assessments often rely on measured concentrations in environmental matrices to characterize exposure of the population of interest—typically, humans, aquatic biota, or other wildlife. Yet, there is limited guidance available on how to report and evaluate exposure datasets for reliability and relevance, despite their importance to regulatory decision-making. This paper is the sec
Authors
Michelle Hladik, Arjen Markus, Dennis R. Helsel, Lisa H. Nowell, Stefano Polesello, Heinz Rudel, Drew Szabo, Iain Wilson

Improving crop-specific groundwater use estimation in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain: Implications for integrated remote sensing and machine learning approaches in data-scarce regions

Study regionThe Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) in the United States (US).Study focusUnderstanding local-scale groundwater use, a critical component of the water budget, is necessary for implementing sustainable water management practices. The MAP is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the US and extracts more than 11 km3/year for irrigation activities. Consequently, groundwater-le
Authors
Sayantan Majumdar, Ryan Smith, Md Fahim Hasan, Jordan Wilson, Vincent E. White, Emilia L. Bristow, James R. Rigby, Wade Kress, Jaime A. Painter

Simulation of groundwater-flow dynamics in the U.S. Northern High Plains driven by multi-model estimates of surficial aquifer recharge

There is growing interest in incorporating higher-resolution groundwater modeling within the framework of large-scale land surface models (LSMs), including processes such as three-dimensional flow, variable soil saturation, and surface water/groundwater interactions. Conversely, complex groundwater models (e.g., the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater-Flow Model, MODFLOW) often use simpler represen
Authors
Farshid Felfelani, Joseph D. Hughes, Fei Chen, Aubrey L Dugger, Timothy Schneider, David Gochis, Jonathan P. Traylor, Hedeff I. Essaid

Methods of analysis—Determination of pesticides in filtered water and suspended sediment using liquid chromatography- and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

The widespread application of pesticides in agricultural and urban areas leads to their presence in surface waters. Presence of these biologically active chemicals in environmental waters potentially has adverse effects on nontarget organisms. To better understand the environmental fate of these contaminants, a robust method to capture chemicals with wide-ranging physicochemical properties has bee
Authors
Michael S. Gross, Corey J. Sanders, Matthew D. De Parsia, Michelle L. Hladik

Streamflow permanence in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

IntroductionStreams that flow throughout summer (“permanent” streams) provide critical habitat for aquatic species and serve as an important water supply. Streams that go dry seasonally or only flow after rainfall or snowmelt are a natural feature of mountain systems, including Mount Rainier National Park. However, in years with substantially less than normal snowfall, like 2015, more streams go d
Authors
Kristin Jaeger

24 hours on the Arthur Kill

No abstract available.
Authors
Kaitlyn M. Finkelstein

Illegal dumping of oil and gas wastewater alters arid soil microbial communities

The Permian Basin, underlying southeast New Mexico and west Texas, is one of the most productive oil and gas (OG) provinces in the United States. Oil and gas production yields large volumes of wastewater with complex chemistries, and the environmental health risks posed by these OG wastewaters on sensitive desert ecosystems are poorly understood. Starting in November 2017, 39 illegal dumps, as def
Authors
Mitra Kashani, Mark A Engle, Douglas B. Kent, Terry G. Gregston, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Adam Mumford, Matthew S. Varonka, Cassandra Rashan Harris, Denise M. Akob