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
Legacy sediment as a potential source of orthophosphate: Preliminary conceptual and geochemical models for the Susquehanna River, Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
Nutrient pollution from agriculture and urban areas plus acid mine drainage (AMD) from legacy coal mines are primary causes of water-quality impairment in the Susquehanna River, which is the predominant source of freshwater and nutrients entering the Chesapeake Bay. Recent increases in the delivery of dissolved orthophosphate (PO4) from the river to the bay may be linked to long-term increases in
Authors
Charles A. Cravotta, Travis L. Tasker, Peter M. Smyntek, Joel Blomquist, John Clune, Qian Zhang, Noah Schmadel, Natalie Katrina Schmer
Your land, your water—Using research to guide conservation practices on local farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Agricultural lands are an important part of the economy and heritage of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and are a focus of conservation activities. Streams and rivers around farms provide communities with drinking water and recreational opportunities, but these local benefits can be impaired by elevated nutrient and sediment concentrations. Compared to inputs from the atmosphere, wastewater, and urba
Authors
James S. Webber, John W. Clune, Alex M. Soroka, Kenneth E. Hyer
Non-native Rhizophora mangle as sinks for coastal contamination on Moloka'i, Hawai'i
Coastal mangrove forests provide a suite of environmental services, including sequestration of anthropogenic contamination. Yet, research lags on the environmental fate and potential human health risks of mangrove-sequestered contaminants in the context of mangrove removal for development and range shifts due to climate change. To address this, we conducted a study on Moloka'i, Hawai'i, comparing
Authors
Geoffrey Szafranski, Elise F. Granek, Michelle Hladik, Mia Hackett
Assessment of prerestoration water quality in the Herring River to support adaptive management at the Cape Cod National Seashore
In 2020 and 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey, Cape Cod National Seashore of the National Park Service, and Friends of Herring River cooperated to assess nutrient and suspended sediment concentrations across the ocean-estuary boundary at a dike on the Herring River on Chequessett Neck Road in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, that has restricted saltwater inputs by regulating water inflow through three cul
Authors
Thomas G. Huntington
Critical review of the phytohemagglutinin assay for assessing amphibian immunity
Infectious diseases are a major driver of the global amphibian decline. In addition, many factors, including genetics, stress, pollution, and climate change can influence the response to pathogens. Therefore, it is important to be able to evaluate amphibian immunity in the laboratory and in the field. The phytohemagglutinin (PHA) assay is an inexpensive and relatively non-invasive tool that has be
Authors
Lauren Hawley, Kelly L. Smalling, Scott Glaberman
Hydrologic changes in the Brazos River Basin and implications for Great Plains fishes
Hydrologic changes in the Brazos River Basin and implications for Great Plains fishes
Authors
Brad D. Wolaver, Lindsay V. Reynolds, Todd Caldwell, Tara Bongiovanni, Jon Paul Pierre, Caroline Breton, Kevin B. Mayes
Comprehensive assessment of macroinvertebrate community condition and sediment toxicity in the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern, New York, 2021
The degradation of benthic communities (benthos) is one of four remaining beneficial use impairments (BUIs) in the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern (AOC), located on the south shore of Lake Ontario in New York. The historical rationale for listing this BUI as impaired relied heavily on inferred or expected impact to benthic communities based on elevated contaminant concentrations in bed sediment
Authors
Scott D. George, Barry P. Baldigo, Scott M. Collins, David B. Clarke, Brian T. Duffy
Hyperspectral (VNIR-SWIR) analysis of roll front uranium host rocks and industrial minerals from Karnes and Live Oak Counties, Texas Coastal Plain
VNIR-SWIR (400–2500 nm) reflectance measurements were made on the surfaces of various cores, cuttings and sample splits of sedimentary rocks from the Tertiary Jackson Group, and Catahoula, Oakville and Goliad Formations. These rocks vary in composition and texture from mudstone and claystone to sandstone and are known host rocks for roll front uranium occurrences in Karnes and Live Oak Counties, T
Authors
Bernard E. Hubbard, Tanya J. Gallegos, Victoria G. Stengel, Todd M. Hoefen, Raymond F. Kokaly, Brent Elliott
Groundwater flow model investigation of the vulnerability of water resources at Chaco Culture National Historical Park related to unconventional oil and gas development
Chaco Culture National Historical Park (CCNHP), located in northwestern New Mexico, protects the greatest concentration of Chacoan historical sites in the American Southwest. Geologically, CCNHP is located within the San Juan structural basin, which consists in part of complex Cretaceous stratigraphy and hosts a variety of energy resources. As part of a larger study to investigate the vulnerabilit
Authors
Zachary M. Shephard, Andre B. Ritchie, Benjamin S. Linhoff, John Joseph Lunzer
Long-term mercury loading and trapping dynamics in a Western North America reservoir
Study RegionThe Carson River including Lahontan Reservoir in Northwestern Nevada, USAStudy FocusThe discovery, mining, and processing of silver and gold from the Comstock Lode in northwestern Nevada heavily contaminated the Carson River system with mercury (Hg). The river now contains some of the highest recorded water column and bed sediment Hg concentrations reported in peer-reviewed literature.
Authors
Eric D. Morway, Robert M. Hirsch, Angela Paul, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Carl E Thodal
A simple approach to modeling light attenuation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta using commonly available data
The diffuse attenuation coefficient of photosynthetically active radiation (KdPAR) is commonly used to predict light attenuation in aquatic productivity models, but obtaining measurements of PAR to compute KdPAR is difficult. In situ calculations of KdPAR require multiple measurements of PAR through the water column, and these measurements are infeasible for real-time recording. Instead, predictiv
Authors
Emily T. Richardson, Keith Bouma-Gregson, Katy O'Donnell, Brian A. Bergamaschi
Etiology of a fish kill, Including the endangered Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), in a northeastern pacific coastal lagoon
Ecological disturbances such as fish kills can negatively impact ecosystem processes in coastal lagoons. To gain an understanding of factors causing fish kills, we examined conditions associated with a summertime fish kill in a northeastern Pacific coastal lagoon (Rodeo Lagoon, CA, USA). Examination of available data indicated the fish kill was likely caused by hypoxia involving the following etio
Authors
Frederick V. Feyrer, Matthew J. Young, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Elizabeth B. Stumpner, Darren Fong, Kurt D. Carpenter