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: 19018
Seasonally varying contributions of contemporaneous and lagged sources of instream total nitrogen and phosphorus load across the Illinois River basin Seasonally varying contributions of contemporaneous and lagged sources of instream total nitrogen and phosphorus load across the Illinois River basin
Quantifying nutrient sources in streams, their temporal and spatial variability, and drivers of that variability can support effective water resources management. Yet a lack of data and modeling capabilities has previously prevented comprehensive quantification across both space and time. Here a dynamic SPARROW (Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed attributes) model that...
Authors
Noah Schmadel, Olivia L. Miller, Scott Ator, Matthew P. Miller, Gregory E. Schwarz, Dale M. Robertson, Andrew J. Sekellick, Kenneth D. Skinner, David A. Saad
Reducing wastewater nitrogen loading by >90% with carbon-amended septic systems: A field demonstration in Barnstable (Cape Cod), Massachusetts Reducing wastewater nitrogen loading by >90% with carbon-amended septic systems: A field demonstration in Barnstable (Cape Cod), Massachusetts
Onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) are a major source of excess nutrients and co-pollutants in watersheds across the United States. In Barnstable County (Cape Cod), Massachusetts, effluent from septic systems and cesspools contributes approximately 80% of the controllable reactive nitrogen (N) load to numerous impaired estuaries and degrades water quality in the region's sole...
Authors
Laura Erban, Sara Wigginton, Brian Baumgaertel, Bryan Horsley, Timothy D. McCobb, Zee Crocker, Scott Horsley, Timothy Gleason
Predictive understanding of stream salinization in a developed watershed using machine learning Predictive understanding of stream salinization in a developed watershed using machine learning
Stream salinization is a global issue, yet few models can provide reliable salinity estimates for unmonitored locations at the time scales required for ecological exposure assessments. Machine learning approaches are presented that use spatially limited high-frequency monitoring and spatially distributed discrete samples to estimate the daily stream-specific conductance across a...
Authors
Jared David Smith, Lauren Elizabeth Koenig, Margaux Jeanne Sleckman, Alison P. Appling, Jeffrey M Sadler, Vincent T. DePaul, Zoltan Szabo
Environmental and societal consequences of winter ice loss from lakes Environmental and societal consequences of winter ice loss from lakes
More than half a billion people live near lakes that freeze over in the winter. However, lakes are rapidly losing winter ice cover in response to warming, and the rate of loss has accelerated over the past 25 years. Hampton et al. reviewed the state of seasonal ice cover on lakes and discuss some of the consequences of its disappearance. Ice loss will affect culture, economy, water...
Authors
Stephanie E. Hampton, Stephen M. Powers, Hilary A. Dugan, Lesley B. Knoll, Bailey C. McMeans, Michael Frederick Meyer, Catherine M. O’Reilly, Ted Ozersky, Sapna Sharma, David C Barrett, Sudeep Chandra, Joachim Jansen, Ryan P. McClure, Milla Rautio, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Xiao Yang
State of science, gap analysis, and prioritization for southeastern United States water-quality impacts from coastal storms—Fiscal year 2023 program report to the Water Resources Mission Area from the Water Availability Impacts of Extreme Events Program—H State of science, gap analysis, and prioritization for southeastern United States water-quality impacts from coastal storms—Fiscal year 2023 program report to the Water Resources Mission Area from the Water Availability Impacts of Extreme Events Program—H
Tropical cyclones (coastal storm events that include tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes) cause landscape-scale disturbances that can lead to impaired water quality and thus reduce water availability for use. Stakeholders and scientists at local and national scales have illustrated a need for understanding these risks to water quality. A regional and comprehensive...
Authors
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Tara L. Root, Matthew D. Petkewich, MaryLynn Musgrove, Amy C. Gill, J. Curtis Weaver, Christopher H. Conaway, Bruce D. Lindsey, Francis Parchaso, Noah Knowles, Elizabeth J. Tomaszewski
Hyperspectral Image Transects during Transient Events in Rivers (HITTER): Framework development and application to a tracer experiment on the Missouri River, USA Hyperspectral Image Transects during Transient Events in Rivers (HITTER): Framework development and application to a tracer experiment on the Missouri River, USA
Rivers convey a broad range of materials, such as sediment, nutrients, and contaminants. Much of this transport can occur during or immediately after an episodic, pulsed event like a flood or an oil spill. Understanding the flow processes that influence the motion of these substances is important for managing water resources and conserving aquatic ecosystems. This study introduces a new...
Authors
Carl J. Legleiter, Victoria Mary Scholl, Brandon James Sansom, Matthew Alexander Burgess
Dynamic water-quality responses to wildfire in Colorado Dynamic water-quality responses to wildfire in Colorado
In 2020, Colorado experienced the most severe wildfire season in recorded history, with wildfires burning 625 357 acres across the state. Two of the largest fires burned parts of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), and a study was initiated to address concerns about potential effects on drinking water quality from mobilization of ash and sediment. The study took advantage of a wealth of...
Authors
David W. Clow, Garrett Alexander Akie, Sheila F. Murphy, Evan J. Gohring
Correlation analysis of groundwater and hydrologic data, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Hawai‘i Correlation analysis of groundwater and hydrologic data, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Hawai‘i
Designated in 1978, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park is located on the west coast of the Island of Hawaiʻi. The Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park encompasses about 1,200 acres of coastal land and nearshore ecosystems, which include wetlands, anchialine pools (landlocked bodies of brackish water with hydrologic connections to the ocean), fishponds, a fishtrap, and coral...
Authors
Brytne K. Okuhata, Delwyn S. Oki
Mixed contaminant exposure in tapwater and the potential implications for human-health in disadvantaged communities in California Mixed contaminant exposure in tapwater and the potential implications for human-health in disadvantaged communities in California
Water is an increasingly precious resource in California as years of drought, climate change, pollution, as well as an expanding population have all stressed the state's drinking water supplies. Currently, there are increasing concerns about whether regulated and unregulated contaminants in drinking water are linked to a variety of human-health outcomes particularly in socially...
Authors
Kelly Smalling, Kristin M. Romanok, Paul M. Bradley, Michelle Hladik, James L. Gray, Leslie K. Kanagy, R. Blaine McCleskey, Diana A. Stavreva, Annika K. Alexander-Ozinskas, Jesus Alonso, Wendy Avila, Sara E. Breitmeyer, Roberto Bustillo, Stephanie E. Gordon, Gordon L. Hager, Rena R. Jones, Dana W. Kolpin, Seth Newton, Peggy Reynolds, John Sloop, Andria Ventura, Julie Von Behren, Mary H. Ward, Gina M. Solomon
New insights on the origin of the Richardson-Richards equation New insights on the origin of the Richardson-Richards equation
The Richardson-Richards equation (RRE), despite known shortcomings especially in regard to preferential flow, provides the basis of the vast majority of unsaturated flow models in use today. L.F. Richardson published this equation in 1922, nine years before L.A. Richards. Whereas Richards approached this problem directly from the groundbreaking developments of Edgar Buckingham...
Authors
John R. Nimmo
Dust in the Critical Zone: North American case studies Dust in the Critical Zone: North American case studies
The dust cycle facilitates the exchange of particles among Earth's major systems, enabling dust to traverse ecosystems, cross geographic boundaries, and even move uphill against the natural flow of gravity. Dust in the atmosphere is composed of a complex and ever-changing mixture that reflects the evolving human footprint on the landscape. The emission, transport, and deposition of dust...
Authors
Janice Brahney, Ruth C. Heindel, Thomas E. Gill, Gregory Carling, Juan M Gonzalez-Olalla, Jenny L. Hand, Derek V. Mallia, Jeffrey S. Munroe, Kevin Perry, Annie L. Putman, S. McKenzie Skiles, Brad R. Adams, Zachary T. Aanderud, Sarah M. Aarons, Daniela Aguirre, Karin Ardon-Dryer, Molly A. Blakowski, Jessie M. Creamean, Diego P. Fernandez, Hosein Foroutan, Cassandra J. Gaston, Maura Hahnenberger, Sebastian W. Hoch, Daniel K. Jones, Kerry E. Kelly, Otto I. Lang, Josh Lemonte, Richard L. Reynolds, Ramesh P. Singh, Mark Sweeney, Thorn K. Merrill
Quantifying fine sediment infiltration in spawning gravel used by Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Sauk River Basin, Washington, 2018–21 Quantifying fine sediment infiltration in spawning gravel used by Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Sauk River Basin, Washington, 2018–21
Fine sediment can infiltrate into river substrate that salmonid fish species (Oncorhynchus spp.) use to spawn. High levels of sediment infiltration can increase egg-to-fry mortality, which corresponds to the period when salmonids are still residing in the subsurface gravels. This study quantifies fine sediment infiltration of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawning habitat...
Authors
Kristin L. Jaeger, Scott W. Anderson, Anya C. Leach, Scott T. Morris