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: 19039
Land subsidence Land subsidence
Land subsidence in the United States is inextricably linked to the development of groundwater—one of the Nation’s most valuable natural resources. More than 80 percent of the identified subsidence in the United States is a consequence of anthropogenic impact on water resources. Three processes account for most of the water-related subsidence—the compaction of aquifer systems, the...
Authors
Michelle Sneed
Radium attenuation and mobilization in stream sediments following oil and gas wastewater disposal in western Pennsylvania Radium attenuation and mobilization in stream sediments following oil and gas wastewater disposal in western Pennsylvania
Centralized waste treatment facilities (CWTs) in Pennsylvania discharged wastewater from conventional and unconventional oil and gas (O&G) wells into surface waters until 2011, when a voluntary request from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) encouraged recycling rather than treating and discharging unconventional O&G wastewater. To determine the effect of...
Authors
Katherine Van Sice, Charles A. Cravotta, Bonnie McDevitt, Travis L. Tasker, Joshua D. Landis, Johnna Puhr, Nathaniel R. Warner
Unsaturated zone CO2, CH4, and δ13C-CO2 at an arid region low-level radioactive waste disposal site Unsaturated zone CO2, CH4, and δ13C-CO2 at an arid region low-level radioactive waste disposal site
Elevated tritium, radiocarbon, Hg, and volatile organic compounds associated with low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) at the USGS Amargosa Desert Research Site (ADRS) have stimulated research on factors and processes that affect contaminant gas distribution and transport. Consequently, we examined the sources, mixing, and biogeochemistry of CO2 and CH4, two additional important species in...
Authors
Christopher H. Conaway, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Randall B. Thomas, Christopher Green, R.J. Baker, James J. Thordsen, David A. Stonestrom, Brian J. Andraski
The approaching obsolescence of 137Cs dating of wetland soils in North America The approaching obsolescence of 137Cs dating of wetland soils in North America
The peak fallout in 1963 of the radionuclide 137Cs has been used to date lake, reservoir, continental shelf, and wetland sedimentary deposits. In wetlands such dating is used to project the ability of wetlands to keep pace with sea level rise and develop strategies for mitigating carbon pollution using biological carbon sequestration. Here we demonstrate that reliable 137Cs profiles are
Authors
Judith Z. Drexler, Christopher C. Fuller, Stacey A. Archfield
Changes in growth of Rainbow Trout in a Catskill Mountain Reservoir following Alewife and White Perch Introductions Changes in growth of Rainbow Trout in a Catskill Mountain Reservoir following Alewife and White Perch Introductions
Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were introduced to the Esopus Creek watershed in the Catskill Mountains of New York in the early 1880s. This introduction created a renowned naturalized fishery that remains important to the local economy today. The objective of this study was to determine whether the growth and condition of Rainbow Trout in the Ashokan Reservoir changed following the
Authors
Scott D. George, Barry P. Baldigo, Michael J. Flaherty, Eileen A. Randall
StreamStats for South Carolina: A multipurpose water-resources web application StreamStats for South Carolina: A multipurpose water-resources web application
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed the South Carolina StreamStats application in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation. StreamStats (https://water.usgs.gov/osw/streamstats/) is a map-based web application that provides analytical tools useful for water-resources planning and management and many engineering purposes. The web application delineates...
Authors
Toby D. Feaster, Jimmy M. Clark, Katharine Kolb
Effect of sample holding time on bioaccessibility and sediment ecotoxicological assessments Effect of sample holding time on bioaccessibility and sediment ecotoxicological assessments
The ecotoxicological effects of hydrophobic organic compound (HOC) contamination in sediment are often assessed using laboratory exposures of cultured invertebrates to field-collected sediment. The use of a sediment holding time (storage at 4°C) between field sampling and the beginning of the bioassay is common practice, yet the effect of holding time on the reliability of bioassay...
Authors
Kara S Huff Hartz, Federico L. Sinche, Samuel A. Nutile, Courtney Y. Fung, Patrick W. Moran, Peter C. Van Metre, Lisa H. Nowell, Marc A. Mills, Michael J Lydy
Geologic, hydrologic, and water-quality data from multiple-well monitoring sites in the Bunker Hill and Yucaipa Groundwater Subbasins, San Bernardino County, California, 1974–2016 Geologic, hydrologic, and water-quality data from multiple-well monitoring sites in the Bunker Hill and Yucaipa Groundwater Subbasins, San Bernardino County, California, 1974–2016
In 1974, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, initiated a study to assess the regional groundwater resources in the Bunker Hill Subbasin of the Upper Santa Ana Valley Groundwater Basin in San Bernardino County, California. The study area expanded east into the Yucaipa Subbasin in 1996. This report compiles the geologic...
Authors
Gregory O. Mendez, Robert Anders, Kelly R. McPherson, Wesley R. Danskin
The U. S. Geological Survey National Hydrologic Model infrastructure: Rationale, description, and application of a watershed-scale model for the conterminous United States The U. S. Geological Survey National Hydrologic Model infrastructure: Rationale, description, and application of a watershed-scale model for the conterminous United States
The ability to effectively manage water resources to meet present and future human and environmental needs is essential. Such an ability necessitates a comprehensive understanding of hydrologic processes that affect streamflow at a watershed scale. In the United States, water-resources management at scales ranging from local to national can benefit from a nationally consistent, process...
Authors
R. Steve Regan, Kyle E. Juracek, Lauren Hay, Steven L. Markstrom, Roland J. Viger, Jessica M. Driscoll, Jacob H. LaFontaine, Parker A. Norton
River network saturation concept: factors influencing the balance of biogeochemical supply and demand of river networks River network saturation concept: factors influencing the balance of biogeochemical supply and demand of river networks
River networks modify material transfer from land to ocean. Understanding the factors regulating this function for different gaseous, dissolved, and particulate constituents is critical to quantify the local and global effects of climate and land use change. We propose the River Network Saturation (RNS) concept as a generalization of how river network regulation of material fluxes...
Authors
W.M. Wollheim, S. Bernal, Douglas A. Burns, J.A. Czuba, C.T. Driscoll, A.T. Hansen, R.T. Hensley, J.D. Hosen, Shreeram Inamdar, S.S. Kaushall, L. E. Koenig, Y. H. Lu, A. Marzadri, P. A. Raymond, D. Scott, R.J. Stewart, P.G. Vidon, E. Wohl
Watershed ‘chemical cocktails’: forming novel elemental combinations in Anthropocene fresh waters Watershed ‘chemical cocktails’: forming novel elemental combinations in Anthropocene fresh waters
In the Anthropocene, watershed chemical transport is increasingly dominated by novel combinations of elements, which are hydrologically linked together as ‘chemical cocktails.’ Chemical cocktails are novel because human activities greatly enhance elemental concentrations and their probability for biogeochemical interactions and shared transport along hydrologic flowpaths. A new chemical...
Authors
Sujay S. Kaushal, Arthur J. Gold, Susana Bernal, Tammy A. Newcomer Johnson, Kelly Addy, Amy Burgin, Douglas A. Burns, Ashley A. Coble, Eran W. Hood, Yuehan Lu, Paul Mayer, Elizabeth C. Minor, Andrew W. Schroth, Philippe Vidon, Henry F. Wilson, Marguerite A. Xenopolous, Thomas Doody, Joseph G. Galella, Phillip Goodling, Katherine Haviland, Shahan Haq, Barret Wessel, Kelsey L. Wood, Norbert Jaworski, Kenneth T. Belt
Systematic variation in evapotranspiration trends and drivers across the Northeastern United States Systematic variation in evapotranspiration trends and drivers across the Northeastern United States
The direction and magnitude of responses of evapotranspiration (ET) to climate change are important to understand, as ET represents a major water and energy flux from terrestrial ecosystems, with consequences that feed back to the climate system. We inferred multidecadal trends in water balance in 11 river basins (1940–2012) and eight smaller watersheds (with records ranging from 18 to...
Authors
Matthew A Vadeboncoeur, Mark B. Green, Heidi Asbjornsen, John L. Campbell, Mary Beth Adams, Elizabeth W. Boyer, Douglas A. Burns, Ivan J Fernandez, Myron J Mitchell, James B. Shanley