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
Detection and measurement of land subsidence and uplift using Global Positioning System surveys and interferometric synthetic aperture radar, Coachella Valley, California, 2010–17 Detection and measurement of land subsidence and uplift using Global Positioning System surveys and interferometric synthetic aperture radar, Coachella Valley, California, 2010–17
Groundwater has been a major source of agricultural, recreational, municipal, and domestic supply in the Coachella Valley of California since the early 1920s. Pumping of groundwater resulted in groundwater-level declines as large as 50 feet (ft) or 15 meters (m) by the late 1940s. Because of concerns that the declines could cause land subsidence, the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD...
Authors
Michelle Sneed, Justin T. Brandt
River channel response to dam removals on the lower Penobscot River, Maine, United States River channel response to dam removals on the lower Penobscot River, Maine, United States
Most geomorphology studies of dam removals have focused on sites with appreciable quantities of stored sediments. There is great interest in channel responses to sediment releases because of potential effects on aquatic and riparian habitats and human uses of these areas. Yet, behind many dams in the Northeast U.S. and other regions of the world only minor accumulations of sediment are...
Authors
Mathias J. Collins, Alice R. Kelley, Pamela J. Lombard
Groundwater quality in relation to drinking water health standards and hydrogeologic and geochemical characteristics for 47 domestic wells in Potter County, Pennsylvania, 2017 Groundwater quality in relation to drinking water health standards and hydrogeologic and geochemical characteristics for 47 domestic wells in Potter County, Pennsylvania, 2017
As part of a regional effort to characterize groundwater in rural areas of Pennsylvania, water samples from 47 domestic wells in Potter County were collected from May through September 2017. The sampled wells had depths ranging from 33 to 600 feet in sandstone, shale, or siltstone aquifers. Groundwater samples were analyzed for physicochemical properties that could be evaluated in...
Authors
Daniel G. Galeone, Charles A. Cravotta, Dennis W. Risser
Unifying advective and diffusive descriptions of bedform pumping in the benthic biolayer of streams Unifying advective and diffusive descriptions of bedform pumping in the benthic biolayer of streams
Many water quality and ecosystem functions performed by streams occur in the benthic biolayer, the biologically active upper (~5 cm) layer of the streambed. Solute transport through the benthic biolayer is facilitated by bedform pumping, a physical process in which dynamic and static pressure variations over the surface of stationary bedforms (e.g., ripples and dunes) drive flow across...
Authors
Stanley Grant, Ahmed Monofy, Fulvio Boano, Jesus Gomez-Velez, Ian Guymer, Judson Harvey, Marco Ghisalberti
Integrated hydro-terrestrial modeling: Development of a national capability Integrated hydro-terrestrial modeling: Development of a national capability
Water is one of our most important natural resources and is essential to our national economy and security. Multiple federal government agencies have mission elements that address national needs related to water. Each water-related agency champions a unique science and/or operational mission focused on advancing a portion of the nation’s ability to meet our water-related challenges...
Authors
David P. Lesmes, Jessica Moerman, Tom Torgeson, Bob Vallario, Timothy D. Scheibe, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Harry L. Jenter, Ronald L. Bingner, Laura Condon, Brian Cosgrove, Carlos Del Castillo, Charles W Downer, John Eylander, Michael N. Fienen, Nels Frazier, David Gochis, Dave Goodrich, Judson Harvey, Joseph D. Hughes, David Hyndman, John M. Johnston, Forrest Melton, Glenn E. Moglen, David Moulton, Laura K. Lautz, Rajbir Parmar, Brenda Rashleigh, Patrick Reed, Katherine Skalak, Charuleka Varadharajan, Roland J. Viger, Nathalie Voisin, Mark Wahl
Uranium bioaccumulation dynamics in the mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer and application to site-specific prediction Uranium bioaccumulation dynamics in the mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer and application to site-specific prediction
Little is known about the underlying mechanisms governing the bioaccumulation of uranium (U) in aquatic insects. We experimentally parameterized conditional rate constants for aqueous U uptake, dietary U uptake, and U elimination for the aquatic baetid mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer. Results showed that this species accumulates U from both the surrounding water and diet, with waterborne...
Authors
Brianna L. Henry, Marie Noele Croteau, David Walters, Janet L. Miller, Daniel J. Cain, Christopher C. Fuller
A one‐dimensional model for turbulent mixing in the benthic biolayer of stream and coastal sediments A one‐dimensional model for turbulent mixing in the benthic biolayer of stream and coastal sediments
In this paper, we develop and validate a rigorous modeling framework, based on Duhamel's Theorem, for the unsteady one-dimensional vertical transport of a solute across a flat sediment-water interface (SWI) and through the benthic biolayer of a turbulent stream. The modeling framework is novel in capturing the two-way coupling between evolving solute concentrations above and below the...
Authors
Stanley Grant, Jesus Gomez-Velez, Marco Ghisalberti, Ian Guymer, Fulvio Boano, Kevin Roche, Judson Harvey
Exploring the potential of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to measure the extent of chronic disturbance in peatlands: Examples from acid mine drainage and peat fire Exploring the potential of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to measure the extent of chronic disturbance in peatlands: Examples from acid mine drainage and peat fire
Peatlands are accumulations of partially decayed organic soil that cover approximately 3% of Earth’s surface and have been shown to serve essential environmental and ecological functions such as sequestering carbon, purifying water, and providing habitat for organisms. However, peatlands are threatened by pressures from agriculture, urban development, mining, and climate change...
Authors
Neil Terry, Robert L. Runkel, Dale D. Werkema, Elizabeth Rutila, Xavier Comas, Matthew Warren, Agus Kristiyono, Daniel Murdiyarso
Coarse sediment dynamics in a large glaciated river system: Holocene history and storage dynamics dictate contemporary climate sensitivity Coarse sediment dynamics in a large glaciated river system: Holocene history and storage dynamics dictate contemporary climate sensitivity
The gravel-bedded White River drains a 1279 km2 basin in Washington State, with lowlands sculpted by continental glaciation and headwaters on an actively glaciated stratovolcano. Chronic aggradation along an alluvial fan near the river’s mouth has progressively reduced flood conveyance. In order to better understand how forecasted climate change may influence coarse sediment delivery and
Authors
Scott W. Anderson, Kristin L. Jaeger
Permafrost hydrogeology Permafrost hydrogeology
Groundwater processes are often overlooked in permafrost environments, but subsurface storage and routing can strongly influence water and biogeochemical cycling in northern catchments. Groundwater flow in permafrost regions is controlled by the temporal and spatial distribution of frozen ground, causing the hydrogeologic framework to be temperature-dependent. Most flow occurs in...
Authors
Barret L. Kurylyk, Michelle A. Walvoord
Use of boosted regression trees to quantify cumulative instream flow resulting from curtailment of irrigation in the Sprague River basin, Oregon Use of boosted regression trees to quantify cumulative instream flow resulting from curtailment of irrigation in the Sprague River basin, Oregon
A boosted regression trees (BRT) approach was used to estimate the amount by which streamflow is increased when irrigation is regulated (curtailed) upstream of a streamgage on the Sprague River in southern-central Oregon. The BRT approach differs from most other approaches that require baseline conditions for comparison, where those baseline conditions are determined from past...
Authors
Tamara M. Wood
Sediment record of mining legacy and water quality from a drinking-water reservoir, Aztec, New Mexico, USA Sediment record of mining legacy and water quality from a drinking-water reservoir, Aztec, New Mexico, USA
The record of mining legacy and water quality was investigated in sediments collected in 2018 from four trenches in the Aztec, New Mexico, drinking-water reservoir #1. Bulk chemical analysis of sediments with depth in the reservoir revealed variable trace-element (uranium, vanadium, arsenic, copper, sulfur, silver, lead, and zinc) concentrations, which appear to coincide with historical...
Authors
Johanna M. Blake, Jeb E. Brown, Christina L. Ferguson, Rebecca J. Bixby, Naomi T. Delay