Water Resources
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.
Water Quality of groundwater used for public supply in principal aquifers of the western United States
Groundwater provides nearly half of the Nation’s drinking water. As the Nation’s population grows, the importance of (and need for) high-quality drinking-water supplies increases. As part of a national-scale effort to assess groundwater quality in principal aquifers (PAs) that supply most of the groundwater used for public supply, the U.S....
Rosecrans, Celia Z.; Musgrove, MaryLynn
Fates and fingerprints of sulfur and carbon following wildfire in economically important croplands of California, U.S.
Sulfur (S) is widely used in agriculture, yet little is known about its fates within upland watersheds, particularly in combination with disturbances like wildfire. Our study examined the effects of land use and wildfire on the biogeochemical “fingerprints,” or the quantity and chemical composition, of S and carbon (C). We conducted our research...
Hermes, Anna L.; Ebel, Brian A.; Murphy, Sheila F.; Hinckley, Eve-Lyn S.
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,...
Sneed, Michelle; Brandt, Justin T.
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...
Galeone, Daniel G.; Cravotta, Charles A. ; Risser, Dennis W. 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...
Lesmes, David; Moerman, Jessica; Torgeson, Tom; Vallario, Bob; Scheibe, Timothy D.; Foufoula-Georgiou, Efi; Jenter, Harry L.; Bingner, Ronald L.; Condon, Laura; Cosgrove, Brian; Del Castillo, Carlos; Downer, Charles W; Eylander, John; Fienen, Michael N.; Frazier, Nels; Gochis, David; Goodrich, Dave; Harvey, Judson; Hughes, Joseph D.; Hyndman, David; Johnston, John M.; Melton, Forrest; Moglen, Glenn E.; Moulton, David; Lautz, Laura K.; Parmar, Rajbir; Rashleigh, Brenda; Reed, Patrick; Skalak, Katherine; Varadharajan, Charuleka; Viger, Roland J.; Voisin, Nathalie; Wahl, Mark 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...
Henry, Brianna L.; Croteau, Marie-Noele; Walters, David; Miller, Janet L.; Cain, Daniel J.; Fuller, Christopher C.
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...
Wood, Tamara M.
Compilation of mercury data and associated risk to human and ecosystem health, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Wisconsin
Mercury is an environmentally ubiquitous neurotoxin, and its methylated form presents health risks to humans and other biota, primarily through dietary intake. Because methylmercury bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in living tissue, concentrations progressively increase at higher trophic positions in ecosystem food webs. Therefore, the greatest...
Burns, Douglas A. Concentrations and size distribution of TiO2 and Ag engineered particles in five wastewater treatment plants in the United States
The growing use of engineered particles (e.g., nanosized and pigment sized particles, 1 to 100 nm and 100 to 300 nm, respectively) in a variety of consumer products increases the likelihood of their release into the environment. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an important pathways of introduction of engineered particles to the aquatic...
Md. Mahmudun Nabi; Jingjing Wang; Meyer, Madeleine; Croteau, Marie-Noele; Ismail, Niveen; Baalousha, Mohammed
Assessment of dissolved-selenium concentrations and loads in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, as part of the Selenium Management Program, 2011–17
The Gunnison Basin Selenium Management Program implemented a water-quality monitoring network in 2011 to measure concentrations of selenium in the lower Gunnison River Basin in Colorado. Selenium is a trace element that bioaccumulates in aquatic food chains. Selenium is essential for life, but elevated amounts can cause reproductive failure,...
Henneberg, Mark F.
Flood-frequency estimation for very low annual exceedance probabilities using historical, paleoflood, and regional information with consideration of nonstationarity
Streamflow estimates for floods with an annual exceedance probability of 0.001 or lower are needed to accurately portray risks to critical infrastructure, such as nuclear powerplants and large dams. However, extrapolating flood-frequency curves developed from at-site systematic streamflow records to very low annual exceedance probabilities (less...
Ryberg, Karen R.; Kolars, Kelsey A.; Kiang, Julie E.; Carr, Meredith L.
Development of regional skew coefficients for selected flood durations in the Columbia River Basin, northwestern United States and British Columbia, Canada
Flood-frequency (hereinafter frequency) estimates provide information used to design, operate, and maintain hydraulic structures such as bridges and dams. Failures of these structures could cause catastrophic loss of property, life, or both. In addition to frequency estimates that use annual peak streamflow, frequency estimates of flood durations...
Lind, Greg D.; Lamontagne, Jonathan R.; Stonewall, Adam J.