Publications

A method is presented for deriving a volume model of groundwater total dissolved solids (TDS) from borehole geophysical and aqueous geochemical measurements. While previous TDS mapping techniques have proved useful in the hydrogeologic setting in which they were developed, they may yield poor results in settings with lithological heterogeneity, complex water chemistry, or limited data...

Problem Sediment is one of the most common causes of loss of stream-biologic integrity, whether in suspension in the water column, or as deposition on a stream or lake bottom. Fine-grained silts and clays are of particular concern because they can degrade habitat and often carry phosphorus and (or) other contaminants harmful to humans and aquatic life. Sediment-impaired water bodies...

A series of 11 digital flood-inundation maps was developed for a 5.5-mile reach of the lower Pawcatuck River in Westerly, Rhode Island, and Stonington and North Stonington, Connecticut, by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Town of Westerly, Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island Office of Housing and Community Development. The coverage of the maps extends from...

Groundwater quality in the North San Francisco Bay area Public-Supply and Shallow Aquifer Systems was investigated by the GAMA-PBP. The North San Francisco Bay Public-Supply Aquifer System study unit (NSF-PA) was sampled in 2004. The North San Francisco Bay Shallow Aquifer System study unit (NSF-SA) was sampled in 2012. The NSF-PA and NSF-SA largely coincide areally; however, they...

Background Water use in the State of Washington has evolved during the past century from small withdrawals used for domestic and stock needs to the diverse needs of current public supply systems, domestic water users, irrigation projects, industrial plants, and aquaculture industries. Increasing demand for water makes the accountability of water use an important issue. A few State and...

Projections of meteorology downscaled from global climate model runs were used to drive a model of unimpaired hydrology of the Sacramento/San Joaquin watershed, which in turn drove models of operational responses and managed flows. Twenty daily climate change scenarios for water years 1980–2099 were evaluated with the goal of producing inflow boundary conditions for a watershed sediment...

In 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation, began collecting annual and approximately quarterly series peak-streamflow data at streamflow-gaging stations in smallto medium-sized watersheds in central and western Texas as part of a crest-stage gage (CSG) network, along with selected flood-hydrograph data at a subset of these...

Perchlorate (ClO4−) in groundwater can be from synthetic or natural sources. Natural sources include ClO4− associated with historical application of imported natural nitrate fertilizer from the Atacama Desert of Chile, and indigenous ClO4− that accumulates locally in arid regions from atmospheric deposition. The Rialto-Colton groundwater subbasin, 80 km east of Los Angeles, California...

Nitrogen transport and transformation were studied during 2013 to 2014 by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in a subterranean estuary beneath onshore locations on the Seacoast Shores peninsula, a residential area in Falmouth, Massachusetts, served by septic systems and cesspools, and adjacent offshore locations in the Eel River, a...

In south-central Texas, the amount of streamflow in the Guadalupe River is a primary concern for local and downstream communities because of municipal, agricultural, wildlife, and recreational uses. Understanding the flow paths and rates of exchange between the surface water in the river and the groundwater in the underlying Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer is vital for understanding the water...

Treated domestic septage can be used to irrigate agricultural fields as a disposal method or as a means to reuse water. Because traditional on-site treatment systems are not designed to remove wastewater indicators, hormones, sterols, antibiotics, and pharmaceuticals, land application of septage potentially results in soil contamination. Soils were collected and analyzed from four sites...

Excess nitrogen and phosphorus (“nutrients”) loadings continue to affect ecosystem function and human health across the U.S. Our ability to connect atmospheric inputs of nutrients to aquatic end points remains limited due to uncoupled air and water quality monitoring. Where connections exist, the information provides insights about source apportionment, trends, risk to sensitive...