Publications

Studies in Iowa have long documented the vulnerability of wells with less than 50 feet (15 meters) of confining materials above the source aquifer to contamination from nitrate and various pesticides. Recent studies in Wisconsin have documented the occurrence of viruses in untreated groundwater, even in wells considered to have little vulnerability to contamination from near-surface...

The Pressure Water Level Data Logger manufactured by Infinities USA, Inc., was evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility for conformance with the manufacturer’s stated accuracy specifications for measuring pressure throughout the device’s operating temperature range and with the USGS accuracy requirements for water-level measurements. The Pressure...

Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information. The...

Groundwater quality in the Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau study unit was investigated as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project. The study was designed to provide a statistically unbiased assessment of untreated groundwater quality in the primary aquifer system. The depth of the...

This report presents information used to characterize the groundwater-flow system in the Puyallup River Watershed and vicinity, and includes descriptions of the geology and hydrogeologic framework; groundwater recharge and discharge; groundwater levels and flow directions; seasonal groundwater level fluctuations; interactions between aquifers and the surface-water system; and a water...

The water quality of Rapid Creek is important because the reach that flows through Rapid City, South Dakota, is a valuable spawning area for a self-sustaining trout fishery, actively used for recreation, and a seasonal municipal water supply for the City of Rapid City. This report presents the current (2008–14) water-quality characteristics of urban stormwater runoff in selected drainage...

Reduction of cross-sectional data using a genetic algorithm method, and the effects of data reduction on channel geometry and steady-flow profiles, were analyzed. Two reduction methods─standard and genetic algorithms─were used to reduce cross-sectional data from the Kootenai River in northern Idaho. Cross sections that are representative of meander, straight, braided, and canyon reaches...

Most models evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate change estimate projected increases in temperature and precipitation with rising atmospheric CO2 levels. Researchers have suggested that increases in CO2 and associated increases in temperature and precipitation may stimulate vegetation growth and increase evapotranspiration (ET), which acts as a cooling mechanism, and on a...

The Trinity River Restoration Program, one of the nation’s largest adaptively managed river restoration programs, requires periodic assessment to determine the effectiveness of management actions in restoring channel dynamics and habitat features. This study documents riparian and channel changes along an intensively managed 65-kilometer reach of the Trinity River in California...

Historic land use, dam construction, water storage, and flow diversions in the Trinity River watershed have resulted in downstream geomorphic change, loss of salmonid habitat, and declines in salmonid populations. The USGS in cooperation with the Trinity River Restoration Program, a multi-agency partnership tasked with implementing federally mandated restoration, completed a geomorphic...

A stratigraphic record of 35 large paleofloods and four large historical floods during the last 2000 years for four basins in the Black Hills of South Dakota reveals three long-term flooding episodes, identified using probability distributions, at A.D.: 120–395, 900–1290, and 1410 to present. During the Medieval Climate Anomaly (~ A.D. 900–1300) the four basins collectively experienced...

Urban stormwater in the Albuquerque metropolitan area was sampled by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the City of Albuquerque, the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority, the New Mexico Department of Transportation, and the University of New Mexico. Stormwater was sampled from a network of monitoring stations from 2003 to 2012 by following regulatory...