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.
Implications of model selection: A comparison of publicly available, conterminous US-extent hydrologic component estimates
Spatiotemporally continuous estimates of the hydrologic cycle are often generated through hydrologic modeling, reanalysis, or remote sensing (RS) methods and are commonly applied as a supplement to, or a substitute for, in situ measurements when observational data are sparse or unavailable. This study compares estimates of precipitation (P),...
Saxe, Samuel; Farmer, William; Driscoll, Jessica M.; Hogue, Terri S. Rapid-response unsaturated zone hydrology: Small-scale data, small-scale theory, big problems
The unsaturated zone (UZ) extends across the Earth’s terrestrial surface and is central to many problems related to land and water resource management. Flow of water through the UZ is typically thought to be slow and diffusive, such that it could attenuate fluxes and dampen variability between atmospheric inputs and underlying aquifer systems....
Nimmo, John R.; Perkins, Kimberlie; Plampin, Michelle R.; Walvoord, Michelle A.; Ebel, Brian A.; Mirus, Benjamin B.
Evaluation and application of the Purge Analyzer Tool (PAT) to determine in-well flow and purge criteria for sampling monitoring wells at the Stringfellow Superfund site in Jurupa Valley, California, in 2017
The U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are developing analytical tools to assess the representativeness of groundwater samples from fractured-rock aquifers. As part of this effort, monitoring wells from the Stringfellow Superfund site in Jurupa Valley in Riverside County, California, approximately 50 miles east of Los...
Harte, Philip T.; Perina, Tomas; Becher, Kent; Levine, Herb; Rojas-Mickelson, Daewon; Walther, Lesley; Brown, Anthony Reconnaissance of cumulative risk of pesticides and pharmaceuticals in Great Smoky Mountains National Park streams
The United States (US) National Park Service (NPS) manages protected public lands to preserve biodiversity. Exposure to and effects of bioactive organic contaminants in NPS streams are challenges for resource managers. Recent assessment of pesticides and pharmaceuticals in protected-streams within the urbanized NPS Southeast Region (SER) indicated...
Bradley, Paul; Kulp, Matt A.; Huffman, Bradley J.; Romanok, Kristin; Smalling, Kelly; Breitmeyer, Sara; Clark, Jimmy; Journey, Celeste A.
Assessment of water quality and discharge in the Herring River, Wellfleet, Massachusetts, November 2015 to September 2017
The U.S. Geological Survey, Cape Cod National Seashore of the National Park Service, and Friends of Herring River cooperated from 2015 to 2017 to assess nutrient concentrations and fluxes across the ocean-estuary boundary at a dike on the Herring River in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The purpose of this assessment was to characterize environmental...
Huntington, Thomas G.; Spaetzel, Alana B.; Colman, John A.; Kroeger, Kevin D.; Bradley, Robert T.
Groundwater conditions and trends, 2009–19, Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Groundwater is the primary source of municipal water for Saipan. Nearly all groundwater for the municipal water supply is withdrawn from a freshwater-lens system with a limited amount of freshwater that is susceptible to saltwater intrusion. The status of Saipan’s groundwater resources has not been thoroughly assessed since 2003. The U.S....
Mitchell, Jackson N.; Presley, Todd K.; Carruth, Robert L. Natural and anthropogenic geochemical tracers to investigate residence times and groundwater–surface-water interactions in an urban alluvial aquifer
A multi-component geochemical dataset was collected from groundwater and surface-water bodies associated with the urban Fountain Creek alluvial aquifer, Colorado, USA, to facilitate analysis of recharge sources, geochemical interactions, and groundwater-residence times. Results indicate that groundwater can be separated into three distinct...
Newman, Connor; Paschke, Suzanne; Keith, Gabrielle L. Measuring and interpreting multilayer aquifer-system compactions for a sustainable groundwater-system development
Ever decreasing water resources and climate change have driven the increasing use of groundwater causing land subsidence in many countries. Geodetic sensors such as InSAR, GPS and leveling can detect surface deformation but cannot measure subsurface deformation. A single‐well, single‐depth extensometer can be used to measure subsurface deformation...
Hung, Wei-Chia; Hwang, Cheinway; Sneed, Michelle; Chen, Yi-An; Chu, Chi-Hua; Lin, Shao-Hung
The basin characterization model—A regional water balance software package
This report documents the computer software package, Basin Characterization Model, version 8 (BCMv8)—a monthly, gridded, regional water-balance model—and provides detailed operational instructions and example applications. After several years of many applications and uses of a previous version, CA-BCM, published in 2014, the BCMv8 was refined to...
Flint, Lorraine E.; Flint, Alan L.; Stern, Michelle A.
Groundwater, surface-water, and water-chemistry data, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona—2016–2018
The Navajo (N) aquifer is the primary source of groundwater in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Availability of water is an important issue in the Black Mesa area because of continued water requirements for industrial and municipal use by a growing population and because of its arid climate. Precipitation in the area...
Mason, Jon P.
Simulation of groundwater flow in the aquifer system of the Anacostia River and surrounding watersheds, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the District Department of Energy & Environment, Water Quality Division, is investigating the hydrogeology of the tidal Anacostia River watershed within Washington, D.C., with the goal of improving understanding of the groundwater-flow system and the interaction of groundwater and surface water...
Raffensperger, Jeff P.; Voronin, Lois M.; Dieter, Cheryl A. Public and private tapwater: Comparative analysis of contaminant exposure and potential risk, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA
BackgroundHumans are primary drivers of environmental contamination worldwide, including in drinking-water resources. In the United States (US), federal and state agencies regulate and monitor public-supply drinking water while private-supply monitoring is rare; the current lack of directly comparable information on contaminant-mixture exposures...
Bradley, Paul; LeBlanc, Denis R.; Romanok, Kristin; Smalling, Kelly; Focazio, Michael J.; Cardon, Mary C.; Clark, Jimmy; Conley, Justin M.; Evans, Nicola; Givens, Carrie E; Gray, James L.; Gray, L. Earl; Hartig, Phillip C.; Higgins, Christopher P.; Hladik, Michelle; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Loftin, Keith; McCleskey, R. Blaine; McDonough, Carrie A.; Medlock-Kakaley, Elizabeth; Weis, Christopher P.; Wilson, Vickie S.