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: 19049
Influence of environmental factors on biotic responses to nutrient enrichment in agricultural streams Influence of environmental factors on biotic responses to nutrient enrichment in agricultural streams
The influence of environmental factors on biotic responses to nutrients was examined in three diverse agricultural regions of the United States. Seventy wadeable sites were selected along an agricultural land use gradient while minimizing natural variation within each region. Nutrients, habitat, algae, macroinvertebrates, and macrophyte cover were sampled during a single summer low-flow...
Authors
Terry R. Maret, Christopher P. Konrad, Andrew W. Tranmer
Tapping environmental history to recreate America's colonial hydrology Tapping environmental history to recreate America's colonial hydrology
Throughout American history water resources have played integral roles in shaping patterns of human settlement and networks of biological and economic exchange. In turn, humans have altered hydrologic systems to meet their needs. A paucity of climate and water discharge data for the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however, has left America's preindustrial hydrology largely...
Authors
Christopher L. Pastore, Mark B. Green, Daniel J. Bain, Andrea Munoz-Hernandez, Charles J. Vorosmarty, Jennifer Arrigo, Sara Brandt, Jonathan M. Duncan, Francesca Greco, Hyojin Kim, Sanjiv Kumar, Michael Lally, Anthony J. Parolari, Brian A. Pellerin, Nira Salant, Adam Schlosser, Kate Zalzal
Temperature inverted haloclines provide winter warm-water refugia for manatees in southwest Florida Temperature inverted haloclines provide winter warm-water refugia for manatees in southwest Florida
Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) overwintering in the Ten Thousand Islands and western Everglades have no access to power plants or major artesian springs that provide warm-water refugia in other parts of Florida. Instead, hundreds of manatees aggregate at artificial canals, basins, and natural deep water sites that act as passive thermal refugia (PTR). Monitoring at two...
Authors
Bradley Stith, James P. Reid, Catherine A. Langtimm, Eric D. Swain, Terry J. Doyle, Daniel H. Slone, Jeremy D. Decker, Lars E. Soderqvist
Source and fate of inorganic solutes in the Gibbon River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. II. Trace element chemistry Source and fate of inorganic solutes in the Gibbon River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. II. Trace element chemistry
The Gibbon River in Yellowstone National Park receives inflows from several geothermal areas, and consequently the concentrations of many trace elements are elevated compared to rivers in non-geothermal watersheds. Water samples and discharge measurements were obtained from the Gibbon River and its major tributaries near Norris Geyser Basin under the low-flow conditions of September 2006...
Authors
R. Blaine McCleskey, D. Kirk Nordstrom, David D. Susong, James W. Ball, Howard E. Taylor
The importance of the riparian zone and in-stream processes in nitrate attenuation in undisturbed and agricultural watersheds – a review of the scientific literature The importance of the riparian zone and in-stream processes in nitrate attenuation in undisturbed and agricultural watersheds – a review of the scientific literature
We reviewed published studies from primarily glaciated regions in the United States, Canada, and Europe of the (1) transport of nitrate from terrestrial ecosystems to aquatic ecosystems, (2) attenuation of nitrate in the riparian zone of undisturbed and agricultural watersheds, (3) processes contributing to nitrate attenuation in riparian zones, (4) variation in the attenuation of...
Authors
Anthony J. Ranalli, Donald L. Macalady
Two-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling to quantify effects of peak-flow management on channel morphology and salmon-spawning habitat in the Cedar River, Washington Two-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling to quantify effects of peak-flow management on channel morphology and salmon-spawning habitat in the Cedar River, Washington
The Cedar River in Washington State originates on the western slope of the Cascade Range and provides the City of Seattle with most of its drinking water, while also supporting a productive salmon habitat. Water-resource managers require detailed information on how best to manage high-flow releases from Chester Morse Lake, a large reservoir on the Cedar River, during periods of heavy...
Authors
Christiana Czuba, Jonathan A. Czuba, Andrew S. Gendaszek, Christopher S. Magirl
Reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert Reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert
Increasing human appropriation of freshwater resources presents a tangible limit to the sustainability of cities, agriculture, and ecosystems in the western United States. Marc Reisner tackles this theme in his 1986 classic Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water. Reisner's analysis paints a portrait of region-wide hydrologic dysfunction in the western United States
Authors
John L. Sabo, Tushar Sinha, Laura C. Bowling, Gerrit H.W. Schoups, Wesley W. Wallender, Michael E. Campana, Keith A. Cherkauer, Pam L. Fuller, William L. Graf, Jan W. Hopmans, John S. Kominoski, Carissa Taylor, Stanley W. Trimble, Robert H. Webb, Ellen E. Wohl
How vegetation and sediment transport feedbacks drive landscape change in the Everglades and wetlands worldwide How vegetation and sediment transport feedbacks drive landscape change in the Everglades and wetlands worldwide
Mechanisms reported to promote landscape self‐organization cannot explain vegetation patterning oriented parallel to flow. Recent catastrophic shifts in Everglades landscape pattern and ecological function highlight the need to understand the feedbacks governing these ecosystems. We modeled feedback between vegetation, hydrology, and sediment transport on the basis of a decade of...
Authors
Laurel G. Larsen, Judson W. Harvey
Caution on the use of liquid nitrogen traps in stable hydrogen isotope-ratio mass spectrometry Caution on the use of liquid nitrogen traps in stable hydrogen isotope-ratio mass spectrometry
An anomalous stable hydrogen isotopic fractionation of 4 ‰ in gaseous hydrogen has been correlated with the process of adding liquid nitrogen (LN2) to top off the dewar of a stainless-steel water trap on a gaseous hydrogen-water platinum equilibration system. Although the cause of this isotopic fractionation is unknown, its effect can be mitigated by (1) increasing the capacity of any...
Authors
Tyler B. Coplen, Haiping Qi
Multiple well-shutdown tests and site-scale flow simulation in fractured rocks Multiple well-shutdown tests and site-scale flow simulation in fractured rocks
A new method was developed for conducting aquifer tests in fractured-rock flow systems that have a pump-and-treat (P&T) operation for containing and removing groundwater contaminants. The method involves temporary shutdown of individual pumps in wells of the P&T system. Conducting aquifer tests in this manner has several advantages, including (1) no additional contaminated water is...
Authors
Claire R. Tiedeman, Pierre J. Lacombe, Daniel J. Goode
Catchments by major river basins in the conterminous United States: 30-Year average daily minimum temperature, 1971-2000 Catchments by major river basins in the conterminous United States: 30-Year average daily minimum temperature, 1971-2000
This tabular data set represents thecatchment-average for the 30-year (1971-2000) average daily minimum temperature in Celsius multiplied by 100 compiled for every MRB_E2RF1 catchment of selected Major River Basins (MRBs, Crawford and others, 2006). The source data were the United States Average Monthly or Annual Minimum Temperature, 1971 - 2000 raster data set produced by the PRISM...
Authors
Michael Wieczorek, Andrew E. LaMotte
Comparison of XAD with other dissolved lignin isolation techniques and a compilation of analytical improvements for the analysis of lignin in aquatic settings Comparison of XAD with other dissolved lignin isolation techniques and a compilation of analytical improvements for the analysis of lignin in aquatic settings
This manuscript highlights numerous incremental improvements in dissolved lignin measurements over the nearly three decades since CuO oxidation of lignin phenols was first adapted for environmental samples. Intercomparison of the recovery efficiency of three common lignin phenol concentration and isolation techniques, namely XAD, C18with both CH3OH (C18M) and CH3CN (C18A) used...
Authors
Robert G. M. Spencer, George R. Aiken, Rachael Y. Dyda, Kenna D. Butler, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Peter J. Hernes