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.
Developing a strategy for the national coordinated soil moisture monitoring network
Soil moisture is a critical land surface variable, affecting a wide variety of climatological, agricultural, and hydrological processes. Determining the current soil moisture status is possible via a variety of methods, including in situ monitoring, remote sensing, and numerical modeling. Although all of these approaches are rapidly evolving,...
Cosh, Micheal; Caldwell, Todd; Baker, Bruce M.; Bolton, John D.; Edwards, Nathan; Goble, Peter; Hofman, Heather; Ochsner, Tyson; Quiring, Steven; Schalk, Charles W.; Skumanich, Marina; Svoboda, Mark; Woloszyn, Molly Untargeted lipidomics for determining cellular and sub-cellular responses in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) liver cells following exposure to complex mixtures in U.S. streams
Surface waters often contain a variety of chemical contaminants potentially capable of producing adverse outcomes in both humans and wildlife due to impacts from industrial, urban, and agricultural activity. Here, we report the results of a zebrafish liver (ZFL) cell-based lipidomics approach to assess the potential ecotoxicological effects of...
Zhen, Huajun; Teng, Quincy; Mosley, Jonathan D; Collette, Timothy W.; Yue, Yang; Bradley, Paul; Ekman, Drew R. Relative risk of groundwater-quality degradation near California (USA) oil fields estimated from 3H, 14C, and 4He
Relative risks of groundwater-quality degradation near selected California oil fields are estimated by examining spatial and temporal patterns in chemical and isotopic data in the context of groundwater-age categories defined by tritium and carbon-14. In the Coastal basins, western San Joaquin Valley (SJV), and eastern SJV; 82, 76, and 0...
McMahon, Peter B.; Landon, Matthew K.; Davis, Tracy; Wright, Michael; Rosecrans, Celia Z.; Anders, Robert; Land, Michael; Kulongoski, Justin T.; Hunt, Andrew
Tracking the source of metals to the San Juan River
IntroductionThe San Juan River is a major water source for communities in the Four Corners Region of the United States (Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah) and is a vital source of water for the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA) periodically samples surface water on the Navajo Nation and has found that some...
Blake, Johanna M.; Chavarria, Shaleene B.; Matherne, Anne-Marie
Use of dissolved oxygen monitoring to evaluate phosphorus loading in Connecticut streams, 2015–18
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) has developed an interim phosphorus reduction strategy to establish water-quality-based phosphorus limits in nontidal freshwaters for industrial and municipal water pollution control facilities. A recommendation in the strategy included the addition of diurnal dissolved...
Izbicki, Brittney; Morrison, Jonathan
Sediment concentrations and loads upstream from and through John Redmond Reservoir, east-central Kansas, 2010–19
Streambank erosion and reservoir sedimentation are primary concerns of resource managers in Kansas and throughout many regions of the United States and negatively affect flood control, water supply, and recreation. The Cottonwood and upper Neosho Rivers drain into John Redmond Reservoir, and since reservoir completion in 1964, there has been...
Kramer, Ariele R.; Peterman-Phipps, Cara L.; Mahoney, Matthew D.; Lukasz, Bradley S. Surface flow velocities from space: Particle image velocimetry of satellite video of a large, sediment-laden river
Conventional, field-based streamflow monitoring in remote, inaccessible locations such as Alaska poses logistical challenges. Safety concerns, financial considerations, and a desire to expand water-observing networks make remote sensing an appealing alternative means of collecting hydrologic data. In an ongoing effort to develop non-contact...
Legleiter, Carl J.; Kinzel, Paul J. Amplified impact of climate change on fine-sediment delivery to a subsiding coast, Humboldt Bay, California
In Humboldt Bay, tectonic subsidence exacerbates sea-level rise (SLR). To build surface elevations and to keep pace with SLR, the sediment demand created by subsidence and SLR must be balanced by an adequate sediment supply. This study used an ensemble of plausible future scenarios to predict potential climate change impacts on suspended-sediment...
Curtis, Jennifer; Flint, Lorraine E.; Stern, Michelle A.; Lewis, Jack; Klein, Randy D. Use of the smeltCam as an efficient fish sampling alternative within the San Francisco Estuary
Resource managers often rely on long-term monitoring surveys to detect trends in biological data. However, no survey gear is 100% efficient, and many sources of bias can be responsible for detecting or not detecting biological trends. The SmeltCam is an imaging apparatus developed as a potential sampling alternative to long-term trawling gear...
Huntsman, Brock; Feyrer, Frederick; Young, Matthew
Overview and methodology for a study to identify fecal contamination sources using microbial source tracking in seven embayments on Long Island, New York
Between June 2018 and July 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to analyze water quality in seven embayments on Long Island, New York, for a study to examine fecal contamination using microbial source tracking. This report documents the approach, methodology, and quality-...
Tagliaferri, Tristen N.; Fisher, Shawn C.; Kephart, Christopher M.; Cheung, Natalie; Reed, Ariel P.; Welk, Robert J. Satellite remote sensing to assess cyanobacterial bloom frequency across the United States at multiple spatial scales
Cyanobacterial blooms can have negative effects on human health and local ecosystems. Field monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms can be costly, but satellite remote sensing has shown utility for more efficient spatial and temporal monitoring across the United States. Here, satellite imagery was used to assess the annual frequency of...
Coffer, Megan M.; Schaeffer, Blake; Salls, Wilson B.; Urquhart, Erin; Loftin, Keith; Stumpf, Richard P. ; Werdell, P. Jeremy ; Darling, John A.
Initial estimates of net infiltration and irrigation from a soil-water-balance model of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study Area
The Mississippi embayment encompasses about 100,000 square miles and covers parts of eight States. In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey began updating previous work for a part of the embayment known as the Mississippi Alluvial Plain to support informed water use and agricultural policy in the region. Groundwater, water use, economic, and other...
Westenbroek, Stephen, M.; Nielsen, Martha G.; Ladd, David E.