Publications

In cooperation with the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Meskwaki Nation), the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a 2-year baseline assessment of the chemical and biological quality of streams within the Meskwaki Settlement in central Iowa. The Meskwaki Nation is a federally recognized tribe that wishes to establish water-quality standards to safeguard the integrity of surface...

It is important to monitor hydrologic systems in the United States that could change dramatically over the short term as a result of climate change. Many ecological effects of climate change can be understood only if hydrologic data networks are in place. Because of its humid, temperate climate and its substantial annual snowpack, Maine’s seasonal water cycle is sensitive to air...

Many actions have been taken to reduce nutrient and suspended-sediment concentrations and the amount of nutrients and sediment transported in streams as a result of the Clean Water Act and subsequent regulations. This report assesses how nutrient and suspended-sediment concentrations and loads in selected streams have changed during recent years to determine if these actions have been...

To compensate for authorized disturbance of naturally occurring wetlands and streams during roadway improvements to U.S. Highway 202 in Chester and Montgomery Counties, Pa., the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) constructed 0.42 acre of emergent wetland and 0.94 acre of scrub-shrub/forested wetland and modified sections of a 1,600-foot reach of Valley Creek with woody...

Long-term accumulation of salts in wetlands at Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), Mont., has raised concern among wetland managers that increasing salinity may threaten plant and invertebrate communities that provide important habitat and food resources for migratory waterfowl. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is evaluating various water management strategies to...

Pike County, a 545 square-mile area in northeastern Pennsylvania, has experienced the largest relative population growth of any county in the state from 1990 to 2000 and its population is projected to grow substantially through 2025. This growing population may result in added dependence and stresses on water resources, including the potential to reduce the quantity and degrade the...

Understanding the fate and transport of agricultural chemicals applied to agricultural fields will assist in designing the most effective strategies to prevent water-quality impairments. At a watershed scale, the processes controlling the fate and transport of agricultural chemicals are generally understood only conceptually. To examine the applicability of conceptual models to the...

Numerical ground-water-flow models were developed for a 160-square-mile area of coastal New Hampshire to provide insight into the recharge, discharge, and availability of ground water. Population growth and increasing water use prompted concern for the sustainability of the region's ground-water resources. Previously, the regional hydraulic characteristics of the fractured bedrock...

Silver Lake is typically an oligotrophic-to-mesotrophic, soft-water, terminal lake in northwestern Wisconsin. A terminal lake is a closed-basin lake with surface-water inflows but no surface-water outflows to other water bodies. After several years with above-normal precipitation, very high water levels caused flooding of several buildings near the lake and erosion of soil around much of...

Because of water quantity and quality concerns within the Ozark aquifer, the State of Kansas in 2004 issued a moratorium on most new appropriations from the aquifer until results were made available from a cooperative study between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Kansas Water Office. The purposes of the study were to develop a regional ground-water flow model and a water-quality...

The U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, obtains a large amount of data pertaining to the groundwater resources of California each water year (October 1-September 30). These data constitute a valuable database for developing an improved understanding of the water resources of the State. This Fact Sheet serves as an index to...

California's Central Valley covers about 20,000 square miles and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. More than 250 different crops are grown in the Central Valley with an estimated value of $17 billion per year. This irrigated agriculture relies heavily on surface-water diversions and groundwater pumpage. Approximately one-sixth of the Nation's irrigated land...