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.
The use of continuous water-quality time-series data to compute nutrient loadings for selected Iowa streams, 2008–17
In support of nutrient reduction efforts, nitrate (as nitrate plus nitrite) and phosphorus loads and yields were computed for selected streams in Iowa based on continuously monitored sensor data for 2008–17 and 2014–17, respectively. Sample data were used to assess nitrate sensor bias and to create phosphorus-turbidity surrogate models. Where...
Garrett, Jessica D.
Science needs for continued development of total nitrogen deposition budgets in the United States
The objectives of this white paper are to describe the state of the science with respect to total Nr deposition budgets in North America and the research needed to improve these budgets from both a measurement and modeling standpoint. The document is intended to serve as a plan for TDep research activities but also, more broadly, to provide...
Wetherbee, Gregory A.; Pamela H. Templar; Richard V. Pouyat; Stephen M. Decina; Brian M. Kerschner; Thomas H. Whitlow; Pamela E. Padgett; Donna B. Schwede; Baron, Jill S.; Clow, David; Mast, M. Alisa; Sexstone, Graham A.; Kristi H. Morris Root-driven weathering impacts on mineral-organic associations in deep soils over pedogenic time scales
Plant roots are critical weathering agents in deep soils, yet the impact of resulting mineral transformations on the vast deep soil carbon (C) reservoir are largely unknown. Root-driven weathering of primary minerals may cause the formation of reactive secondary minerals, which protect mineral-organic associations (MOAs) for centuries or millennia...
Arredondo, Mariela Garcia; Lawrence, Corey; Schulz, Marjorie S.; Tfaily, Malak M.; Kukkadapu, Ravi K.; Jones, Morris E.; Boye, Kristin; Keiluweit, Marco Survey of bioaccessible pyrethroid insecticides and sediment toxicity in urban streams of the northeast United States
Pyrethroids are a class of widely-used insecticides that can be transported from terrestrial applications to aquatic systems via runoff and tend to sorb to organic carbon in sediments. Pyrethroid occurrence is detrimental to stream ecosystems due to toxicity to sediment-dwelling invertebrates which are particularly at risk of pyrethroid exposure...
Huff-Hartz, Kara E.; Nutile, Samuel A.; Fung, Courtney Y.; Sinche, Federico L.; Moran, Patrick W.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Nowell, Lisa H.; Lydy, Michael J. Temperature-dependent variations in mineralogy, major element chemistry and the stable isotopes of boron, lithium and chlorine resulting from hydration of rhyolite glass: Constraints from hydrothermal experiments at 150 to 350°C and 25 MPa
Rhyolite-hosted hydrothermal systems in the continental crust contain valuable energy and mineral resources that make them of special interest across several scientific disciplines. Despite extensive research on these systems, the temperature-dependence of chemical reactions between host rocks and aqueous-rich fluids and the mineralogical...
Jeffery T. Cullen; Hurwitz, Shaul; Jaime D. Barnes; John C. Lassiter; Sarah Penniston-Dorland; Simone Kasemann; Thordsen, James Reactivity of As and U co-occurring in mine wastes in northeastern Arizona
The reactivity of co-occurring arsenic (As) and uranium (U) in mine wastes was investigated using batch reactors, microscopy, spectroscopy, and aqueous chemistry. Analyses of field samples collected in proximity to mine wastes in northeastern Arizona confirm the presence of As and U in soils and surrounding waters, as reported in a previous study...
Blake, Johanna; Avasarala, Sumant; Ali, Abdul-Mehdi; Spilde, Michael; Lezama-Pacheco, Juan S; Latta, Drew; Artyushkova, Kateryna; Ilgen, Anastasia G; Christopher Shuey; Christopher Nez; Cerrato, Jose M
Assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in southern Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona and Utah, 2016–17
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination related to boat use is one of the most important water-quality issues affecting Lake Powell. High concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water are common around marinas and other areas with extensive motorboat activity because of releases of uncombusted or partially combusted oil and...
Coes, Alissa L.; Paretti, Nicholas V.; Alvarez, David A.; Macy, Jamie P. Northern forest winters have lost cold, snowy conditions that are important for ecosystems and human communities
Winter is an understudied but key period for the socio-ecological systems of northeastern North American forests. A growing awareness of the importance of the winter season to forest ecosystems and surrounding communities has inspired several decades of research, both across the northern forest and at other mid- and high-latitude ecosystems around...
Contosta, Alexandra R; Casson, Nora J.; Garlick, Sarah; Nelson, Sarah J.; Ayers, Matthew P; Buralkowski, Elizabet A; Campbell, John ; Creed, Irean; Eimers, Catharine; Evans, Celia; Fernandez, Ivan; Fuss, Collin; Huntington, Thomas; Pate, Kaizad; Sanders-DeMott, Rebecca; Son, Kyongo; Templer, Pamela H.; Thornbrugh, Darren
Guidelines for determining flood flow frequency—Bulletin 17C
Accurate estimates of flood frequency and magnitude are a key component of any effective nationwide flood risk management and flood damage abatement program. In addition to accuracy, methods for estimating flood risk must be uniformly and consistently applied because management of the Nation’s water and related land resources is a collaborative...
England, John F.; Cohn, Timothy A.; Faber, Beth A.; Stedinger, Jery R.; Thomas, Wilbert O.; Veilleux, Andrea G.; Kiang, Julie E.; Mason,, Robert R.
Triangle area water supply monitoring project, North Carolina-Summary of monitoring activities, quality assurance, and data, October 2015–September 2017
Surface-water supplies are important sources of drinking water for residents in the Triangle area of North Carolina, which is located within the upper Cape Fear and Neuse River Basins. Since 1988, the U.S. Geological Survey and a consortium of local governments have tracked water-quality conditions and trends in several of the area’s water-supply...
Pfeifle, C.A.; Cain, J.L.; Rasmussen, R.B. Estimating minimum streamflow from measurements at ungauged sites in regions with streamflow‐gauging networks
Estimation of low flows in rivers continues to be a vexing problem despite advances in statistical and process‐based hydrological models. We develop a method to estimate minimum streamflow at seasonal to annual timescales from measured streamflow based on regional similarity in the deviations of daily streamflow from minimum streamflow for a...
Konrad, Christopher Effects of manure and tillage on edge-of-field phosphorus loss in seasonally frozen landscapes
Environmental conditions and management practices affect nutrient losses in surface runoff, but their relative impacts on phosphorus (P) loss during frozen and nonfrozen ground periods have not been well quantified. More specifically, the relative importance of manure application, tillage, and soil-test P (STP) has not been assessed at the field...
Zopp, Zachariah P.; Ruark, Matthew D.; Thompson, Anita M.; Stuntebeck, Todd D.; Cooley, Eric; Radatz, Amber; Radatz, Timothy