Aquatic Biology and Ecosystems

The USGS Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) provides high-fidelity, real-time data on water quantity and quality necessary to support modern water prediction and decision support systems for water emergencies and daily water operations. The Delaware River Basin was the first NGWOS basin, providing an opportunity to implement the program in a nationally important, complex interstate...

The Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Research and Monitoring Project measures changes in water quality along the deep channel of the San Francisco Bay-Delta system using submersible sensors and discrete water samples. Learn more about how we collect and measure water-quality data.

Powder River rises in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming and flows northward through a semi-arid landscape in Wyoming and Montana to the Yellowstone River. The river drains an area of 34,700 square kilometers and has an average discharge of about 500 million cubic meters per year. Cross-channel profile data were collected at 22 sites on the river and its tributaries from 1975 through 2014.

Since 1969, the U.S. Geological Survey has maintained a research project in the San Francisco Bay-Delta system to measure and understand how estuarine systems and tidal river deltas function and change in response to hydro-climatic variability and human activities.

In 2019, the USGS began studying the baseline water-quality of selected transboundary rivers in the Pacific Northwest. These studies are designed to characterize current water-quality conditions so as to facilitate future assessments of potential impacts related to upstream mining activities.

For 43 years, the Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP) brought together scientists from the USGS along with students and professors from universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and California to study the physical, chemical, and biological processes of lakes, wetlands, and streams at local and watershed scales. In early 2022, The University of Minnesota and Bemidji...

New projects from coast to coast will advance the research on harmful algal blooms (HABs) in lakes, reservoirs and rivers. The vivid emerald-colored algal blooms are caused by cyanobacteria, which can produce cyanotoxins that threaten human health and aquatic ecosystems and can cause major economic damage.

The Urban Waters Federal Partnership reconnects urban communities with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies, particularly those communities that have been disproportionately impacted by pollution or economic distress. The UWFP draws upon Environmental Justice principles—the idea that all people, regardless of race, religion, national origin, or economic station, deserve...

Naegleria fowleri ( N. fowleri ) commonly referred to as the "brain-eating amoeba", is a thermophilic free-living amoeba found in warm and hot surface water that include freshwater ponds, lakes, rivers, and hot springs (Yoder and others. 2010).

StreamStats provides access to spatial analytical tools that are useful for water-resources planning and management, and for engineering and design purposes. The map-based user interface can be used to delineate drainage areas, get basin characteristics and estimates of flow statistics, and more. Available information varies from state to state.

Our surface water, groundwater, and aquatic ecosystems are priceless resources, used by people across the Nation for drinking, irrigation, industry, and recreation. The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project is a leading source of scientific data and knowledge for development of science-based policies and management strategies to improve and protect our water resources.

Since the early 1980s the USGS has worked cooperatively with manufacturers to develop and enhance the use of acoustic Doppler instruments for streamflow and other hydraulic measurements. This site provides information on hydroacoustic technology, instruments, and their use.