Groundwater/Surface-Water Interaction
The Integration of Surface Water and Groundwater—A Critical Linkage
The complex interaction of water above ground and below ground is a key element of the hydrologic cycle
Featured publication: The value of high-frequency nitrate data
Learn about how continuous data on nitrate concentrations tells us about the role of groundwater in contributing nitrate to surface water.
Read the publicationKey influences on nitrate concentrations in Chesapeake Bay
Land use, organic carbon in soils and geology are among the most important factors affecting high nitrate in base flow in streams that flow into Chesapeake Bay, reports a new USGS study. Much of that nitrate is from groundwater.
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Water and the chemicals it contains are constantly being exchanged between the land surface and the subsurface. Surface water seeps into the ground and recharges the underlying aquifer—groundwater discharges to the surface and supplies the stream with baseflow. USGS Integrated Watershed Studies assess these exchanges and their effect on surface-water and groundwater quality and quantity.
Groundwater and surface water physically overlap at the groundwater/surface water interface through the exchange of water and chemicals. This exchange is a critical part of the hydrologic cycle. Surface water supplies recharge to the underlying aquifer, where the groundwater can remain in storage for days, months, years, centuries, or even millennia. Eventually the groundwater discharges back into the stream. Depending on how much time the water spends underground, and the geochemical conditions within the aquifer, the quality of the original recharge water can undergo profound changes before it discharges at the surface.
USGS Integrated Watershed Studies seek to better understand and quantify the exchanges at the surface water/groundwater interface. This understanding is used to forecast how the chemical quality of water will change in response to changes in climate, land use, or management practices. Integrated Watershed Studies develop methods to quantify the movement of water and chemicals between the watershed, stream, and groundwater to estimate past and forecast future water-quality conditions at regional scales. The USGS also develops new methods to interpret high-frequency water-quality monitoring data to inform and develop watershed models.
Interested in surface-water quality? Find out more here.
Interested in groundwater quality? Find out more here.
Agriculture and the Quality of the Nation's Waters
Intensive studies by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project in agricultural areas provide insight into how agricultural activities have altered the natural flow of water and the way that agricultural chemicals enter streams and aquifers, and in particular how nutrients affect algal and invertebrate communities in agricultural streams.
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Date published: March 2, 2019Status: ActiveGroundwater Quality Research
Every day, millions of gallons of groundwater are pumped to supply drinking water for about 140 million people, almost one-half of the Nation’s population. Learn about the quality and availability of groundwater for drinking, where and why groundwater quality is degraded, and where groundwater quality is changing.
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Date published: February 27, 2019Status: ActiveSurface-Water Quality and Ecology
Research by the USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project on water quality of rivers and streams covers a broad range of topics, from nonpoint pollution issues to vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems. Dive in and find out more about current water-quality conditions, how and where water quality is changing, and the latest information on pesticides, nutrients, and other contaminants...
Contacts: Gary L Rowe, Jr., PhD, Patty Toccalino, Ph.D.Attribution: Water Resources, National Water Quality Program
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Year Published: 2018Agriculture — A river runs through it — The connections between agriculture and water quality
Sustaining the quality of the Nation’s water resources and the health of our diverse ecosystems depends on the availability of sound water-resources data and information to develop effective, science-based policies. Effective management of water resources also brings more certainty and efficiency to important economic sectors. Taken together,...
Capel, Paul D.; McCarthy, Kathleen A.; Coupe, Richard H.; Grey, Katia M.; Amenumey, Sheila E.; Baker, Nancy T.; Johnson, Richard L.Attribution: Water, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, Water Resources, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, United States of America, Water Science SchoolView CitationCapel, P.D., McCarthy, K.A., Coupe, R.H., Grey, K.M., Amenumey, S.E., Baker, N.T., and Johnson, R.L., 2018, Agriculture — A River runs through it — The connections between agriculture and water quality: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1433, 201 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1433.
Biofilms provide new insight into pesticide occurrence in streams and links to aquatic ecological communities
Streambed sediment is commonly analyzed to assess occurrence of hydrophobic pesticides and risks to aquatic communities. However, stream biofilms also have the potential to accumulate pesticides and may be consumed by aquatic organisms. To better characterize risks to aquatic life, the U.S. Geological Survey Regional Stream Quality Assessment...
Mahler, Barbara; Schmidt, Travis S.; Nowell, Lisa H.; Qi, Sharon L.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Hladik, Michelle; Carlisle, Daren M.; Munn, Mark D.; May, Jason Monitoring the Riverine Pulse: Applying high-frequency nitrate data to advance integrative understanding of biogeochemical and hydrological processes
Widespread deployment of sensors that measure river nitrate (NO3-) concentrations has led to many recent publications in water resources journals including review papers focused on data quality assurance, improved load calculations, and better nutrient management. The principal objective of this paper is to review and synthesize studies of high-...
Burns, Douglas A.; Pellerin, Brian A.; Miller, Matthew P.; Capel, Paul; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Duncan, Jonathan M. Elevated manganese concentrations in United States groundwater, role of land surface–soil–aquifer connections
Chemical data from 43 334 wells were used to examine the role of land surface–soil–aquifer connections in producing elevated manganese concentrations (>300 μg/L) in United States (U.S.) groundwater. Elevated concentrations of manganese and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in groundwater are associated with shallow, anoxic water tables and soils...
McMahon, Peter B.; Belitz, Kenneth; Reddy, James E.; Johnson, Tyler D.
An exploratory Bayesian network for estimating the magnitudes and uncertainties of selected water-quality parameters at streamgage 03374100 White River at Hazleton, Indiana, from partially observed data
An exploratory discrete Bayesian network (BN) was developed to assess the potential of this type of model for estimating the magnitudes and uncertainties of an arbitrary subset of unmeasured water-quality parameters given the measured complement of parameters historically measured at a U.S. Geological Survey streamgage. Water-quality data for 27...
Holtschlag, David J.
UFINCH: A method for simulating unit and daily flows in networks of channels described by NHDPlus using continuous flow data at U.S. Geological Survey streamgages
The UFINCH (Unit Flows In Networks of Channels) computer application can be used to simulate daily and unit flows in networks of streams based on geospatial data in the National Hydrography Dataset NHDPlus (with value added attributes), and U.S. Geoogical Survey daily streamflow data from a downstream (or base) streamgage. Among streamflow...
Holtschlag, David J.
Estimates of nitrate loads and yields from groundwater to streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed based on land use and geology
The water quality of the Chesapeake Bay may be adversely affected by dissolved nitrate carried in groundwater discharge to streams. To estimate the concentrations, loads, and yields of nitrate from groundwater to streams for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, a regression model was developed based on measured nitrate concentrations from 156 small...
Terziotti, Silvia; Capel, Paul D.; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Hopple, Jessica A.; Kronholm, Scott C. Regional variability of nitrate fluxes in the unsaturated zone and groundwater, Wisconsin, USA
Process-based modeling of regional NO3− fluxes to groundwater is critical for understanding and managing water quality, but the complexity of NO3− reactive transport processes make implementation a challenge. This study introduces a regional vertical flux method (VFM) for efficient estimation of reactive transport of NO3− in the vadose zone and...
Green, Christopher T.; Liao, Lixia; Nolan, Bernard T.; Juckem, Paul F.; Shope, Christopher L.; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Jurgens, Bryant C. Estimating discharge and nonpoint source nitrate loading to streams from three end‐member pathways using high‐frequency water quality data
The myriad hydrologic and biogeochemical processes taking place in watersheds occurring across space and time are integrated and reflected in the quantity and quality of water in streams and rivers. Collection of high‐frequency water quality data with sensors in surface waters provides new opportunities to disentangle these processes and quantify...
Miller, Matthew P.; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Hood, Krista; Terziotti, Silvia; Wolock, David M. Predicting redox-sensitive contaminant concentrations in groundwater using random forest classification
Machine learning techniques were applied to a large (n > 10,000) compliance monitoring database to predict the occurrence of several redox-active constituents in groundwater across a large watershed. Specifically, random forest classification was used to determine the probabilities of detecting elevated concentrations of nitrate, iron, and...
Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Gronberg, Jo Ann M.; Juckem, Paul F.; Miller, Matthew P.; Austin, Brian P.
Optimal hydrograph separation using a recursive digital filter constrained by chemical mass balance, with application to selected Chesapeake Bay watersheds
Quantitative estimates of base flow are necessary to address questions concerning the vulnerability and response of the Nation’s water supply to natural and human-induced change in environmental conditions. An objective of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Project is to determine how hydrologic systems are affected by...
Raffensperger, Jeff P.; Baker, Anna C.; Blomquist, Joel D.; Hopple, Jessica A. Statistically extracted fundamental watershed variables for estimating the loads of total nitrogen in small streams
Accurate estimation of total nitrogen loads is essential for evaluating conditions in the aquatic environment. Extrapolation of estimates beyond measured streams will greatly expand our understanding of total nitrogen loading to streams. Recursive partitioning and random forest regression were used to assess 85 geospatial, environmental, and...
Kronholm, Scott C.; Capel, Paul D.; Terziotti, Silvia Patterns of diel variation in nitrate concentrations in the Potomac River
The Potomac River is a large source of N to Chesapeake Bay, where reducing nutrient loads is a focus of efforts to improve trophic status. Better understanding of NO3– loss, reflected in part by diel variation in NO3– concentrations, may refine model predictions of N loads to the Bay. We analyzed 2 y of high-frequency NO3– sensor data in the...
Burns, Douglas A.; Miller, Matthew P.; Pellerin, Brian; Capel, Paul D.-
Date published: November 30, 2020Input and results from a boosted regression tree (BRT) model relating base flow nitrate concentrations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to catchment characteristics (1970-2013)
This data release contains a boosted regression tree (BRT) model (written in the R programming language), and the input and output data from that model that were used to relate base flow nitrate concentrations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to catchment characteristics. The input data consists of two types of information: 1) surface water nitrate concentrations collected by the USG
Attribution: Oregon Water Science Center -
Date published: March 7, 2018Datasets and metadata for estimates of nitrate loads and yields from groundwater to streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed based on land use and geology
This USGS data release contains datasets, metadata, and figures associated with estimating nitrate loads and yields from groundwater to streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed based on land use and geology.
Attribution: Water Resources -
Date published: January 1, 2018
Datasets to reproduce the exploratory Bayesian network developed in USGS SIR 2018-5053 for estimating water-quality parameters at streamgage 03374100 White River at Hazleton, Indiana, 1973-2016
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release contains the data used in the USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5053 entitled "An exploratory Bayesian network for estimating the magnitudes and uncertainties of selected water-quality parameters at streamgage 03374100 White River at Hazleton, Indiana, from partially observed data." The four datasets, which contain only ASCII
Attribution: New Jersey Water Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2018
Datasets and metadata for estimates of nitrate loads and yields from groundwater to streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed based on land use and geology
This USGS data release contains datasets, metadata, and figures associated with estimating nitrate loads and yields from groundwater to streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed based on land use and geology. There are three shapefiles with associated metadata and figures representing the shapefiles: • Catchments_GWcontribN.shp: NHDPlus catchment estimates of groundwater contr
Attribution: Water Resources, National Water Quality Program -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Hydrograph-separation results for 225 streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed derived by using PART, HYSEP (Fixed, Local minimum, Slide), BFI, and a Recursive Digital Filter with streamflow data ranging from 1913 through 2016
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release contains daily-mean streamflow and estimated-daily base flow for 225 streamgages in the Chesapeake Bay watershed ranging from 1913 to 2016 (beginning and end dates may vary). There is a table containing hydrograph-separation results by six methods for 225 sites (Hydrograph_separation_results_for_225_streams_in_the_Chesapeake_Bay_watershed%
Attribution: New Jersey Water Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Data set used to develop a conceptual framework for effectively anticipating water-quality changes resulting from changes in agricultural activities
This USGS data release contains 2013 streamflow, baseflow, and precipitation data from three hydrologically-diverse streams in the United States used to develop a conceptual framework for effectively anticipating water-quality changes resulting from changes in agricultural activities. The framework combined generalized concepts on the movement of water, the environmental behavior of chemica...
Attribution: National Water Quality Program -
Date published: July 26, 2016
Data on annual total nitrogen loads and watershed characteristics used to develop a method to estimate the total nitrogen loads in small streams
This USGS Data Release represents the data used to develop multiple linear regression models for estimating the loads of total nitrogen in small streams. Recursive partitioning and random forest regression were used to assess 85 geospatial, environmental, and watershed variables across 636 small (less than 585 square kilometers) watersheds to determine which variables are fundamentally im
Attribution: New Jersey Water Science Center -
Date published: June 29, 2016
Real and synthetic data used to test the Two-tracer Ratio-based Mixing Model (TRaMM)
This USGS Data Release represents the synthetic and real data from hydrologically diverse streams used to test the performance and limitations of the Two-tracer Ratio-based Mixing Model (TRaMM) which uses high-frequency measures of two tracers (A and B) and streamflow to separate total streamflow into water from slowflow and fastflow sources. The ratio between the concentrations of the tw
Attribution: New Jersey Water Science Center -
Date published: March 11, 2016
Patterns of Diel Variation in Nitrate Concentrations in the Potomac River
This data set includes nitrate concentration, water temperature, and discharge collected every 15 minutes during Dec. 2011 - Nov. 2013 from the USGS gage at the Potomac River near Wash, DC, Little Falls Pump Sta (01646500). Additional data includes day length from the US Naval Observatory, and photosynthetically active radiation from USDA research station in Beltsville, MD. Data o
Attribution: New York Water Science Center -
Date published: July 31, 2015
Depth to 50 percent probability of oxic conditions, Chesapeake Bay Watershed
This dataset is a 900 meter resolution raster representing the depth in meters at which the probability of oxic groundwater occurring is at least 50%, for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Oxic groundwater was defined as containing O2 values >= 2 mg/L. The values range from 0-100 meters, with 100 representing all depths greater than 100. It was created in support of models which define th
Attribution: Water Resources, National Water Quality Program
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Date published: May 9, 2016More than Half of Streamflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin Originates as Groundwater
Groundwater and Surface Water Considered a Joint Resource