Clouds, Precipitation, and Atmospheric Deposition

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition, climate change and recreation are rapidly altering high elevation ecosystems. This project will evaluate long-term biogeochemical, hydrological, and ecological trends in Rocky Mountain National Park to understand the causes and rates of change in alpine and subalpine waters, soils, and vegetation. Policy makers and resource managers of high-elevation, protected...

The National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) is a collaboration of atmospheric monitoring networks. The purpose of the networks is to collect data to evaluate air quality. Network data also inform science-based actions to protect human health and preserve ecosystems for current and future generations. The NADP National Trends Network (NTN) quantifies the concentration of eight major ions and...

The National Water Availability Assessment Data Companion (NWDC) will deliver routinely updated water availability information in the United States.

Water use estimates for 2000 through 2020 are now available for the three largest categories of use in the United States: self-supplied thermoelectric power generation, self-supplied irrigation, and public supply. Five additional categories of use (self-supplied industrial, domestic, mining, livestock, and aquaculture) will be available in 2025.

The U.S. Geological Survey is integrating its water science programs to better address the Nation’s greatest water resource challenges. At the heart of this effort are plans to intensively study at least 10 Integrated Water Science (IWS) basins — medium-sized watersheds (10,000-20,000 square miles) and underlying aquifers — over the next decade. The IWS basins will represent a wide range of...

The Next Generation Water Observing System provides high-fidelity, real-time data on water quantity, quality, and use to support modern water prediction and decision-support systems that are necessary for informing water operations on a daily basis and decision-making during water emergencies. The Illinois River Basin provides an opportunity to implement the NGWOS in a system challenged by an...

Declining snow cover is playing a key role in decreasing the flow of the Colorado River, “the lifeblood of the Southwest,” by enabling increased evaporation. As the warming continues, increasingly severe water shortages are expected.

USGS water-related projects of international interest.

Rapid Deployment Gages (RDGs) are fully-functional streamgages designed to be deployed quickly and temporarily to measure and transmit stream stage data in emergency situations.

The USGS collects flood data and conducts targeted flood science to help Federal, State, and local agencies, decision makers, and the public before, during, and after a flood. Our efforts provide situational awareness, drive predictive models, inform infrastructure design and operation, undergird floodplain mapping, assist flood constituent/load quantification, and facilitate flood impact...

The USGS has estimated water use for the United States every 5 years since 1950. Estimates are provided for groundwater and surface-water sources, for fresh and saline water quality, and by sector or category of use. Estimates have been made at the State level since 1950, and at the county level since 1985. Water-use estimates by watershed were made from 1950 through 1995, first at the water...

During large coastal storms, the storm surge and waves are the main cause of destruction and landscape change, transporting saline water, sediment, and debris inland. The USGS, in collaboration with stakeholders, has constructed a national Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrodynamics (SWaTH) Network for the Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, and Central Pacific. SWaTH monitors and documents the height, extent, and...