Plant and Animal Communities

FORT aquatic scientists analyze rings of riparian trees relating tree growth and establishment to historical flow. They then use the tree rings to reconstruct the flow in past centuries. Flow reconstructions discover the frequency and magnitude of past droughts and floods—information that is essential for management of rivers and water supplies. They have pioneered the use of cottonwood, a...

The Willamette River Basin reflects the conflicting water demands between humans and ecosystems—particularly salmon— and the challenge resource managers face throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Karst terrain is created from the dissolution of soluble rocks, principally limestone and dolomite. Karst areas are characterized by distinctive landforms (like springs, caves, sinkholes) and a unique hydrogeology that results in aquifers that are highly productive but extremely vulnerable to contamination.

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 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.

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...

The Urban Waters Federal Partnership reconnects urban communities with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies, particularly those impacted by pollution or economic distress.

The USGS is evaluating the integration of small unoccupied aircraft systems – sUAS or "drones" – into USGS hydrogeophysical studies. The following projects are part of a Water Resources Mission Area demonstration and evaluation effort in collaboration with USGS Water Science Centers (WSCs) starting in June 2018.

Emerging contaminants, or contaminants of emerging concern, can refer to many different kinds of chemicals, including medicines, personal care or household cleaning products, lawn care and agricultural products, among others. These chemicals make it into our Nation's lakes and rivers and have a detrimental affect on fish and other aquatic species. That have also been shown to bioaccumulate up the...

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can affect the human nervous system. Eating fish contaminated with mercury can cause serious harm to people and wildlife.