Streams and Rivers

USGS is undertaking a 3-year study of water use, availability, and change in the Upper Rio Grande Basin. This study area runs 670 miles from its headwaters in Colorado through New Mexico and northern Mexico to Texas, and will compile existing information and add new scientific data and interpretation to help stakeholders face current and future water issues.

As one of several National Focus Area Studies within the USGS National Water Census (NWC), the USGS completed a 3-year study of water availability and use in the Delaware River Basin.

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.

In 1991, Congress established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project to address where, when, why, and how the Nation's water quality has changed, or is likely to change in the future, in response to human activities and natural factors. This page discusses the first two decadal cycles of NAWQA research from 1991 through 2012.

2011 proved to be another record-breaking flood year in the United States. USGS Water Science Center personnel from North Dakota to Louisiana measured springtime floods on the Red River of the North, the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, and many tributaries. The Missouri River and its tributaries saw record-breaking snow-melt runoff through the summer, followed closely by Hurricane Irene and...

The Harlem and Bronx Rivers provide ecological and social resources in an intensively urban area. Connecting people to rivers requires clean water—the USGS is helping to assess the efficacy of green infrastructure to improve the quality of stormwater that flows into the rivers.

The Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, just 7 miles south of downtown Albuquerque on the Rio Grande, will reconnect people, especially young people, with nature in this highly populated area. The USGS is gathering data that will help gauge the success of habitat restoration efforts.

The USGS works with a wide range of cooperators to investigate many aspects of water quality. The newly integrated USGS Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center is assisting in furthering urban water-quality research in Northwest Indiana.

Suspended sediment and nutrients from greater San Antonio can affect instream ecological health of the San Antonio River and ultimately impact Gulf of America bays and estuaries. Real-time monitoring in urban and rural parts of the river basin may provide a glimpse into the importance of urban sediment and nutrient sources. Real-time sensors provide a tool to better understand and manage water...

Several watersheds in the Baltimore region have elevated PCB loads in tidal waters. Local jurisdictions are responsible for reducing PCB loading from their watersheds. The USGS is embarking on a pilot study in the Patapsco watershed that will help determine sources of PCBs and will demonstrate innovative monitoring and analysis techniques for more efficient use of mitigation resouces.

Reconnecting people and water is an increasingly important goal in many urban areas. Parks, urban trails, boat ramps, and urban agriculture all are ways that an urban population can interact with nature and improve quality of life. USGS is participating in gathering the information that will make these projects possible.

USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) studies require analyses of stream and bed-sediment samples for major ions, nutrients, sediments, and organic contaminants that are consistent across time and space. Procedures have been designed specifically to produce information that is comparable among studies in different parts of the Nation.