Surface-Water Quality and Ecology
Featured: Nutrient yields in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin
A new USGS study estimates total nitrogen (N) and total phosphorus (P) yields from catchments throughout the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin, which drains about 41% of the conterminous U.S. Results could assist nutrient reduction strategies.
Learn moreFeatured: Pesticide Transformation Products in Small U.S. Streams
Pesticide transformation products are ubiquitous in small U.S. streams, reports a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey, and could be a missing piece to the toxicity puzzle for aquatic life in headwater streams.
Learn MoreScience Center Objects
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.
The Nation's rivers and streams are a priceless resource—they provide drinking water for a growing population, irrigation for crops, habitat for aquatic life, and countless recreational opportunities.
NAWQA research on surface-water quality is focusing on three areas:
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current conditions and trends in water quality in the Nation’s rivers and streams;
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developing models and interactive mappers that estimate the amount of a contaminant transported from inland watersheds to larger water bodies (SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes, or SPARROW); and
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characterizing water quality and ecology in hundreds of small streams across the United States (Regional Stream Quality Assessments; RSQA).
Explore NAWQA science on topics related to water quality in streams and rivers
Relations between land use and surface-water quality
Contaminants in surface water
Emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, and more)
Sediment-associated contaminants (metals, pesticides, PAHs, and more)
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Relations to aquatic life
Drinking water issues
Trends in water quality
Water-quality trends from lake sediment cores
How do we do it?
Access USGS publications and manuals on sample-collection methods.
Looking for information on groundwater quality as well?
Explore these links:
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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: Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, Water ResourcesView 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.
Mixed-chemical exposure and predicted effects potential in wadeable southeastern USA streams
Complex chemical mixtures have been widely reported in larger streams but relatively little work has been done to characterize them and assess their potential effects in headwaterstreams. In 2014, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) sampled 54 Piedmont streams over ten weeks and measured 475 unique organic compounds...
Bradley, Paul M.; Journey, Celeste A.; Berninger, Jason P.; Button, Daniel T.; Clark, Jimmy M.; Corsi, Steven R.; DeCicco, Laura A.; Hopkins, Kristina G.; Huffman, Bradley J.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Norman, Julia E.; Nowell, Lisa H.; Qi, Sharon L.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Waite, Ian R. Water-quality trends in US rivers: Exploring effects from streamflow trends and changes in watershed management
We present a conceptual model that explores the relationship of streamflow trends to 15 water-quality parameters at 370 sites across the contiguous United States (US). Our analytical framework uses discrete water-quality data, daily streamflow records, and a statistical model to estimate water-quality trends between...
Murphy, Jennifer C.; Sprague, Lori A. Nutrient enrichment in wadeable urban streams in the piedmont ecoregion of the southeastern United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southeastern Stream Quality Assessment (SESQA) collected weekly samples for nitrogen and phosphorus in 76 wadeable streams in the urbanized Piedmont ecoregion of the Southeastern United States, during April–June 2014. Total nitrogen (TN) concentrations in excess of EPA guidelines and statistically greater than at...
Journey, Celeste A.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Button, Daniel T.; Clark, Jimmy M.; Munn, Mark D.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Qi, Sharon L.; Waite, Ian R.; Bradley, Paul M. A database of natural monthly streamflow estimates from 1950 to 2015 for the conterminous United States
Quantifying and understanding the natural streamflow regime, defined as expected streamflow that would occur in the absence of anthropogenic modification to the hydrologic system, is critically important for the development of management strategies aimed at protecting aquatic ecosystems. Water balance models have been applied frequently to...
Miller, Matthew P.; Carlisle, Daren; Wolock, David M.; Wieczorek, Michael
Understanding the influence of nutrients on stream ecosystems in agricultural landscapes
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,...
Munn, Mark D.; Frey, Jeffrey W.; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Black, Robert W.; Duff, John H.; Lee, Kathy; Maret, Terry R.; Mebane, Christopher A.; Waite, Ian R.; Zelt, Ronald B. Relative importance of water-quality stressors in predicting fish community responses in midwestern streams
Fish, habitat, and water chemistry data were collected from 98 streams in the midwestern United States, an area dominated by intense cultivation of row crops, in order to identify important water‐quality stressors to fish communities. We focused on 10 stressors including riparian disturbance, riparian vegetative cover, instream fish cover,...
Meador, Michael R.; Frey, Jeffrey W.
The Midwest Stream Quality Assessment—Influences of human activities on streams
Healthy streams and the fish and other organisms that live in them contribute to our quality of life. Extensive modification of the landscape in the Midwestern United States, however, has profoundly affected the condition of streams. Row crops and pavement have replaced grasslands and woodlands, streams have been straightened, and wetlands and...
Van Metre, Peter C.; Mahler, Barbara; Carlisle, Daren; Coles, James F. Juvenile coho salmon growth and health in streams across an urbanization gradient
Expanding human population and urbanization alters freshwater systems through structural changes to habitat, temperature effects from increased runoff and reduced canopy cover, altered flows, and increased toxicants. Current stream assessments stop short of measuring health or condition of species utilizing these freshwater habitats and fail to...
Spanjer, Andrew R.; Moran, Patrick W.; Larsen, Kimberly; Wetzel, Lisa; Hansen, Adam G.; Beauchamp, David A. Assessing the influence of multiple stressors on stream diatom metrics in the upper Midwest, USA
Water resource managers face increasing challenges in identifying what physical and chemical stressors are responsible for the alteration of biological conditions in streams. The objective of this study was to assess the comparative influence of multiple stressors on benthic diatoms at 98 sites that spanned a range of stressors in an...
Munn, Mark D.; Waite, Ian R.; Konrad, Christopher P. Complex mixtures of dissolved pesticides show potential aquatic toxicity in a synoptic study of Midwestern U.S. streams
Aquatic organisms in streams are exposed to pesticide mixtures that vary in composition over time in response to changes in flow conditions, pesticide inputs to the stream, and pesticide fate and degradation within the stream. To characterize mixtures of dissolved-phase pesticides and degradates in Midwestern streams, a synoptic study was...
Nowell, Lisa H.; Moran, Patrick W.; Schmidt, Travis S.; Norman, Julia E.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Shoda, Megan E.; Mahler, Barbara; Van Metre, Peter C.; Stone, Wesley W.; Sandstrom, Mark W.; Hladik, Michelle L. Predictability and selection of hydrologic metrics in riverine ecohydrology
The natural flow regime is critical to the health of riverine ecosystems. Many hydrologic metrics (HMs) have been developed to describe natural flow regimes, quantify flow alteration, and provide the hydrologic foundation for the development of environmental flow standards. Many applications require the use of models to predict expected natural...
Eng, Ken; Grantham, Theodore E.; Carlisle, Daren; Wolock, David M. Biological relevance of streamflow metrics: Regional and national perspectives
Protecting the health of streams and rivers requires identifying ecologically significant attributes of the natural flow regime. Streamflow regimes are routinely quantified using a plethora of hydrologic metrics (HMs), most of which have unknown relevance to biological communities. At regional and national scales, we evaluated which of 509...
Carlisle, Daren; Grantham, Theodore E.; Eng, Ken; Wolock, David M.-
Date published: January 1, 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. 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, 2018
Water-quality trends and trend component estimates for the Nation's rivers and streams using Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) models and generalized flow normalization, 1972-2012
Nonstationary streamflow due to environmental and human-induced causes can affect water quality over time, yet these effects are poorly accounted for in water-quality trend models. This data release provides instream water-quality trends and estimates of two components of change, for sites across the Nation previously presented in Oelsner et al. (2017). We used previously calibrated Weigh
Attribution: Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Ecological community datasets used to evaluate the presence of trends in ecological communities in selected rivers and streams across the United States, 1992-2012 (input)
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality and ecological conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and com
Attribution: Water Resources, National Water Quality Program -
Date published: January 1, 2017
U.S. Geological Survey GAGES-II time series data from consistent sources of land use, water use, agriculture, timber activities, dam removals, and other historical anthropogenic influences
This product is a series of ten datasets containing tabular data from historical time series sources for the 9,067 conterminous United States sites in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geospatial Attributes of Gages for Evaluating Streamflow II (GAGES-II) dataset. The tables contain time-series data derived from consistent sources of agricultural commodities such as crop types, irriga
Attribution: Water Resources, National Water Quality Program -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Water-quality and streamflow datasets used in the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) models to determine trends in the Nation’s rivers and streams, 1972-2012 (input)
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitor
Attribution: Water Resources -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Corrosivity index and streamflow datasets used to evaluate trends in potentially corrosive source waters in the Nation's streams and rivers (input) (1964-2016)
Changes in water corrosivity from 84 river sites were investigated using long-term (1962 – 2016) data sets. Corrosive waters, often having elevated chloride (Cl) concentrations, can lead to metal leaching and promote corrosion in water distribution systems. Two different indices, the Chloride-Sulfate Mass Ratio (CSMR) and the Larson Ratio (LR), are commonly used to
Attribution: Colorado Water Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Pesticide concentration and streamflow datasets used to evaluate pesticide trends in the Nation’s rivers and streams, 1992-2012 (input)
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitor
Attribution: Water Resources -
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: January 1, 2017
Pesticide concentration and streamflow datasets used to evaluate pesticide trends in the Nation’s rivers and streams, 1992-2012 (output)
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitor
Attribution: Water Resources -
Date published: January 1, 2017
Watershed characteristics for study sites of the Surface Water Trends project, National Water Quality Program
This product consists of 29 datasets of tabular data and associated metadata for watershed characteristics of 1,530 study sites of the Surface Water Trends (SWT) project of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water Quality Program (NWQP). The project is conducting national studies of trends in water quality of streams and rivers for periods ranging from 10 to 40 ye
Attribution: National Water Quality Program
Isotopic tracers in fish in Northeast provide clue to mercury sources
Isotopes of mercury in fish can indicate the source of that mercury, reports a new study from the USGS Regional Stream Quality Assessment.
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Date published: June 23, 2015
Media Advisory: Accompany a USGS Field Crew as they Evaluate the Health of Washington Streams
How do urbanization and agriculture affect the health of Puget Lowlands and Willamette Valley streams? Journalists are invited to meet up with U.S. Geological Survey field crews as they work to find answers by assessing aquatic life in 88 streams in 10 days.
Attribution: Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest -
Date published: April 1, 2015USGS Releases Online Tool for Estimating Atrazine Levels in Streams and Rivers
A new online, interactive tool for estimating atrazine concentrations in streams and rivers is now available.
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Date published: September 11, 201420-Year Study Shows Levels of Pesticides Still a Concern for Aquatic Life in U.S. Rivers and Streams
Levels of pesticides continue to be a concern for aquatic life in many of the Nation’s rivers and streams in agricultural and urban areas, according to a new USGS study spanning two decades (1992-2011). Pesticide levels seldom exceeded human health benchmarks.
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Date published: July 8, 2014
USGS Release: Large Rivers in U.S. are Becoming Less Acidic
Several large rivers in the U.S. are less acidic now, due to decreasing acidic inputs, such as industrial waste, acid mine drainage, and atmospheric deposition.
Attribution: Water Resources, Toxic Substances Hydrology -
Date published: June 16, 2014
Human Activities Increase Salt Content in Many of the Nation’s Streams
Concentrations of dissolved solids, a measure of the salt content in water, are elevated in many of the Nations streams as a result of human activities, according to a new USGS study.