Web Tools

A majority of the water in the western U.S. comes from snowmelt, but changes in the timing, magnitude, and duration of snowmelt can alter water availability downstream. This data visualization story explores what changing snowmelt means for water in the West, and how new USGS efforts can advance snow science by modeling snowpack and snowmelt dynamics and linking these results to streamflow.

Water quality is essential for understanding water availability by providing insights into the drivers of change and possible availability constraints. Using data from eight monitoring organizations including the USGS, the Multisource Water-Quality Trends in the Delaware River Basin mapper shows changing water-quality trends from 2008-2018 in rivers and streams across the Delaware River Basin.

Since 1969, USGS has collected water-quality data along the deep-channel longitudinal axis of the San Francisco Bay-Delta system at 37 fixed locations spaced 3-6 kilometers apart. The Water Quality of San Francisco Bay Data Query provides access to the entire dataset.

Changes in streamflow conditions can affect infrastructure, water supply, and ecosystems. The IWAAs Surface Water Flow Trends mapper provides access to information about long-term changes in low flows, mean flows, and peak flows. View national trends for the last 100, 75, or 50 years, or calculate trend values for a custom time period at an individual site.

The Delaware River supports thriving ecosystems and drinking water for 16 million people. How water is shared, and the quality of that water, has been the focus of decades of inter-state discussion, negotiation, and research. This data visualization story uses streamflow, salinity, and temperature to show how new USGS science and monitoring can inform water management in this age of cooperation.

The 2020 fire season provided stark evidence that wildfires are changing the landscape of America. But when a forest burns, the impacts on water supply and quality last long after the flames go out. Learn more about how wildfires threaten U.S. water supplies – and what we can do to adapt to the complex impacts of hotter and bigger fires.

The USGS has been measuring streamflow since 1889. Explore how USGS streamgages have been supporting our Nation's changing water-resource needs and priorities for 130 years in an interactive data visualization story.

2012 SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) interactive mappers are available for 5 regions of the conterminous U.S. These mappers simulate river streamflow, and nutrient and sediment loads and yields, that would occur under long-term average hydrologic conditions for the time period 1999 through 2014, and source inputs that occurred during or near 2012.

2012 SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) interactive mappers are available for 5 regions of the conterminous U.S. These mappers simulate river streamflow, and nutrient and sediment loads and yields, that would occur under long-term average hydrologic conditions for the time period 1999 through 2014, and source inputs that occurred during or near 2012.

2012 SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) interactive mappers are available for 5 regions of the conterminous U.S. These mappers simulate river streamflow, and nutrient and sediment loads and yields, that would occur under long-term average hydrologic conditions for the time period 1999 through 2014, and source inputs that occurred during or near 2012.

2012 SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) interactive mappers are available for 5 regions of the conterminous U.S. These mappers simulate river streamflow, and nutrient and sediment loads and yields, that would occur under long-term average hydrologic conditions for the time period 1999 through 2014, and source inputs that occurred during or near 2012.

2012 SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) interactive mappers are available for 5 regions of the conterminous U.S. These mappers simulate river streamflow, and nutrient and sediment loads and yields, that would occur under long-term average hydrologic conditions for the time period 1999 through 2014, and source inputs that occurred during or near 2012.