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The new Water Cycle Diagram is now available!

Featuring improved scientific accuracy, design aesthetics, and usability in educational settings

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Recovery, repairs, and retrievals

USGS assesses our facilities, equipment, and science after Hurricane Ian

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Great Salt Lake Hydro Mapper released

New website tracks historically low lake levels and ecosystem effects of prolonged drought

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USGS partners in 15 cities to improve urban waterways

Nearly $4 million is being invested to improve water systems and help transform degraded urban riverscapes

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Willamette River Basin selected as 4th Integrated Water Science Basin

Studies in this Pacific Northwest basin will advance the science used to manage water for the diverse needs of major cities, fertile agriculture, and ecologically important species

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Looking for current water conditions?

The National Water Dashboard is an interactive, mobile-friendly tool that provides real-time water, weather, and flood information all in one place

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We're One USGS Water

Together with Science Centers and Regions across the Nation

Our partners

Water Resources

Water information is fundamental to national and local economic well-being, protection of life and property, and effective management of the Nation’s water resources. The USGS works with partners to monitor, assess, conduct targeted research, and deliver information on a wide range of water resources and conditions including streamflow, groundwater, water quality, and water use and availability.

USGS Water Data for the Nation

Current streamflow conditions map

Surface-water, groundwater, water-quality, and water-use data collected at approximately 1.9 million sites across all 50 states.

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Message from the Associate Director for Water

Photo of Don Cline

Learn more about the WMA from Dr. Don Cline, the Associate Director for Water Resources.

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Popular Water Data and Tools

Explore our science by the topical areas that drive the research and projects conducted by our Programs.

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News

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Back and Forth: Public invited to ask questions and learn more about the low-level helicopter flying above the Illinois River Basin

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Media Alert: Low-flying helicopter will survey Illinois River Basin for geologic, water studies

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USGS crews continue to measure record-high streamflow in California

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Publications

Interaction of a legacy groundwater contaminant plume with the Little Wind River from 2015 through 2017, Riverton Processing site, Wyoming

The Riverton Processing site was a uranium mill 4 kilometers southwest of Riverton, Wyoming, that prepared uranium ore for nuclear reactors and weapons from 1958 to 1963. The U.S. Department of Energy completed surface remediation of the uranium tailings in 1989; however, groundwater below and downgradient from the tailings site and nearby Little Wind River was not remediated. Beginning in 2010, a
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Water Resources, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Assessment of habitat use by juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Willamette River Basin, 2020–21

We conducted a field study during 2020–21 to describe habitat use patterns of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the mainstem Willamette, McKenzie, and Santiam Rivers and to evaluate how habitat suitability criteria affected the predictive accuracy of a hydraulic habitat model. Two approaches were used to collect habitat use data: a stratified sampling design was used to ensure
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Water Resources, Ecosystems, Fisheries Program (unpublished), Oregon Water Science Center, Western Fisheries Research Center

Simulation of regional groundwater flow and advective transport of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and vicinity, New Jersey, 2018

A three-dimensional numerical model of groundwater flow was developed and calibrated for the unconsolidated New Jersey Coastal Plain aquifers underlying Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL) and vicinity, New Jersey, to evaluate groundwater flow pathways of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination associated with use of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) at the base. The regional
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Water Resources, New Jersey Water Science Center
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Science

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Cienega Ranch 1

Cienega Ranch - Semi-desert Native Grassland Restoration

At the Cienega Ranch, near Willcox, Arizona, in the foothills of the Dos Cabeza Mountains, a rancher is working to restore and conserve high- quality native grasslands and critical wildlife habitat, while keeping the land as a working cattle ranch. Our objectives were to estimate the hydrological effect of water harvesting on grassland restoration and quantify how grassland conservation efforts...
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Water Resources, Western Geographic Science Center
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Cienega Ranch - Semi-desert Native Grassland Restoration

At the Cienega Ranch, near Willcox, Arizona, in the foothills of the Dos Cabeza Mountains, a rancher is working to restore and conserve high- quality native grasslands and critical wildlife habitat, while keeping the land as a working cattle ranch. Our objectives were to estimate the hydrological effect of water harvesting on grassland restoration and quantify how grassland conservation efforts...
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snow and a small stream

Planetary Volatiles: Snow and Ice

The USGS Astrogeology Science Center conducts research on planetary volatiles. Volatiles include substances that have a high vapor pressure relative to the ambient atmosphere. We study the longevity, locations and other characteristics of volatiles. More specifically: H2O ice, snow and frost are volatiles on the Earth. We study the persistence of perennial snowfields in Colorado and Mongolia. Mars...
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Core Science Systems, Ecosystems, Natural Hazards, Water Resources, Astrogeology Science Center
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Planetary Volatiles: Snow and Ice

The USGS Astrogeology Science Center conducts research on planetary volatiles. Volatiles include substances that have a high vapor pressure relative to the ambient atmosphere. We study the longevity, locations and other characteristics of volatiles. More specifically: H2O ice, snow and frost are volatiles on the Earth. We study the persistence of perennial snowfields in Colorado and Mongolia. Mars...
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Tongue River between Tongue River Reservoir and Birney, MT

Future Streamflow Estimates for Tongue River to Enable Northern Cheyenne Data Driven Water Management and Planning

Atmospheric warming is driving: - a shift in precipitation from snow to rain - changing precipitation intensity and seasonality - increasing atmospheric demand for moisture in mountain river watersheds across the western United States (Seager and others, 2015). These changes will likely alter the timing and quantity of streamflow in rivers draining mountains. The Tongue River flows from the...
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Water Resources, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
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Future Streamflow Estimates for Tongue River to Enable Northern Cheyenne Data Driven Water Management and Planning

Atmospheric warming is driving: - a shift in precipitation from snow to rain - changing precipitation intensity and seasonality - increasing atmospheric demand for moisture in mountain river watersheds across the western United States (Seager and others, 2015). These changes will likely alter the timing and quantity of streamflow in rivers draining mountains. The Tongue River flows from the...
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