News

Potomac River flow, near Washington, D.C., set a new record-high of 15.8 billion gallons per day (bgd) in the just-ended 1996 water year, far more than twice the long-term annual average flow of 7.2 bgd. The new record breaks the previous record of 12.3 bgd set in 1972, by 28 percent.

Total freshwater inflow to Chesapeake Bay during the period January to September 1996, was the second highest in 45 years of record, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Dr. Dennis B. Fenn was today appointed the first chief biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Dr. Crofton B. Farmer of Pasadena, California, and Dr. M. Patrick McCormick of Hampton, Virginia, have received the 1996 Pecora Award, one of the top federal awards for contributions in remote sensing. 

How can teachers and parents evoke curiosity and instill a sense of wonder about the Earth?

Partnership projects such as this CRADA allow the federal government and a non-federal partner to combine resources and provide cost-effective products and perform research by sharing the costs of projects.

Scientists will begin collecting sediment cores from the floor of Chesapeake Bay this week in the search for clues that will help explain what factors -- natural and manmade -- trigger changes in the living resources and environment of the Bay.

See the artistic talents of your friends and neighbors who work at the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston displayed in an employee art show, Sept. 3-30, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

At 7 a.m., before the rains began, the flow of the Potomac River at the U.S. Geological Survey streamgauge near the District at Little Falls Pumping station was 36 billion gallons per day (bgd) and dropping, according to hydrologists at the U.S. Geological Survey.

The especially wet Hurricane Hortense has U.S. Geological Survey hydrologists and technicians working around the clock to measure its impact on the rivers of Puerto Rico. The Rio de la Plata in northeastern Puerto Rico, for example, has reached its highest level ever, exceeding the previous record high flow of Jan. 5, 1992, when the river reached a flow of 82 billion gallons per day.

Measurements of the volume and rate of flows of the flooding Potomac River will be made on the 14th St. Bridge beginning at about 10:30 a.m. Monday (Sept. 9, 1996) by the U.S. Geological Survey. Measuring efforts by the USGS using special cranes and weights will continue for several hours.