Multimedia Gallery

Data show that use of saline groundwater has been increasing since 1985.

Source: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Brackish water desalination facility in Harlingen, Texas. The plant was built in 2007 and has a capacity of 2.25 million gallons per day. Source: North Cameron Regional Water Supply Corporation

Groundwater Desalination Facilities. Source: Mickley & Associates, written commun., 2013. Survey of municipal desalination plants.

Total Saline Groundwater Use, 2010

Unlined brine pit on the shore of Skiatook Lake, Okla.
(Source: USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program)

Salt impacted field.
(Source: Colorado State University Extension, Fact Sheet No. 0.521)

Development of geothermal saline groundwater into a warm-spring spa.
(Source: State of Florida Department of Natural Resources. Special Publication No. 21, 1977)

Seawater Intrusion Figure. (Source: USGS Circular 1262)

Brackish groundwater movement figure. (Source: USGS Circular 1262)

Map of United States in Late Cretaceous Time (66 to 100 million years ago).(Source: USGS Bulletin 1291)

Map of United States in Middle Pennsylvanian Time (about 300 million years ago). (Source: USGS Bulletin 1291)

Salt Deposits (Gypsum). (Source: Siim Sepp, http://www.sandatlas.org/)

Percentage Change in Population by State and Decade: 1980 - 1990 to 2000 - 2010. For information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/doc/p194-171.pdf

Available Precipitation - Average from 1934 to 2002 In Inches Per Year

Groundwater in basin-fill aquifers of the Southwest often increases in dissolved-solids content as it travels along its flow path as a result of geochemical interactions with the aquifer matrix and through evaporative processes. At the end of its flowpath, groundwater may be brackish or saline and discharges to the surface through springs such this one in Death Valley

USGS WAUSP Water Census: Map of National Brackish Groundwater Assessment from USGS professional paper 1833 "Brackish Groundwater In The United States."

Artesian Well, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo, FL

USGS gage 01428000 Tenmile River at Tusten, NY

USGS gage 01419500 Willowemoc Creek near Livingston Manor, NY

The beach-dependent shorebirds project at the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center models current and future habitat availability for nesting shorebirds in an effort to map current and likely future habitat availability on a range of sites along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Sites include beaches with minimal human-presence, such Cedar Island shown here off of the

This map shows estimated concentrations of atrazine in shallow groundwater beneath agricultural land. Atrazine use is one of the most important factors used to predict atrazine and deethylatrazine concentrations in groundwater (right). Within areas of high atrazine use, groundwater residence time, soil permeability, and other factors explain some of the differences in

Artesian Well (cropped), John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo, FL

Components of a simple water budget for part of a watershed, from Healy, R.W., Winter, T.C., LaBaugh, J.W., and Franke, O.L., 2007, Water budgets: Foundations for effective water-resources and environmental management: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1308.

 Example of a section of DSAS summary report highlighting the use of DSAS_group to organize output statistics.

Data visualization with (A) fixed and (B) scaled options applied. Examples of NSM and SCE are also displayed (C and D respectively). The data itself has not changed – only the scaling and statistic selected through the DSAS Data Visualization tool.

Displaying fixed bin options (left) for rates of change for an example dataset (LRR, EPR, WLR), and scaled to data (right) (NSM).

Three-dimensional model of Chimney Bluffs, New York along Lake Ontario created from low-altitude digital images collected from an unmanned aerial system (UAS).

3D Image of a multi-channel seismic (MCS) line showing gas (blue/green) migrating up through fractures in the subsurface, culminating in a 600 meter tall plume of methane gas in the water column that was captured using a Simrad EK60 split beam echo sounder.  Background bathymetry was downloaded from USGS Open-File Report 2012-1266 (

SEABed Observation and Sampling System (SEABOSS) (center image) and the MiniSEABOSS (right) designed for rapid, inexpensive, and effective collection of seabed imagery (photographs and video) as well sediment samples from the coastal/inner-continental shelf regions.  Images from coastal Massachusetts show purple algae-encrusted cobbles and boulders covered with sea-stars (

Image showing a collage of examples of multi-channel and single-channel seismic data collected by the USGS, seismic equipment deployed from a research vessel, and seismic equipment on a research vessel.  These data are critical to the CMG Program as they define the geology in marine and coastal environments.

USGS wildlife biologists holding a juvenile salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris). The species is listed as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Top row, left to right: Cordell Johnson (left) and Evan Dailey use the USGS R/V Fast Eddy to collect water samples. Cordell Johnson (left) and Jessie Lacy prepare to deploy a tripod holding instruments to measure water level, currents, and suspended sediment. USGS divers Jenny McKee (left) and Tim Elfers assemble the gear they will need to measure vegetation

Upstream Network Trace in StreamStats screenshot

Regulation in StreamStats screenshot

Screenshot of raindrop trace in StreamStats

PROSPER in StreamStats screenshot

StreamStats application screenshot

Front cover for the publication titled "Geochemistry and microbiology of groundwater and solids from extraction and monitoring wells and their relation to well efficiency at a Federally operated confined disposal facility, East Chicago, Indiana"

Surface water withdrawals in 2015

Groundwater withdrawals in 2015

Trends in total water withdrawals by water-use category, 1950–2015

Trends in population and freshwater withdrawals by source, 1950–2015

Total water use withdrawals in 2015

Aquaculture water use in 2015

Thermoelectric power water withdrawals for 2015

Livestock water withdrawals in 2015