Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Reports

Science Quality and Integrity

The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.

Learn More

Browse more than 82,000 reports authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.

Filter Total Items: 84720

Climate change and future water availability in the United States Climate change and future water availability in the United States

The steady rise in global temperature as a result of human activity is causing changes in Earth’s water cycle. The balance of water stored within and moving between vapor, liquid, and frozen states in the water cycle is shifting, with consequences for water availability that include increases in drought, fire weather, flooding, and heavy precipitation, as well as cryosphere decline and...
Authors
Martha A. Scholl, Gregory J. McCabe, Carolyn G. Olson, Kathryn Powlen
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Drought

Water use across the conterminous United States, water years 2010–20 Water use across the conterminous United States, water years 2010–20

Withdrawals of water for human use are fundamental to the evaluation of the Nation’s water availability. This chapter provides an analysis of public supply, crop irrigation, and thermoelectric power water use for the conterminous United States (CONUS) during water years 2010–20. These three categories account for about 90 percent of water withdrawals in the Nation. The values presented...
Authors
Laura Medalie, Amy E. Galanter, Anthony J. Martinez, Althea A. Archer, Carol L. Luukkonen, Melissa A. Harris, Jonathan V. Haynes
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Integrated Water Availability Assessments

Status of water-quality conditions in the United States, 2010–20 Status of water-quality conditions in the United States, 2010–20

Degradation of water quality can make water harmful or unusable for humans and ecosystems. Although many studies have assessed the effect of individual constituents or narrow suites of constituents on freshwater systems, no consistent, comprehensive assessment exists over the wide range of water-quality effects on water availability. Using published studies, data, and models completed at...
Authors
Melinda L. Erickson, Olivia L. Miller, Matthew J. Cashman, James R. Degnan, James E. Reddy, Anthony J. Martinez, Elmera Azadpour
By
New England Water Science Center, Integrated Water Availability Assessments

Water supply in the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, water years 2010–20 Water supply in the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, water years 2010–20

We present an assessment of water supply across the conterminous United States (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico covering water years 2010–20. Our analysis drew on two national hydrologic models, the National Hydrologic Model Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System and the Weather Research and Forecasting model hydrologic modeling system. Both models produced estimates of streamflow
Authors
Galen Gorski, Edward G. Stets, Martha A. Scholl, James R. Degnan, John R. Mullaney, Amy E. Galanter, Anthony J. Martinez, Julie Padilla, Jacob H. LaFontaine, Hayley R. Corson-Dosch, Allen Shapiro
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center, Integrated Water Availability Assessments

The National integrated water availability assessment, water years 2010–20 The National integrated water availability assessment, water years 2010–20

Water availability is fundamentally important to human well-being, economic vitality, and ecosystem health. Because of its central importance, the U.S. Congress tasked the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other Federal agencies with conducting regular, comprehensive assessments of water availability in the United States through the requirements under the SECURE Water Act. In response to...
Authors
Edward G. Stets, Althea A. Archer, James R. Degnan, Melinda L. Erickson, Galen Gorski, Laura Medalie, Martha A. Scholl
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center, Integrated Water Availability Assessments

U.S. Geological Survey Integrated Water Availability Assessment—2010–20 U.S. Geological Survey Integrated Water Availability Assessment—2010–20

This professional paper is a multichapter report that assesses water availability in the United States for water years 2010–20. This work was conducted as part of the fulfillment of the mandates of Subtitle F of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-11), also known as the SECURE Water Act. As such, this work examines the spatial and temporal distribution of water...
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Integrated Water Availability Assessments
Was this page helpful?