Reports

Elevated Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations at the Maumee Bay State Park (MBSP) Lake Erie beach have resulted in frequent recreational water-quality advisories. After the construction of a wetland along Berger Ditch in Maumee Bay State Park, Oregon, Ohio, samples were collected and analyzed for concentrations of E. coli and microbial source tracking (MST) markers. This study was...

Nutrient inputs from commercial agricultural fertilizer, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, are important factors contributing to the degradation of surface-water quality and the alteration of aquatic ecosystems. Despite this importance, information about the application of fertilizer to agricultural land is not available in a consistent manner across the United States at a scale...

A series of interpretive maps that describe the shallow geology, distribution, and texture of sea-floor sediments, and physiographic zones of the sea floor along the south and west shores of Martha’s Vineyard and the north shore of Nantucket, Massachusetts, were produced by using high-resolution geophysical data (interferometric and multibeam swath bathymetry, light detection and ranging...

The Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI; formerly known as 3DEEP) is planned as a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Association of American State Geologists (AASG), and other Federal, State, and private-sector organizations. The goal of the effort is to improve our knowledge of the geologic framework in the United States and to identify areas that have...

Cache Creek drains part of northern California’s Coast Ranges and is an important source of mercury (Hg) to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. Cache Creek is contaminated with Hg from several sources, including historical Hg and gold mines, native Hg in the soils, and active mineral springs. In laboratory experiments in a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with...

The potential for damaging earthquakes, landslides, floods, tsunamis, and wildfires is widely recognized in California. The same cannot be said for volcanic eruptions, despite the fact that they occur in the state about as frequently as the largest earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault. At least ten eruptions have taken place in the past 1,000 years, and future volcanic eruptions are...

In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Pikes Peak Regional Water Authority and the Colorado Water Conservation Board, began a study to modernize a Fortran transit-loss accounting program developed by the U.S. Geological Survey to estimate net reusable flows in Fountain and Monument Creeks in El Paso and Pueblo Counties, Colorado. More than 6,000 lines of this FORTRAN77...

A 2.5-year data collection program was undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), to quantify and estimate base flow in small watersheds in western Pennsylvania where only periodic streamflow measurements had been obtained. Twelve streamgages with watershed areas of less than 10 square miles were...

Executive Summary We surveyed for Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus; vireo) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along Big Tujunga Creek in the Hansen Dam Basin in Los Angeles County, California, in 2018. Four vireo surveys were conducted between April 25 and July 17, 2018, and three...

For the past 36 years, Bulletin 17B, published by the Interagency Committee on Water Data in 1982, has guided flood-frequency analyses in the United States. During this period, much has been learned about both hydrology and statistical methods. In keeping with the tradition of periodically updating the Bulletin 17B guidelines in light of advances in our understanding and methods, the...

Insect pollinators are critically important for maintaining U.S. food production and ecosystem health. The upper Midwest is home to more than 40 percent of all U.S. honey bee colonies and is considered by many beekeepers to be America’s last beekeeping refuge. Beekeepers come to this region because their honey bees require high-quality grassland and bee-friendly agricultural crops to...

A field study was conducted to estimate survival of fry-sized juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in Lookout Point Reservoir, western Oregon, during 2017. The field study consisted of releasing three groups of genetically marked fish in the reservoir and monthly fish sampling. Fish were released during April 18–19 (43,950 fish), May 30–June 2 (44,145 fish), and on June 28...