Reports

This report details population and habitat monitoring results as required for post-delisting monitoring under the US Endangered Species Act.

This Special Report (SR) outlines preliminary work conducted under the Aquatic Plant Control Research Program (APCRP) to investigate genetic and morphological differences of Trapa taxa (water chestnut) in the Northeastern (NE) US. Comparisons of morphological characteristics and genetics were made between Trapa populations from the native region of Eurasia and Africa versus the NE US.

The Natural Resource Condition Assessment (NRCA) Program aims to provide documentation about the current conditions of important Park natural resources through a spatially explicit, multidisciplinary synthesis of existing scientific data and knowledge. Findings from the NRCA will help Channel Islands National Park (CINP) managers to develop near-term management priorities. The central...

In 2009, the Federal Highway Administration published Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 23 (HEC-23) to provide specific design and implementation guidelines for bridge scour and stream instability countermeasures. However, the effectiveness of countermeasures implemented over the past decade following those guidelines has not been evaluated. Therefore, in 2013, the U.S. Geological...

The United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) Planetary Geologic Map Coordination Group (Flagstaff, Ariz.) surveyed planetary geoscience map makers and users to determine the importance, relevance, and usability of such products to their planetary science research and to current and future needs of the planetary science community. This survey was prepared because the planetary science...

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...