Reports

Changes in population, agricultural development practices (including shifts to more water-intensive crops), and climate variability are placing increasingly larger demands on available water resources, particularly groundwater, in the Cuyama Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in Santa Barbara County. The goal of this study was to produce a model capable of being...

Water resources are under pressure throughout California, particularly in agriculturally dominated valleys. Since 1949, the Cuyama Valley’s irrigated acreage has increased from 13 to 35 percent of the valley. Increased agriculture has contributed to the demand for water beyond natural recharge. The tools and information developed for this study can be used to help understand the Cuyama...

Strategic Needs of Water on the Yukon (SNOWY) is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF; http://www.nsf.gov/). The SNOWY team is made up of a diverse group of researchers from different backgrounds and organizations. This partnership between scientists from different disciplines (hydrology, geography, and social science), government agencies...

Water samples were collected from 20 production and domestic wells in the Upper Hudson River Basin (north of the Federal Dam at Troy, New York) in New York in August 2012 to characterize groundwater quality in the basin. The samples were collected and processed using standard U.S. Geological Survey procedures and were analyzed for 148 physiochemical properties and constituents, including...

Puerto Rico is located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea (18.2 °N, 66.3 °W), with the Atlantic Ocean on its northern coast. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program study area in which most of these data were collected comprises the El Yunque National Forest and surrounding area of eastern Puerto Rico. Samples were collected in two forested...

Thermal springs in Black Canyon of the Colorado River, downstream of Hoover Dam, are important recreational, ecological, and scenic features of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. This report presents the results from a U.S. Geological Survey study of the geologic framework of the springs. The study was conducted in cooperation with the National Park Service and funded by both the...

Thermal springs in Black Canyon of the Colorado River, downstream of Hoover Dam, are important recreational, ecological, and scenic features of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. This report presents the results from a U.S. Geological Survey study of the geologic framework of the springs. The study was conducted in cooperation with the National Park Service and funded by both the...

Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Arkansas, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, infrastructure and construction management, forest...

As part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research Project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted nearshore geophysical surveys off the northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, in July and August of 2012. The objective of the study is to better understand barrier island geomorphic evolution, particularly storm-related...

Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, elevation data are critical for flood risk management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management...

Water-quality conditions were studied in selected tributaries of the lower Boise River during water years 2009–12, including Fivemile and Tenmile Creeks in 2009, Indian Creek in 2010, and Mason Creek in 2011 and 2012. Biological samples, including periphyton biomass and chlorophyll-a, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish were collected in Mason Creek in October 2011. Synoptic water...

A geophysical survey to delineate the fresh-saline groundwater interface and associated sub-bottom sedimentary structures beneath Indian River Bay, Delaware, was carried out in April 2010. This included surveying at higher spatial resolution in the vicinity of a study site at Holts Landing, where intensive onshore and offshore studies were subsequently completed. The total length of...