Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey's Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and a generalized water-balance model were calibrated and verified for use in estimating future availability of water in the Fena Valley Reservoir in response to various combinations of water withdrawal rates and rainfall conditions. Application of PRMS provides a physically based method for estimating runoff from...

Storm runoff water-quality samples were collected as part of the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation Stormwater Monitoring Program. This program is designed to assess the effects of highway runoff and urban runoff on Halawa Stream. For this program, rainfall data were collected at two stations, continuous streamflow data at two stations, and water-quality data at five stations...

The Maalo Road, Aahoaka Hill, and Upper Eleele Tank monitor wells were constructed using rotary drilling methods between July 1998 and August 2002 as part of a program of exploratory drilling, aquifer testing, and hydrologic analysis on Kauai. Aquifer tests were conducted in the uncased boreholes of the wells. The Maalo Road monitor well in the Lihue Basin penetrated 915 feet, mostly...

Analysis of existing data and information collected on a reconnaissance field visit supports a conceptual model of ground-water occurrence in Ta'u, American Samoa, in which a thin freshwater lens exists in a predominantly high-permeability aquifer that receives high rates of recharge. Because the freshwater lens is thin throughout most of the island, the productivity of wells, especially...

Flow-duration statistics under natural (undiverted) and diverted flow conditions were estimated for gaged and ungaged sites on 21 streams in northeast Maui, Hawaii. The estimates were made using the optimal combination of continuous-record gaging-station data, low-flow measurements, and values determined from regression equations developed as part of this study. Estimated 50- and 95...

No abstract available.

Selected water-quality data collected before, during, and after construction of the H-3 Highway at 13 water-quality stations were compared to the State of Hawaii Department of Health water-quality standards to determine the effects of highway construction on the water quality of the affected streams. Highway construction had no effect on the high concentrations of total nitrogen and...

Rota is the southernmost of the 14 small islands that make up the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Reduced springflow at Matan Hanom and As Onan springs occurred during a drought associated with the 1997-98 El Nino. Water from the two developed springs constituted the only municipal water source for the island at that time. In April 1998, reduced water supplies forced the...

Introduced avian pox virus and malaria have had devastating impacts on native Hawaiian forest birds, yet little has been published about their prevalence and distribution in forest bird communities outside of windward Hawaii Island. We surveyed native and non-native forest birds for these two diseases at three different elevations on leeward Mauna Loa Volcano at the Kona Forest Unit of...

Lower than average rainfall during late 1997 and early 1998 in Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, caused a drought and severe drinking-water shortage. Majuro depends on a public rainfall catchment system, which uses an airport runway and storage reservoirs. The storage reservoirs can supply water for about 30 to 50 days without replenishment. In February 1998, after a few...

Outside of the humid tropics, abiotic factors are generally considered the dominant regulators of decomposition, and biotic influences are frequently not considered in predicting decomposition rates. In this study, I examined the effect of termite assemblage composition and abundance on decomposition of wood litter of an indigenous species (Croton megalobotrys) in five terrestrial...

Data from nine widely distributed climate stations were used to assess the distribution of potential evapotranspiration on the tropical South Pacific island of Tutuila, American Samoa. Seasonal patterns of climate data in this study differed in detail from available long-term data because the monitoring period of each station in this study was only 1 to 5 years, but overall climate...