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Hydrologists from the USGS Wyoming, Montana, and Missisippi Water Science Centers are demonstrating the feasibility and utility of including groundwater level and temperature data from shallow streambank piezometers with existing suites of real-time data collected and transmitted at active gaging stations.
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Research Ecologist Dan Fagre is the recipient of the 2017 Eugene M. Shoemaker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Communications
About 70 percent of wild prairie dogs successfully ingested baits containing an oral sylvatic plague vaccine, or SPV, that were distributed throughout their habitats, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
Western waters support some of the most intact aquatic ecosystems in North America, yet invasive species and emerging infectious diseases pose significant and immediate threats to these ecosystems.
Publications
Conceptual model to assess water use associated with the life cycle of unconventional oil and gas development
As the demand for energy increases in the United States, so does the demand for water used to produce many forms of that energy. Technological advances, limited access to conventional oil and gas accumulations, and the rise of oil and gas prices resulted in increased development of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) accumulations. Unconventional oil...
Valder, Joshua F.; McShane, Ryan R.; Barnhart, Theodore B.; Sando, Roy; Carter, Janet M.; Lundgren, Robert F.
Historical files from Federal Government mineral exploration-assistance programs, 1950 to 1974
The Defense Minerals Administration (DMA), Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA), and Office of Minerals Exploration (OME) mineral exploration programs were active over the period 1950–1974. Under these programs, the Federal Government contributed financial assistance in the exploration for certain strategic and critical minerals. The...
Frank, David G.
Preparation and characterization of "Libby Amphibole" toxicological testing material
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) began work in Libby, Mont. in 1999 when an Emergency Response Team was sent to investigate local concern and media reports regarding asbestos-contaminated vermiculite. Since that time, the site has been granted Superfund status and site remediation to a safe level of asbestos has been ongoing. The...
Lowers, Heather; Wilson, Stephen A.; Hoefen, Todd M.; Benzel, William M.; Meeker, Gregory P.
Grinnell Ridge, Gem & Salamander Glaciers 1910 - 2017
In 1910, Morton Elrod documented how Grinnell Glacier’s mass filled the basin and how the glacier was then joined with the ice apron we now call the Salamander (right). Close inspection of Gem Glacier (top-center) reveals a loss of thickness / volume over the past 107 years as well. To download images, select the Multimedia tab.
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network
The USGS monitors stream water quality in Wyoming and Montana in cooperation with State, County, local, and other Federal agencies. Water-quality data for these sites are available from the USGS National Water Information System Web Mapper application in the form of an interactive map.
StreamStats: a water-resources web application
StreamStats is a Web-based geographic information system application that provides users with access to basin and streamflow characteristics for gaged and ungaged streams.
Land Treatment Planning Tool
The Land Treatment Planning Tool provides a practical resource for managers who are planning restoration and rehabilitation actions on public lands. The tool generates a variety of spatial products while being user friendly for all levels of GIS expertise, even to those with little or no experience.
Clark Fork Water-Quality Monitoring
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has collected water-quality samples from selected stream sites upstream from Missoula since 1985. Sampling was initiated in response to elevated trace-element concentrations and the designation of areas in the upper Clark Fork basin by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as National Priorities List...
Hydrologic Characterization of Potential Sites for Restored and Constructed Wetlands, Montana
Projects conducted by the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) sometimes result in unavoidable impacts to wetlands and other aquatic habitats. To compensate for these impacts, MDT mitigates the loss of wetlands by providing replacement wetlands within the watershed.
Establishment of a baseline groundwater monitoring program in an area identified for energy development on the Blackfeet Reservation, Montana
As a result of energy development, the Blackfeet Environmental Office has developed a groundwater monitoring program specifically focused on the Cut Bank Creek watershed of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The addition of groundwater data to an existing surface-water monitoring program will help the Blackfeet Tribe develop a more complete understanding of the current conditions of their water...
Bird Banding Laboratory
The Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) is an integrated scientific program established in 1920 supporting the collection, archiving, management and dissemination of information from banded and marked birds in North America. This information is used to monitor the status and trends of resident and migratory bird populations. Because birds are good indicators of the health of the environment, the...
Delineation of brine contamination in and near the East Poplar oil field, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, northeastern Montana
Brine is a byproduct of crude oil production. Handling and disposal of brine during the last 50 years in the East Poplar oil field has resulted in contamination of not only the shallow Quaternary aquifers, but also the Poplar River. Previous investigations have documented and partially delineated the extent of brine contamination in the East Poplar oil field during the early 1990s...
Williston and Powder River Basins Groundwater Availability Study
The development of two nationally important energy-producing areas, the Williston structural basin (containing the Bakken Formation) and Powder River structural basin, provide a critical opportunity to study the water-energy nexus within a groundwater context. Large volumes of water are needed for energy development in these basins. The hydraulically connected aquifers in the...
Hydrologic Assessment with an Emphasis on Water Quality within the Lame Deer Creek Watershed, Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana
The Lame Deer Creek watershed of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeastern Montana encompasses about 82 square miles and is home to the community of Lame Deer. Local water resources within the Lame Deer Creek watershed include Lame Deer Creek and groundwater within unconsolidated sediments and bedrock aquifers. In 2017 the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Northern...
Smith River Watershed Investigations
The Smith River watershed is an important recreational and agricultural area in Meagher and Cascade counties in west-central Montana. Thousands of visitors travel to the area annually to float and fish the Smith River. Additionally, most of the water used to irrigate 36,000 acres of the upper Smith River watershed is withdrawn from the Smith River or its tributaries. During a...
Land Treatment Planning Tool
The Land Treatment Planning Tool is designed for resource managers to use when planning land treatments. The tool provides useful summaries of environmental characteristics of planned treatment areas and facilitates adaptive management practices by comparing those characteristics to other similar treatments within a specified distance or area of interest. Provisional Software.
Yellowstone River Basin Water-Quality Assessment data tables
Data collected in the Yellowstone River basin since 1998 are available from this link. Data from the Yellowstone River Basin NAWQA study unit and other study units that overlap into Wyoming, such as the Upper Snake River, the Great Salt Lake Basins, and the South Platte River study units, also are available from the NAWQA Data Warehouse.
Montana Crest-Stage Gage Network
The purpose of the crest-stage gage network is to inventory and monitor peak discharges throughout the state of Montana, with special emphasis on streams that may damage transportation infrastructure. Recorded data documenting peak streamflow at various sites within the state will be used by the Montana Department of Transportation to support assessments of culvert size, bridge construction, and
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network
Water-quality sampling sites in the upper Clark fork Basin, Montana
Mining in the upper Clark Fork Basin has resulted in substantial effects on water quality from large amounts of waste materials enriched with metallic contaminants. The U.S. Geological Survey has collected data since 1985 to document changes in water quality that might have resulted from remediation activities.
DroughtWatch - View drought conditions
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The USGS DroughtWatch website is a map-based resource from USGS WaterWatch that gives users hourly visual updates for drought conditions at over 3000 locations across the United States (Wyoming or Montana). Learn how to use FloodWatch.
Surface-water data for Montana
Real-time, daily, peak-flow, field measurements, and statistics of current and historical data that describe stream levels, streamflow (discharge), reservoir and lake levels, surface-water quality, and rainfall in Montana. Surface-water data are collected and stored as either discrete field-water-level measurements or as continuous time-series data from automated recorders.
Groundwater data for Montana
Data from wells in Montana; well location data includes information such as latitude and longitude, well depth, and aquifer. Groundwater level data are collected and stored as either discrete field-water-level measurements or as continuous time-series data from automated recorders.
Water-quality data for Montana
Chemical, physical, and biological properties of water, sediment, and tissue samples from Montana. Water-quality data are collected as either discrete field measurements or as continuous time-series data from automated recorders that continuously record physical and chemical characteristics including pH, specific conductance, temperature, and dissolved oxygen.
Bozeman wetland sites in Montana
Bozeman wetland sites in Montana
Johnson wetland sites in Montana
Johnson wetland sites in Montana
Kindsfater wetland sites in Montana
Kindsfater wetland sites in Montana
StreamStats is a Web-based geographic information system application that was created by the USGS to provide users with access to an assortment of analytical tools that are useful for water-resource planning and management.
The 3DEP products and services available through The National Map consist of standard digital elevation models (DEMs) at various horizontal resolutions, elevation source and associated datasets, an elevation point query service and bulk point query service. All 3DEP products are available, free of charge and without use restrictions.
Conceptual model to assess water use associated with the life cycle of unconventional oil and gas development
As the demand for energy increases in the United States, so does the demand for water used to produce many forms of that energy. Technological advances, limited access to conventional oil and gas accumulations, and the rise of oil and gas prices resulted in increased development of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) accumulations. Unconventional oil...
Valder, Joshua F.; McShane, Ryan R.; Barnhart, Theodore B.; Sando, Roy; Carter, Janet M.; Lundgren, Robert F. Historical files from Federal Government mineral exploration-assistance programs, 1950 to 1974
The Defense Minerals Administration (DMA), Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA), and Office of Minerals Exploration (OME) mineral exploration programs were active over the period 1950–1974. Under these programs, the Federal Government contributed financial assistance in the exploration for certain strategic and critical minerals. The...
Frank, David G. Preparation and characterization of "Libby Amphibole" toxicological testing material
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) began work in Libby, Mont. in 1999 when an Emergency Response Team was sent to investigate local concern and media reports regarding asbestos-contaminated vermiculite. Since that time, the site has been granted Superfund status and site remediation to a safe level of asbestos has been ongoing. The...
Lowers, Heather; Wilson, Stephen A.; Hoefen, Todd M.; Benzel, William M.; Meeker, Gregory P.
The dispersion of fibrous amphiboles by glacial processes in the area surrounding Libby, Montana, USA
Mining operations began at a world-class vermiculite deposit at Vermiculite Mountain near Libby, Montana, circa 1920 and ended in 1990. Fibrous and asbestiform amphiboles intergrown with vermiculite ore are suspected to be a causative factor in an abnormally high number of cases of respiratory diseases in former mine and mill workers, and in...
Langer, William H.; Van Gosen, Bradley S.; Meeker, Gregory P.; Adams, David T.; Hoefen, Todd M.
Examination of Libby, Montana, Fill Material for Background Levels of Amphibole from the Rainy Creek Complex Using Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis
Natural background levels of Libby-type amphibole in the sediment of the Libby valley in Montana have not, up to this point, been determined. The purpose of this report is to provide the preliminary findings of a study designed by both the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and performed by the U.S. Geological...
Adams, David T.; Langer, William H.; Hoefen, Todd M.; Van Gosen, Bradley S.; Meeker, Gregory P.
Particle Size Characterization of Water-Elutriated Libby Amphibole 2000 and RTI International Amosite
This report presents data on particle characterization analyzed by scanning electron microscopy on Libby amphibole collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2000 (LA2000) and amosite material collected by RTI International (RTI amosite). The particle characterization data were generated to support a portion of the Libby Action Plan. Prior to...
Lowers, Heather; Bern, Amy M. The composition and morphology of amphiboles from the Rainy Creek complex, near Libby, Montana
Thirty samples of amphibole-rich rock from the largest mined vermiculite deposit in the world in the Rainy Creek alkaline-ultramafic complex near Libby, Montana, were collected and analyzed. The amphibole-rich rock is the suspected cause of an abnormally high number of asbestos-related diseases reported in the residents of Libby, and in former...
Meeker, G.P.; Bern, A.M.; Brownfield, I.K.; Lowers, H.A.; Sutley, S.J.; Hoefen, T.M.; Vance, J.S.StreamStats is a Web application that incorporates a Geographic Information System (GIS) to provide users with access to an assortment of analytical tools that are useful for a variety of water-resources planning and management purposes, and for engineering and design purposes.
Canada Lynx
– Scientists at the USGS Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in
collaboration with The Rockefeller University’s Vertebrate Genome Laboratory,
New York, are releasing to a public repository at the vertebrate lab, for use by
geneticists, conservationists and other researchers around the world, the first-
...
Measuring streamflow on St.Regis River at St Regis
Measuring streamflow on St.Regis River at St Regis
Streamflow measurement on Flathead River at Flathead, B.C.
Streamflow measurement on Flathead River at Flathead, B.C.
USGS hydrographer on cableway, USGS 12304500, Yaak River near Troy, MT
USGS hydrologic technician Kevin Kirlin on the cableway over the Yaak River near Troy, Montana
Measuring flood flow at Milk River near Harlem, MT
Measuring flood flow at Milk River near Harlem, MT
Flooding Milk River nr Harlem streamgage, 06154100
Flooding Milk River nr Harlem streamgage, 06154100
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network site map
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network site map
Water-quality sampling sites in the upper Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Water-quality sampling sites in the upper Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network Sites in 2018
NWISMapper screenshot of Wyoming-Montana Stream Water-Quality Network Sites in 2018
Milk River at Havre at NWS flood stage
Milk River at Havre at NWS flood stage
PubTalk 3/2018 - Snow & Avalanche Science
Title: Snow and Avalanche Science - Highlights of applied avalanche research and forecasting
- Avalanches impact transportation corridors, with subsequent economic ramifications, including the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
- Large magnitude avalanches affect the landscape creating new habitat for flora and fauna.
- Dendrochronology (study of tree-rings ...
Flow over road on way to Teton Riv nr Dutton streamgage
Flow over road on way to Teton Riv nr Dutton streamgage
Research Ecologist Dan Fagre is the recipient of the 2017 Eugene M. Shoemaker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Communications
About 70 percent of wild prairie dogs successfully ingested baits containing an oral sylvatic plague vaccine, or SPV, that were distributed throughout their habitats, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
Western waters support some of the most intact aquatic ecosystems in North America, yet invasive species and emerging infectious diseases pose significant and immediate threats to these ecosystems.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of energy to the American economy. Managing this vital sector depends on knowing how many energy resources we have, how many we use and need, and how these resources are transported
Resource managers, regulators, and stakeholders of Montana and British Columbia’s Lake Koocanusa now have a new approach for understanding the implications of different levels of selenium, and to explore alternative selenium criteria for waters in the Lake.
A growing number of wildfire-burned areas throughout the western United States are expected to increase soil erosion rates within watersheds, causing more sediment to be present in downstream rivers and reservoirs, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
A carbonatite here, a glacial moraine there, a zig-zagging fault or two, even a behemoth of a batholith. The geology of the 50 States is an enormous patchwork of varied forms, beautiful in their variance but challenging to present as a single map.
The USGS has up-to-date details on the July 6, 2017 event.
From the journals of Lewis & Clark, April 13, 1805 (in the vicinity of Pouch Point Recreation Area - 16 miles south of New Town, North Dakota):
Reporters: If interested in being notified when the study date is chosen, please contact Jennifer or Susannah.
The U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management today released a collaborative report with new information and tools to support effective management of millions of acres of BLM public lands. The report underscores the value of a landscape approach to management, and shows that the BLM manages some of the largest areas of intact public lands in the west.
Former Montana Water Quality Administrator Begins Work in Boise
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Locations
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Helena Office
Phone: (406) 457-5900
Fax: (406) 457-5990
NOROCK Headquarters
Phone: 406-994-7544
Fax: 406-994-6556
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Billings Office
Phone: 406-656-1444
