Amanda Flynn
Biography
Amanda has worked with the US Geological Survey Nebraska Water Science Center since 2005, starting as a student intern before becoming a physical scientist with the Survey in 2007. She has been involved in many aspects of the groundwater program within the Center, working on groundwater quality data collection and analysis and groundwater flow modeling. She also has assisted with geophysical studies and groundwater level monitoring. She also assists with USGS database activities, focusing on groundwater records. She is currently project chief of four projects with local cooperators in Nebraska: two groundwater quality sampling projects and two groundwater flow models. She is developing additional projects focusing on groundwater quality monitoring across Nebraska, and hopes to integrate these projects with three dimensional models to help visualize areas of groundwater quality concern.
Science and Products
Elkhorn-Loup Model
In the Elkhorn River and Loup River Basins, Natural Resources Districts (Upper Elkhorn, Lower Elkhorn, Upper Loup, Lower Loup, Middle Niobrara, Lower Niobrara, Lewis and Clark, and Lower Platte North) are collecting data and developing tools to assist with water resource planning. Critical planning issues in the Elkhorn River and Loup River basins are focused on the availability of the...
Groundwater Quality and Age of Secondary Bedrock Aquifers, Eastern Nebraska
In eastern Nebraska, secondary aquifer systems are increasingly being considered to supplement growing municipal, domestic, and agricultural water demands. Within the Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment (ENWRA) area, airborne geophysical surveys have mapped the thickness and extent of these aquifers over much of eastern Nebraska; however little is known about the age and quality of...
Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District Groundwater Quality Monitoring
The USGS Nebraska Water Science Center has been collecting groundwater quality samples in cooperation with the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (NRD) since 1992 in support of the NRD's groundwater management plan. The basic geochemistry and age of the groundwater was established. Well waters are sampled yearly throughout the NRD to monitor the resource and assess concentrations...
Sand Hills and Dissected Plains Water Budgets
A detailed annual water budget is invaluable for effective interrelated water management, particularly in river valleys where streamflow and crop demands are key components of the budget. Extraction of groundwater or diversion of surface water can affect flow to streams, wetlands, and other surface-water bodies. We are providing new insights into the water budget by estimating quantities of...
Groundwater-Quality Monitoring near Ashland, Nebraska
Since 1991, the USGS Nebraska Water Science Center has collected water samples from six monitoring wells in the Platte River alluvial aquifer near Ashland. Analytes include major and trace metals, nutrients, dissolved organic carbon, pesticides and their degradates, and arsenic species. The samples are analyzed by the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory. The USGS also collects additional...
Groundwater quality and age of secondary bedrock aquifers in the glaciated portion of eastern Nebraska, 2016–18
The Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment (ENWRA) project was initiated in 2006 to assist water managers by developing a hydrogeologic framework and water budget for the glaciated portion of eastern Nebraska. Within the ENWRA area, the primary groundwater sources for municipal, domestic, and irrigation water needs are provided by withdrawals...
Hobza, Christopher M.; Flynn, Amanda T.
Simulation of groundwater flow, 1895–2010, and effects of additional groundwater withdrawals on future stream base flow in the Elkhorn and Loup River Basins, central Nebraska—Phase three
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Lewis and Clark, Lower Elkhorn, Lower Loup, Lower Platte North, Lower Niobrara, Middle Niobrara, Upper Elkhorn, and the Upper Loup Natural Resources Districts, designed a study to refine the spatial and temporal discretization of a previously modeled area. This updated study focused on a 30,...
Flynn, Amanda T.; Stanton, Jennifer S.
Groundwater-flow model of the northern High Plains aquifer in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming
The High Plains aquifer is a nationally important water resource underlying about 175,000 square miles in parts of eight states: Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Droughts across much of the Northern High Plains from 2001 to 2007 have combined with recent (2004) legislative mandates to elevate...
Peterson, Steven M.; Flynn, Amanda T.; Traylor, Jonathan P.
Simulation of groundwater flow and analysis of the effects of water-management options in the North Platte Natural Resources District, Nebraska
The North Platte Natural Resources District (NPNRD) has been actively collecting data and studying groundwater resources because of concerns about the future availability of the highly inter-connected surface-water and groundwater resources. This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Platte Natural Resources...
Peterson, Steven M.; Flynn, Amanda T.; Vrabel, Joseph; Ryter, Derek W.
Geodatabase compilation of hydrogeologic, remote sensing, and water-budget-component data for the High Plains aquifer, 2011
The High Plains aquifer underlies almost 112 million acres in the central United States. It is one of the largest aquifers in the Nation in terms of annual groundwater withdrawals and provides drinking water for 2.3 million people. The High Plains aquifer has gained national and international attention as a highly stressed groundwater supply...
Houston, Natalie A.; Gonzales-Bradford, Sophia L.; Flynn, Amanda T.; Qi, Sharon L.; Peterson, Steven M.; Stanton, Jennifer S.; Ryter, Derek W.; Sohl, Terry L.; Senay, Gabriel B.
Altitude, age, and quality of groundwater, Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District, eastern Nebraska, 1992 to 2009
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (PMRNRD), conducted this study to map the water-level altitude of 2009 within the Elkhorn River Valley, Missouri River Valley, and Platte River Valley alluvial aquifers; to present the predevelopment potentiometric-surface altitude within the Dakota...
McGuire, Virginia L.; Ryter, Derek W.; Flynn, Amanda S.
Simulation of Ground-Water Flow and Effects of Ground-Water Irrigation on Base Flow in the Elkhorn and Loup River Basins, Nebraska
Irrigated agriculture is vital to the livelihood of communities in the Elkhorn and Loup River Basins in Nebraska, and ground water is used to irrigate most of the cropland. Concerns about the sustainability of ground-water and surface-water resources have prompted State and regional agencies to evaluate the cumulative effects of ground-water...
Peterson, Steven M.; Stanton, Jennifer S.; Saunders, Amanda T.; Bradley, Jesse R.