Donald Rosenberry is a Research Hydrologist for the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.
Don is a research hydrologist with the Earth Surface Processes Division specializing in wetland hydrology, water budgets of lakes and wetlands, and hyporheic processes. Research is focused at the sediment-water interface with an emphasis on understanding processes that control exchanges between groundwater and surface water. Don also is the coordinator of the Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystem Project where scientists from USGS and academia work together to study physical, chemical, and biological processes of lakes, wetlands, and streams at a small-watershed scale. Don's interests in groundwater, surface water, and the dynamic sediment-water interface stem from his formative years at Bemidji State University (next to Lake Bemidji), the University of Minnesota (on the banks of the Mississippi River), and the University of Colorado (through which Boulder Creek flows).
Education
- University of Colorado, Boulder. Geography/Geomorphology, Ph.D. 2007
- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Hydrogeology, M.S. 1985
- Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN. Geology/Geography, B.S. 1981
Employment
- 2007-present: USGS, Lead Scientist, Hydrogeology of lakes, wetlands, and streams
- 1985-2007: USGS, Staff research hydrologist, Hydrology of lakes and wetlands
- 1982-1985: USGS, Hydrologic technician
- 1981-1982: Continental Laboratories, Hydrocarbon well analyst, Billings, MT
Current Research Topics
- Ground-water surface-water exchange in hyporheic settings (CA, CO, MA, MN, PA)
- Significance of ground-water discharge to nutrient loading (MN, WA)
- Significance of ground water to water supply (CA, MN, NM)
- Relating geophysics and seepage along shoreline margins (NH, WA)
- Decadal-scale hydrology of lakes and wetlands (MT, ND, MN, NH)
Professional and Society Activity
- American Geophysical Union
- Geological Society of America
- Society of Wetland Scientists
- Minnesota Ground Water Association
Current Editorships
Editorial Board, Hydrological Processes (2014-present)
Awards, Recognitions
- Keynote Address, Minnesota Ground Water Association annual conference (2003, 2009)
- Keynote Address, Canadian Geophysical Union annual conference (2005)
- Elected Fellow of Geological Society of America (2008)
- Keynote Address, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality 21st Annual Water Quality Workshop, February 2011
- Keynote Address, Alabama Department of Environmental Management 12th Annual Groundwater Conference, June 2012
- Moos Family lecturer, Freshwater Society, June 2013
- Meinzer Award, Geological Society of America Hydrogeology Division (2017)
Science and Products
Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP)
North American Analysis and Synthesis on the Connectivity of "Geographically Isolated Wetlands" to Downstream Waters
Webb and Rosenberry, 2020, MODFLOW 2005 and MODPATH 5 model data sets used to evaluate seepage-meter efficiency in high-permeability settings
QUASHNET SPAWN HESS CHEMICAL DATA
Measurement of seepage at Newtown Creek, NY, May-June 2015
Seepage meter efficiency in highly permeable settings source data (2020)
Long-term hydrological and biological data from Williams and Shingobee Lakes, north-central Minnesota
Cottonwood Lake Study Area - Groundwater Elevations
Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021
Advances in the study and understanding of groundwater discharge to surface water
GW/SW-MST: A groundwater/surface-water method selection tool
Vulnerable waters are essential to watershed resilience
Review of “Lake hydrology: An introduction to lake mass balance”
Review: “Jacob’s Zoo”— How using Jacob’s method for aquifer testing leads to more intuitive understanding of aquifer characteristics
Variable seepage meter efficiency in high-permeability settings
Groundwater and surface water: What, they’re actually connected?
Prioritizing river basins for intensive monitoring and assessment by the US Geological Survey
History and evolution of seepage meters for quantifying flow between groundwater and surface water: Part 1 – Freshwater settings
Science and Products
- Science
Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP)
For 43 years, the Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP) brought together scientists from the USGS along with students and professors from universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and California to study the physical, chemical, and biological processes of lakes, wetlands, and streams at local and watershed scales. In early 2022, The University of Minnesota and Bemidji...North American Analysis and Synthesis on the Connectivity of "Geographically Isolated Wetlands" to Downstream Waters
Geographically Isolated Wetlands (GIWs) occur along gradients of hydrologic and ecological connectivity and isolation, even within wetland types (e.g., forested, emergent marshes) and functional classes (e.g., ephemeral systems, permanent systems, etc.). Within a given watershed, the relative positions of wetlands and open-waters along these gradients influence the type and magnitude of their che - Data
Webb and Rosenberry, 2020, MODFLOW 2005 and MODPATH 5 model data sets used to evaluate seepage-meter efficiency in high-permeability settings
A three-dimensional finite-difference model, MODFLOW-2005 (version 1.12.00), was developed to better understand how Seepage Meter efficiency changes when installed in sediments with wide range of conductivities. The hypothesis is that coarser sediments will allow a greater portion of upward-flow to flow around the meter instead of through it. The hypothetical model simulates upward flow through unQUASHNET SPAWN HESS CHEMICAL DATA
This data set includes dissolved oxygen (DO) and specific conductivity (SpC) data collected in both the surface water and shallow streambed at the Quashnet River, Mashpee, USA from 2014-16. This data was collected to better understand groundwater discharge to the river and associated brook trout habitat. DO was typically near saturation in surface water and some groundwater, but is reduced in streMeasurement of seepage at Newtown Creek, NY, May-June 2015
Rates of flow across the sediment-water interface (seepage), measured every 5 seconds with an automated seepage meter and summarized every minute with a digital datalogger, are presented for 17 measurement locations at Newtown Creek, NY. Final values are presented in cm/day. An electromagnetic seepage meter, custom made for USGS by Quantum Engineering, was capable of measuring seepage averaged eacSeepage meter efficiency in highly permeable settings source data (2020)
Efficiency of seepage meters, long considered a fixed property associated with the meter design, is not constant in highly permeable sediments. Instead, results from this study indicate that efficiency varies substantially with seepage-bag fullness, duration of bag attachment, depth of meter insertion into the sediments, and seepage velocity. Efficiency also varies substantially in response to varLong-term hydrological and biological data from Williams and Shingobee Lakes, north-central Minnesota
The Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystem Project is a long-term, multi-disciplinary monitoring and research study of a 28-square-kilometer headwaters watershed in north-central Minnesota that began in 1978. Emphasis is on processes related to hydrology, limnology, geochemistry, and watershed ecology and the land-water and atmosphere-water interfaces. Lakes are a substantial focus and integratorCottonwood Lake Study Area - Groundwater Elevations
Elevation (masl) of groundwater as measured from wells at the USGS Cottonwood Lake Study Area in North Dakota, 1978-2017. - Publications
Filter Total Items: 128
Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021
Depressional wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America have a long history of investigation owing to their importance in maintaining migratory-bird populations, especially waterfowl. One area of particularly intensive study is the Cottonwood Lake study area in Stutsman County, North Dakota. Studies at the Cottonwood Lake study area began in 1967 and continue through the present (2022Advances in the study and understanding of groundwater discharge to surface water
Groundwater discharge is vitally important for maintaining or restoring valuable ecosystems in surface water and at the underlying groundwater-surface-water ecotone. Detecting and quantifying groundwater discharge is challenging because rates of flow can be very small and difficult to measure, exchange is commonly highly heterogeneous both in space and time, and surface-water hydrodynamics can infGW/SW-MST: A groundwater/surface-water method selection tool
Groundwater/surface-water (GW/SW) exchange and hyporheic processes are topics receiving increasing attention from the hydrologic community. Hydraulic, chemical, temperature, geophysical, and remote sensing methods are used to achieve various goals (e.g., inference of GW/SW exchange, mapping of bed materials, etc.), but the application of these methods is constrained by site conditions such as wateVulnerable waters are essential to watershed resilience
Watershed resilience is the ability of a watershed to maintain its characteristic system state while concurrently resisting, adapting to, and reorganizing after hydrological (for example, drought, flooding) or biogeochemical (for example, excessive nutrient) disturbances. Vulnerable waters include non-floodplain wetlands and headwater streams, abundant watershed components representing the most diReview of “Lake hydrology: An introduction to lake mass balance”
No abstract available.Review: “Jacob’s Zoo”— How using Jacob’s method for aquifer testing leads to more intuitive understanding of aquifer characteristics
The interpretation of aquifer responses to pumping tests is an important tool for assessing aquifer geometry and properties, which are critical in the assessment of water resources or in environmental remediation. However, the responses of aquifers, measured by time-drawdown relationships in monitoring wells, are nonunique solutions that are affected by many factors. Jacob’s Zoo is a collection ofVariable seepage meter efficiency in high-permeability settings
The efficiency of seepage meters, long considered a fixed property associated with the meter design, is not constant in highly permeable sediments. Instead, efficiency varies substantially with seepage bag fullness, duration of bag attachment, depth of meter insertion into the sediments, and seepage velocity. Tests conducted in a seepage test tank filled with isotropic sand with a hydraulic conducGroundwater and surface water: What, they’re actually connected?
No abstract available.Prioritizing river basins for intensive monitoring and assessment by the US Geological Survey
The US Geological Survey (USGS) is currently (2020) integrating its water science programs to better address the nation’s greatest water resource challenges now and into the future. This integration will rely, in part, on data from 10 or more intensively monitored river basins from across the USA. A team of USGS scientists was convened to develop a systematic, quantitative approach to prioritize cHistory and evolution of seepage meters for quantifying flow between groundwater and surface water: Part 1 – Freshwater settings
More than 75 years after its introduction, the seepage meter remains the only device for directly quantifying exchange across the sediment-water interface between groundwater and surface water. This device, first presented in the literature in the 1940s, has been in a state of near-constant improvement and design change, necessitating a review of the history and evolution of the device and a desc