Jeffrey Chaplin
Jeff is the Pennsylvania Water Science Center Groundwater and Water Availability Section Chief, New Cumberland.
Biography
Education:
M.S. in Water Resources Management, University of Wisconsin, 1998
B.S in Plant Biology, Ohio University, 1995
Professional Experience:
Jeff started with USGS as a student in Wisconsin and moved to PaWSC in 1999 where he has participated in a variety of water-resources studies on topics including abandoned mine drainage, wetlands, dam removal, and channel morphology. Recent projects include monitoring stream water chemistry in selected areas of the Marcellus Shale Play, and investigating water-quality factors related to smallmouth bass population declines in the Susquehanna River.
Science and Products
Groundwater Quality of Domestic Supply Wells in Pennsylvania
Most rural residents in Pennsylvania use groundwater from domestic supply wells for drinking, cleaning and other purposes. Some groundwater samples have been analyzed for private purposes, but those results generally are not readily available to the public. Many of the publicly available water-quality samples from rural areas were collected more than 30 years ago. Quality-assured groundwater...
Effects of legacy sediment removal and effects on nutrients and sediment in Big Spring Run, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 2009–15
Big Spring Run is a 1.68-square mile watershed underlain by mostly carbonate rock in a mixed land-use setting (part agricultural and part developed) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Big Spring Run is a subwatershed of Mill Creek, a tributary to the Conestoga River. These watersheds are known contributors of nutrient and sediment loads to the...
Langland, Michael J.; Duris, Joseph W.; Zimmerman, Tammy M.; Chaplin, Jeffrey J.Comparison of regression relations of bankfull discharge and channel geometry for the glaciated and nonglaciated settings of Pennsylvania and southern New York
Streambank erosion in areas of past glacial deposition has been shown to be a dominant source of sediment to streams. Water resource managers are faced with the challenge of developing long and short term (emergency) stream restoration efforts that rely on the most suitable channel geometry for project design. A geomorphic dataset of new (2016, n=...
Clune, John W.; Chaplin, Jeffrey J.; White, Kirk E.Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of selected headwater streams along the Allegheny Front, Blair County, Pennsylvania, July 2011–September 2013
The Altoona Water Authority (AWA) obtains all of its water supply from headwater streams that drain western Blair County, an area underlain in part by black shale of the Marcellus Formation. Development of the shale-gas reservoirs will require new access roads, stream crossing, drill-pad construction, and pipeline installation, activities that...
Low, Dennis J.; Brightbill, Robin A.; Eggleston, Heather L.; Chaplin, Jeffrey J.Streamflow and water-quality monitoring in response to young-of-year smallmouth bass (micropterus dolomieu) mortality in the Susquehanna River and major tributaries, with comparisons to the Delaware and Allegheny Rivers, Pennsylvania, 2008-10
Since 2005, spring hatched young-of-year (YOY) smallmouth bass in Pennsylvania reaches of the Susquehanna River have experienced above-normal mortality when summertime streamflows are near or lower than normal. Stress factors include, but are not limited to, low dissolved oxygen and elevated water temperatures during times critical for survival...
Chaplin, Jeffrey J.; Crawford, J. KentWater-Quality Monitoring in Response to Young-of-the-Year Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) Mortality in the Susquehanna River and Major Tributaries, Pennsylvania: 2008
Mortalities of young-of-the-year (YOY) smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) recently have occurred in the Susquehanna River due to Flavobacterium columnare, a bacterium that typically infects stressed fish. Stress factors include but are not limited to elevated water temperature and low dissolved oxygen during times critical for survival and...
Chaplin, Jeffrey J.; Crawford, J. Kent; Brightbill, Robin A.Physical and Vegetative Characteristics of a Newly Constructed Wetland and Modified Stream Reach, Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 2000-2006
To compensate for authorized disturbance of naturally occurring wetlands and streams during roadway improvements to U.S. Highway 202 in Chester and Montgomery Counties, Pa., the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) constructed 0.42 acre of emergent wetland and 0.94 acre of scrub-shrub/forested wetland and modified sections of a 1,...
Chaplin, Jeffrey J.; White, Kirk E.; Olson, Leif E.Bankfull Regional Curves for Streams in the Non-Urban, Non-Tidal Coastal Plain Physiographic Province, Virginia and Maryland
Natural-channel design involves constructing a stream channel with the dimensions, slope, and plan-view pattern that would be expected to transport water and sediment and yet maintain habitat and aesthetics consistent with unimpaired reaches. The adequate description of channel geometry in unimpaired reaches often is an important component of...
Krstolic, Jennifer L.; Chaplin, Jeffrey J.Effects of Historical Coal Mining and Drainage from Abandoned Mines on Streamflow and Water Quality in Newport and Nanticoke Creeks, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, 1999-2000
This report characterizes the effects of historical mining and abandoned mine drainage (AMD) on streamflow and water quality and evaluates potential strategies for AMD abatement in the 14-square-mile Newport Creek Basin and 7.6-square-mile Nanticoke Creek Basin. Both basins are mostly within the Northern Anthracite Coal Field and drain to the...
Chaplin, Jeffrey J.; Cravotta, Charles A.; Weitzel, Jeffrey B.; Klemow, Kenneth M.Physical and vegetative characteristics of a relocated stream reach, constructed wetland, and riparian buffer, Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, 2000-04
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Engineering District 5-0, investigated physical and vegetative changes within a relocated stream reach, constructed wetland, and riparian buffer from September 2000 to October 2004. This report presents an evaluation of data collected using methods from...
Chaplin, Jeffrey J.; White, Kirk E.; Loper, Connie A.Effects of removing Good Hope Mill Dam on selected physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of Conodoguinet Creek, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
The implications of dam removal on channel characteris-tics, water quality, benthic invertebrates, and fish are not well understood because of the small number of removals that have been studied. Comprehensive studies that document the effects of dam removal are just beginning to be published, but most research has focused on larger dams or on the...
Chaplin, Jeffrey J.; Brightbill, Robin A.; Bilger, Michael D.Development of regional curves relating bankfull-channel geometry and discharge to drainage area for streams in Pennsylvania and selected areas of Maryland
Natural-stream designs are commonly based on the dimensions of the bankfull channel, which is capable of conveying discharges that transport sediment without excessive erosion or deposition. Regional curves relate bankfull-channel geometry and discharge to drainage area in watersheds with similar runoff characteristics and commonly are utilized by...
Chaplin, Jeffrey J.Effects of historical coal mining and drainage from abandoned mines on streamflow and water quality in Bear Creek, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania-March 1999-December 2002
More than 100 years of anthracite coal mining has changed surface- and ground-water hydrology and contaminated streams draining the Southern Anthracite Coal Field in east-central Pennsylvania. Bear Creek drains the western prong of the Southern Anthracite Coal Field and is affected by metals in drainage from abandoned mines and streamwater losses...
Chaplin, Jeffrey J.Pre-USGS Publications
USGS Characterizes Baseline Groundwater Quality in Potter County, Pennsylvania
A report on the groundwater quality of Potter County is the latest of seven publications characterizing water quality of aquifers underlying central and northern tier counties. Wells were sampled throughout Potter County with funding support from Commonwealth Financing Authority through the...
Science Night at Fishing Creek Elementary School
USGS staff participated in Science Night at Fishing Creek Elementary School, where students learned about the native macroinvertebrate* population in nearby Yellow Breeches Creek.
USGS has two openings for recent-graduate water scientists in Pennsylvania - CLOSED
The application period ended on December 30, 2020.
USGS Finds Elevated Levels of Arsenic, Radon, Methane in Some Private Wells in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Tests of 75 private drinking water wells in Lycoming County, in north-central Pennsylvania, found water from most of the sampled wells contained concentrations of radon that exceeded a proposed, nonbinding health standard for drinking water. Smaller percentages of the wells contained concentrations of arsenic or methane that exceed existing drinking water standards.
New study reveals state of Juniata River watershed headwaters
A new study from the USGS assesses water quality data for the Juniata River Basin in Western Blair County, Pennsylvania.