Continuous water quality monitor that is deployed off a bridge in Westerly RI, just upstream of the 01118500 gage.
Jonathan Morrison
Jon Morrison is a Science Coordinator with the Northeast Region.
Jon earned a BS degree in Environmental Earth Science from Eastern Connecticut State University in 1988 and a MS from the University of Connecticut in Natural Resources in 1998.
Jon began his career with the USGS over 30 years ago. During that time, he has developed extensive experience in streamflow measurements and water-quality monitoring. He currently serves as the Supervisor of the Water Quality Networks Section. In his current positions Jon’s primary responsibility is managing the operation of the statewide cooperative water quality monitoring networks in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Jon also oversees water quality projects in the major tributaries to Long Island Sound as well as several other projects monitoring nutrient loads to Long Island Sound. He coordinates the various federal, state and local partners that actively collaborate on the monitoring networks. In addition, he has conducted several studies and published several USGS reports on nutrient transport and water-quality issues in Connecticut.
Jon is currently working on issues related to nitrogen and organic carbon transport in the Connecticut River and phosphorus transport in the Housatonic and Quinipiac Rivers.
Science and Products
Research on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the New England Water Science Center
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a diverse group of over 4,000 different compounds. Since the 1940s, PFAS have been manufactured and used around the globe, including in the United States. PFAS are resistant to chemical and thermal breakdown and impart stain and water-resistance properties, making them useful for a variety of commercial applications, but also persistent in the...
Water Quality Sampling in the Tributaries of the Long Island Sound
Coastal estuaries in southern New England and New York show the effects of excess nutrients and coastal eutrophication. These include excessive growth of macroalgae, excessive blooms of phytoplankton, oxygen depletion, hypoxia and deteriorated substrates. State and Federal regulators have responded to these nutrient-caused impairments by requiring more stringent permit limits for National...
Embayment Monitoring to Support Nutrient Management Activities in Connecticut for Long Island Sound
The USGS, in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will be collecting water-quality and hydrologic data at four embayments from April 2021 to March 2025: Mystic, Norwalk, Saugatuck, Sasco-Southport complex, and Farm.
Applied Hydrology Program
The mission of the Applied Hydrology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) New England Water Science Center (WSC) is to support water resource managers, stakeholders, and policy makers with the hydrologic data, interpretation, and tools they need to manage and make critical decisions about water resources throughout New England. This program is divided into two broad sections: the Hydrology...
Water Quality Sampling and Monitoring of the Pawcatuck River Watershed
The Pawcatuck River and the Pawcatuck River Estuary and Little Narragansett Bay form part of the boundary between the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Both states have identified water quality impairments within these waters related to nutrients (insufficient oxygen) and bacteria. Studies of the eutrophication potential of Long Island Sound embayments have identified that the Pawcatuck...
The Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator: A Decision-Support Tool to Estimate Streamflow and Water Availability at Ungaged, User-Defined Stream Locations in Connecticut
The Connecticut streamflow and sustainable water use estimator is a decision-support tool that provides estimates of daily unaltered streamflow, water-use adjusted streamflow (for the portions of the state where water-use data are available), and water availability for ungaged, user-defined sites in Connecticut.
Estimation of Daily Streamflow and Water Availability in the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator, Version 2.0
The Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator is a decision-support tool that provides estimates of daily unaltered streamflow, water-use-adjusted streamflow, and water availability for ungaged, user-defined sites in Massachusetts. In this recently completed study, version 2.0 of the original Sustainable-Yield Estimator (Archfield and others, 2010) was developed with minor changes to the...
Surface Water Quality Monitoring in Connecticut
The 2,983 miles of streams in Connecticut support a range of uses, including drinking water, recreation, and fish and shellfish habitat. The State is required by the Clean Water Act to assess the health of these waters every two years.
Surface Water Quality Monitoring in Rhode Island
Since 1979, the USGS has monitored water quality in the major river basins of Rhode Island contributing to Narragansett Bay.
Nutrient Loads from the Upper Connecticut River Watershed
River-borne nutrients, especially nitrogen, contribute to water-quality degradation in Long Island Sound. The Connecticut River is the largest tributary to the Sound, and quantification of nutrient loads from the three upper States in the watershed, as well as the State of Connecticut, is essential for prioritizing efforts to improve the Sound’s water quality.
Continuous water quality monitor
Continuous water quality monitor that is deployed off a bridge in Westerly RI, just upstream of the 01118500 gage.
Water quality at the Salmon River
Installing dissolved oxygen sensors at the Salmon River near East Hampton, Connecticut
Installing dissolved oxygen sensors at the Salmon River near East Hampton, Connecticut
Parking lot in Guilford, Connecticut destroyed after Irene
This photo taken on August 30, 2011 shows what used to be the parking lot where we parked our field vehicle during a previous deployment. The rocks in the forefront used to be part of the paved parking lot that was largely destroyed during Irene.
This photo taken on August 30, 2011 shows what used to be the parking lot where we parked our field vehicle during a previous deployment. The rocks in the forefront used to be part of the paved parking lot that was largely destroyed during Irene.
Science and Products
Research on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the New England Water Science Center
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a diverse group of over 4,000 different compounds. Since the 1940s, PFAS have been manufactured and used around the globe, including in the United States. PFAS are resistant to chemical and thermal breakdown and impart stain and water-resistance properties, making them useful for a variety of commercial applications, but also persistent in the...
Water Quality Sampling in the Tributaries of the Long Island Sound
Coastal estuaries in southern New England and New York show the effects of excess nutrients and coastal eutrophication. These include excessive growth of macroalgae, excessive blooms of phytoplankton, oxygen depletion, hypoxia and deteriorated substrates. State and Federal regulators have responded to these nutrient-caused impairments by requiring more stringent permit limits for National...
Embayment Monitoring to Support Nutrient Management Activities in Connecticut for Long Island Sound
The USGS, in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will be collecting water-quality and hydrologic data at four embayments from April 2021 to March 2025: Mystic, Norwalk, Saugatuck, Sasco-Southport complex, and Farm.
Applied Hydrology Program
The mission of the Applied Hydrology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) New England Water Science Center (WSC) is to support water resource managers, stakeholders, and policy makers with the hydrologic data, interpretation, and tools they need to manage and make critical decisions about water resources throughout New England. This program is divided into two broad sections: the Hydrology...
Water Quality Sampling and Monitoring of the Pawcatuck River Watershed
The Pawcatuck River and the Pawcatuck River Estuary and Little Narragansett Bay form part of the boundary between the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Both states have identified water quality impairments within these waters related to nutrients (insufficient oxygen) and bacteria. Studies of the eutrophication potential of Long Island Sound embayments have identified that the Pawcatuck...
The Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator: A Decision-Support Tool to Estimate Streamflow and Water Availability at Ungaged, User-Defined Stream Locations in Connecticut
The Connecticut streamflow and sustainable water use estimator is a decision-support tool that provides estimates of daily unaltered streamflow, water-use adjusted streamflow (for the portions of the state where water-use data are available), and water availability for ungaged, user-defined sites in Connecticut.
Estimation of Daily Streamflow and Water Availability in the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator, Version 2.0
The Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator is a decision-support tool that provides estimates of daily unaltered streamflow, water-use-adjusted streamflow, and water availability for ungaged, user-defined sites in Massachusetts. In this recently completed study, version 2.0 of the original Sustainable-Yield Estimator (Archfield and others, 2010) was developed with minor changes to the...
Surface Water Quality Monitoring in Connecticut
The 2,983 miles of streams in Connecticut support a range of uses, including drinking water, recreation, and fish and shellfish habitat. The State is required by the Clean Water Act to assess the health of these waters every two years.
Surface Water Quality Monitoring in Rhode Island
Since 1979, the USGS has monitored water quality in the major river basins of Rhode Island contributing to Narragansett Bay.
Nutrient Loads from the Upper Connecticut River Watershed
River-borne nutrients, especially nitrogen, contribute to water-quality degradation in Long Island Sound. The Connecticut River is the largest tributary to the Sound, and quantification of nutrient loads from the three upper States in the watershed, as well as the State of Connecticut, is essential for prioritizing efforts to improve the Sound’s water quality.
Water quality at the Salmon River
Installing dissolved oxygen sensors at the Salmon River near East Hampton, Connecticut
Installing dissolved oxygen sensors at the Salmon River near East Hampton, Connecticut
Parking lot in Guilford, Connecticut destroyed after Irene
This photo taken on August 30, 2011 shows what used to be the parking lot where we parked our field vehicle during a previous deployment. The rocks in the forefront used to be part of the paved parking lot that was largely destroyed during Irene.
This photo taken on August 30, 2011 shows what used to be the parking lot where we parked our field vehicle during a previous deployment. The rocks in the forefront used to be part of the paved parking lot that was largely destroyed during Irene.