Map showing principal aquifers (PAs) and wells that were sampled as part of a Nationwide assessment of the quality of groundwater used for public supply.
Ken Belitz
Kenneth Belitz is a Research Hydrologist Emeritus with the Earth Systems Processes Division of the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.
As a USGS scientist, Ken has simultaneously conducted hydrogeologic research and provided leadership for scientific teams addressing practical problems. His current focus is the development of a three-dimensional digital representation of the subsurface of the United States, otherwise known as the National Extent Hydrogeologic Framework. The framework will be used in support of Integrated Water Availability Assessments.
Ken has previously led two large USGS groundwater assessment efforts: He was the lead scientist and manager of the Groundwater Ambient and Monitoring Assessment (GAMA) Program, designed to assess the quality of California’s groundwater; and he was the Chief for Groundwater Assessments for the 3rd decade of the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. Together, these efforts represent ~$150 million of data collection and scientific interpretation. The GAMA and NAWQA groundwater teams published ~230 USGS reports and journal articles, and the findings have been widely covered in both the print and broadcast media.
Ken is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America and was the 2023 Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer. In 2024, Ken was the recipient of the Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award. His papers have more than 10,000 citations.
Professional Experience
2025-present: Research Hydrologist Emeritus, Earth Systems Processes Division, USGS Water Mission Area
2021-2025: Research Hydrologist, Earth Systems Processes Division, USGS Water Mission Area
2012-2021: Chief for Groundwater Assessment (Supervisory Hydrologist), USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program.
2003-2012: Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Chief (Supervisory Research Hydrologist), CA Water Science Center, USGS, San Diego.
1998-2003: Project Chief and Research Hydrologist, Santa Ana Basin Study Unit, USGS NAWQA Program, CA Water Science Center, San Diego
1997-1998: Associate Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Queens College, City University of NY
1990-1997: Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
1990-1998: Research Hydrologist, intermittent appointment, USGS
1985-1990: Hydrologist and Research Hydrologist, San Joaquin Valley Drainage Program, California District, Water Resources Division, USGS.
1988-1990: Consulting Professor, Applied Earth Sciences, Stanford University
Spring 1985: Visiting Lecturer, Earth Sciences, University of California-Santa Cruz
1981-1985: Hydrologist-student appointment, Water Resources Division, USGS, Menlo Park, CA
1980-1983: Teaching Assistant, Stanford University
Summer 1980: Geological Assistant, Chevron USA/Alaska Division, San Francisco, CA.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Hydrogeology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
B.S. Geology, Honors, State University of New York at Binghamton
Affiliations and Memberships*
Geological Society of America (Fellow)
American Geophysical Union
National Ground Water Association
Sigma Xi (Scientific Research Society)
Honors and Awards
Distinguished Service Award, Department of Interior, 2024
Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer, Geological Society of America Hydrogeology Division, 2023
USGS Office of Groundwater, Best Paper Award, 2010. Co-recipient.
Kevin J. Neese Award, Groundwater Resources Association of California, 2009. Co-recipient.
USGS Western Region Excellence in Science Award, 2004
USGS Water Resources Division Research Lecturer, 2001
Fellow, 1996, Geological Society of America
Phi Beta Kappa, 1979, State University of New York at Binghamton
Ralph E. Digman Prize for Excellence in Geology, 1979, SUNY - Binghamton
Graduation with Academic Honors, 1979, SUNY – Binghamton
New York State Regents Scholarship, 1975-1979
Scholarship, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, 1975-1979
Eagle Scout, Bronx, NY, 1974
Science and Products
Consideration of grid cell size to represent stream network geometry for the conterminous United States
A spatial machine learning model developed from noisy data requires multiscale performance evaluation: Predicting depth to bedrock in the Delaware River Basin, USA
Gross alpha-particle activity and high 226Ra concentrations do not correspond with high 210Po in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers of the United States
Predicted uranium and radon concentrations in New Hampshire (USA) groundwater—Using Multi Order Hydrologic Position as predictors
Quality of groundwater used for public supply in the continental United States: A comprehensive assessment
Over a third of groundwater in USA public-supply aquifers is Anthropocene-age and susceptible to surface contamination
Volatile organic compounds in groundwater used for public supply across the United States: Occurrence, explanatory factors, and human-health context
Mapped predictions of manganese and arsenic in an alluvial aquifer using boosted regression trees
Relation between road-salt application and increasing radium concentrations in a low-pH aquifer, southern New Jersey
Depth of groundwater used for drinking-water supplies in the United States
Factors affecting uncertainty of public supply, self-supplied domestic, irrigation, and thermoelectric water-use data, 1985–2015—Evaluation of information sources, estimation methods, and data variability
Machine learning predictions of nitrate in groundwater used for drinking supply in the conterminous United States
New Study Shows High Potential for Groundwater to be Corrosive in One-Half of U.S. States
Groundwater Quality Research
Corrosivity
Public Supply Wells
All about corrosivity
Distance to the nearest stream by stream order for selected watersheds in the United States
Digital Representation of Selected Isopach and Geologic Maps from U.S. Geological Survey Paleotectonic Publications
Digital Representation of Isopach Maps for Selected Geologic Periods from an Atlas Published by Sloss and others (1960)
Soil texture and hydraulic conductivity at a 1-kilometer resolution for the Contiguous United States based on 30-meter resolution data from the Polaris database.
Data for depth of groundwater used for drinking-water supplies in the United States
Data Release for Secondary Hydrogeologic Regions of the Conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, June 2022)
Data for volatile organic compounds in groundwater used for public supply across the United States, 2013-19, and data for associated quality-control samples
Estimated equivalent population using groundwater for public supply domestic use in the conterminous U.S. 2010, hydrogeologic mapping units, and wells used (ver. 2.0, March 2023)
Public supply, self-supplied domestic, irrigation, and thermoelectric water-use data from 5-year compilation datasets from 1985 to 2015 used to assess data variability and uncertainty
Data for Machine Learning Predictions of Nitrate in Groundwater Used for Drinking Supply in the Conterminous United States
Data Release for Evaluation of Six Methods for Correcting Bias in Estimates from Ensemble Tree Machine Learning Regression Models
Inorganic Constituent and Ancillary Data for Evaluation of Lithium in Groundwater in the United States, 1991-2018

Map showing principal aquifers (PAs) and wells that were sampled as part of a Nationwide assessment of the quality of groundwater used for public supply.
Graph of population potentially affected by groundwater contaminants (Belitz and others, 2022). Geogenic constituents affected a larger population compared to anthropogenic constituents.
Graph of population potentially affected by groundwater contaminants (Belitz and others, 2022). Geogenic constituents affected a larger population compared to anthropogenic constituents.
Science and Products
Consideration of grid cell size to represent stream network geometry for the conterminous United States
A spatial machine learning model developed from noisy data requires multiscale performance evaluation: Predicting depth to bedrock in the Delaware River Basin, USA
Gross alpha-particle activity and high 226Ra concentrations do not correspond with high 210Po in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers of the United States
Predicted uranium and radon concentrations in New Hampshire (USA) groundwater—Using Multi Order Hydrologic Position as predictors
Quality of groundwater used for public supply in the continental United States: A comprehensive assessment
Over a third of groundwater in USA public-supply aquifers is Anthropocene-age and susceptible to surface contamination
Volatile organic compounds in groundwater used for public supply across the United States: Occurrence, explanatory factors, and human-health context
Mapped predictions of manganese and arsenic in an alluvial aquifer using boosted regression trees
Relation between road-salt application and increasing radium concentrations in a low-pH aquifer, southern New Jersey
Depth of groundwater used for drinking-water supplies in the United States
Factors affecting uncertainty of public supply, self-supplied domestic, irrigation, and thermoelectric water-use data, 1985–2015—Evaluation of information sources, estimation methods, and data variability
Machine learning predictions of nitrate in groundwater used for drinking supply in the conterminous United States
New Study Shows High Potential for Groundwater to be Corrosive in One-Half of U.S. States
Groundwater Quality Research
Corrosivity
Public Supply Wells
All about corrosivity
Distance to the nearest stream by stream order for selected watersheds in the United States
Digital Representation of Selected Isopach and Geologic Maps from U.S. Geological Survey Paleotectonic Publications
Digital Representation of Isopach Maps for Selected Geologic Periods from an Atlas Published by Sloss and others (1960)
Soil texture and hydraulic conductivity at a 1-kilometer resolution for the Contiguous United States based on 30-meter resolution data from the Polaris database.
Data for depth of groundwater used for drinking-water supplies in the United States
Data Release for Secondary Hydrogeologic Regions of the Conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, June 2022)
Data for volatile organic compounds in groundwater used for public supply across the United States, 2013-19, and data for associated quality-control samples
Estimated equivalent population using groundwater for public supply domestic use in the conterminous U.S. 2010, hydrogeologic mapping units, and wells used (ver. 2.0, March 2023)
Public supply, self-supplied domestic, irrigation, and thermoelectric water-use data from 5-year compilation datasets from 1985 to 2015 used to assess data variability and uncertainty
Data for Machine Learning Predictions of Nitrate in Groundwater Used for Drinking Supply in the Conterminous United States
Data Release for Evaluation of Six Methods for Correcting Bias in Estimates from Ensemble Tree Machine Learning Regression Models
Inorganic Constituent and Ancillary Data for Evaluation of Lithium in Groundwater in the United States, 1991-2018

Map showing principal aquifers (PAs) and wells that were sampled as part of a Nationwide assessment of the quality of groundwater used for public supply.
Map showing principal aquifers (PAs) and wells that were sampled as part of a Nationwide assessment of the quality of groundwater used for public supply.
Graph of population potentially affected by groundwater contaminants (Belitz and others, 2022). Geogenic constituents affected a larger population compared to anthropogenic constituents.
Graph of population potentially affected by groundwater contaminants (Belitz and others, 2022). Geogenic constituents affected a larger population compared to anthropogenic constituents.
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government