Kenneth D Skinner
Science and Products
Continuous Water-Quality Monitoring of Middle Snake River Springs in Support of Threatened and Endangered Snail Species
Two species of aquatic snails, the Banbury Springs limpet (Idaholanx fresti) and the Bliss Rapids snail (Taylorconcha serpenticola) live in springs along the middle Snake River in...
Groundwater Quality and Quantity Trends in the Middle Snake River Region, South-Central Idaho
Groundwater-quality and groundwater-level data have been collected by the USGS and various state agencies in the mid-Snake area since at least the early 1990s. However, no trend analyses have been conducted on the data since 2012. Assessing groundwater-quality trends will help resource managers determine if they should continue or modify current nutrient management practices. Groundwater-level...
Groundwater Quality and Nutrient Trends near Marsing, Southwestern Idaho
In cooperation with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, we sampled groundwater from 15 wells during spring 2018 near the city of Marsing in rural northwestern Owyhee County, southwestern Idaho. Samples were analyzed for field parameters, nutrients, trace elements, major inorganics, and dissolved gas, including methane. To examine trends in individual wells and in the region, ammonia...
Water Quality in Aquifers Used for Drinking-Water Supplies, Gem County
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Gem County and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, is assessing the quality of groundwater from freshwater aquifers used for drinking-water supplies.
Wood River Valley Hydrologic Trends and Comparisons
Wood River Valley residents rely on groundwater for domestic supply, either from domestic or municipal-supply wells. The rapid population growth since the 1970s has caused concern about the long-term sustainability of the groundwater resource.
Debris-Flow Hazard Assessment of the Area Burned by the 2013 Beaver Creek Fire
In August 2013, the Beaver Creek wildfire burned more than 100,000 acres of public and private land northwest of Hailey, Idaho. According to the U.S. Forest Service, about 57 percent of the area is considered moderately burned, and the risk of post-fire soil erosion is high on more than 8,400 acres.
Groundwater quality and nutrient trends near Marsing, southwestern Idaho, 2018
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, sampled groundwater from 15 wells during spring 2018 near the city of Marsing in rural northwestern Owyhee County, southwestern Idaho. Samples were analyzed for field parameters, nutrients, trace elements, major inorganics, and dissolved gas, including...
Skinner, Kenneth D.
Annual wastewater nutrient data preparation and load estimation using the Point Source Load Estimation Tool (PSLoadEsT)
The Point-Source Load Estimation Tool (PSLoadEsT) provides a user-friendly interface for generating reproducible load calculations for point source dischargers while managing common data challenges including duplicates, incompatible input tables, and incomplete or missing nutrient concentration or effluent flow data. Maintaining a consistent...
Gorman Sanisaca, Lillian E.; Skinner, Kenneth D.; Maupin, Molly A.
Point-source nutrient loads to streams of the conterminous United States, 2012
Total nitrogen and phosphorous loads were estimated for 5,430 major point-source facilities (all types) and 11,537 minor wastewater treatment facilities discharging to streams in the conterminous United States during 2012. Facilities classified as a major discharger are typically a facility that discharges greater than one million gallons of water...
Skinner, Kenneth D.; Maupin, Molly A.
Groundwater-quality data from the eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer, Jerome and Gooding Counties, south-central Idaho, 2017
Groundwater-quality samples and water-level data were collected from 36 wells in the Jerome/Gooding County area of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer during June 2017. The wells included 30 wells sampled for the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment project, plus an additional 6 wells were selected to increase spatial...
Skinner, Kenneth D.
Estimating peak-flow frequency statistics for selected gaged and ungaged sites in naturally flowing streams and rivers in Idaho
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Transportation Department, updated regional regression equations to estimate peak-flow statistics at ungaged sites on Idaho streams using recent streamflow (flow) data and new statistical techniques. Peak-flow statistics with 80-, 67-, 50-, 43-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent...
Wood, Molly S.; Fosness, Ryan L.; Skinner, Kenneth D.; Veilleux, Andrea G.
The quality of our Nation's waters: groundwater quality in the Columbia Plateau and Snake River Plain basin-fill and basaltic-rock aquifers and the Hawaiian volcanic-rock aquifers, Washington, Idaho, and Hawaii, 1993-2005
The Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, and Hawaii are large volcanic areas in the western United States and mid-Pacific ocean that contain extensive regional aquifers of a hard, gray, volcanic rock called basalt. Residents of the Columbia Plateau, the Snake River Plain, and the island of Oahu depend on groundwater as their primary source of...
Rupert, Michael G.; Hunt, Charles D.; Skinner, Kenneth D.; Frans, Lonna M.; Mahler, Barbara
Post-fire debris-flow hazard assessment of the area burned by the 2013 Beaver Creek Fire near Hailey, central Idaho
A preliminary hazard assessment was developed for debris-flow hazards in the 465 square-kilometer (115,000 acres) area burned by the 2013 Beaver Creek fire near Hailey in central Idaho. The burn area covers all or part of six watersheds and selected basins draining to the Big Wood River and is at risk of substantial post-fire erosion, such as that...
Skinner, Kenneth D.
Numerical model simulations of nitrate concentrations in groundwater using various nitrogen input scenarios, mid-Snake region, south-central Idaho
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program nitrate transport in groundwater was modeled in the mid-Snake River region in south-central Idaho to project future concentrations of nitrate. Model simulation results indicated that nitrate concentrations would continue to increase over time, eventually...
Skinner, Kenneth D.; Rupert, Michael G.
Bathymetry and capacity of Blackfoot Reservoir, Caribou County, Idaho, 2011
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, surveyed the bathymetry and selected above-water sections of Blackfoot Reservoir, Caribou County, Idaho, in 2011. Reservoir operators manage releases from Government Dam on Blackfoot Reservoir based on a stage-capacity relation developed about the time of dam...
Wood, Molly S.; Skinner, Kenneth D.; Fosness, Ryan L.
Geospatial datasets for watershed delineation and characterization used in the Hawaii StreamStats web application
The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaii StreamStats application uses an integrated suite of raster and vector geospatial datasets to delineate and characterize watersheds. The geospatial datasets used to delineate and characterize watersheds on the StreamStats website, and the methods used to develop the datasets are described in this report. The...
Rea, Alan; Skinner, Kenneth D.
Groundwater quality in the Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, and Oahu basaltic-rock and basin-fill aquifers in the Northwestern United States and Hawaii, 1992-2010
This assessment of groundwater-quality conditions of the Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, and Oahu for the period 1992–2010 is part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. It shows where, when, why, and how specific water-quality conditions occur in groundwater of the three study areas and...
Frans, Lonna M.; Rupert, Michael G.; Hunt, Charles D.; Skinner, Kenneth D.
Evaluation of LiDAR-acquired bathymetric and topographic data accuracy in various hydrogeomorphic settings in the Deadwood and South Fork Boise Rivers, West-Central Idaho, 2007
High-quality elevation data in riverine environments are important for fisheries management applications and the accuracy of such data needs to be determined for its proper application. The Experimental Advanced Airborne Research LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)-or EAARL-system was used to obtain topographic and bathymetric data along the...
Skinner, Kenneth D.
New release: User-friendly Point-Source Load Estimation Tool (PSLoadEsT)
Do you need consistent and reliable data for nutrient concentrations released by point-source dischargers? The USGS has developed a new approach for developing typical pollutant concentrations (TPCs) in the absence of measured total nitrogen (TN) or total phosphorus (TP) concentration data and a new tool, the Point-Source Load Estimation Tool (...