Lori Sprague
Biography
Lori Sprague is a Hydrologist and Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the Associate Director of the USGS Water Resources Mission Area. The Water Resources Mission Area works with Federal, State, Tribal, and local partners to monitor, assess, research, and deliver information on the quantity, quality, and use of the Nation's surface and ground waters. Lori is also the USGS representative on the interagency Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force coordinating committee. The Task Force works to understand the causes and effects of eutrophication in the Gulf of Mexico; coordinate activities to reduce the size, severity, and duration of the seasonal hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico; and ameliorate the effects of hypoxia. See https://www.epa.gov/ms-htf/ for more information.
PUBLICATIONS
EG Stets, LA Sprague, GP Oelsner, HM Johnson, JC Murphy, KR Ryberg, AV Vecchia, RE Zuellig, JA Falcone, and ML Riskin, 2020, Landscape drivers of dynamic change in water quality of U.S. rivers: Environmental Science and Technology, https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b05344.
LA Sprague, RA Mitchell, AI Pollard, and JA Falcone, 2019, Assessing water-quality changes in U.S. rivers at multiple geographic scales using results from probabilistic and targeted monitoring: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, vol. 191.
SM Stackpoole, EG Stets, and LA Sprague, 2019, Variable impacts of contemporary versus legacy agricultural phosphorus on U.S. river water quality: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116, p. 20562-20567.
JT Crawford, EG Stets, and LA Sprague, 2019, Network controls on mean and variance of nitrate loads from the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico: Journal of Environmental Quality, vol. 48, p. 1789-1799.
JA Falcone, JC Murphy, and LA Sprague, 2019, Regional patterns of anthropogenic influences on streams and rivers in the conterminous United States, from the early 1970s to 2012, Journal of Land Use Science, vol. 13, p. 585–614.
JC Murphy and LA Sprague, 2019, Water-quality trends in US rivers: Exploring effects from streamflow trends and changes in watershed management: Science of The Total Environment, vol. 656, p. 645-658.
ME Shoda, LA Sprague, JC Murphy, and ML Riskin, 2019, Water-quality trends in U.S. rivers, 2002 to 2012: Relations to levels of concern: Science of the Total Environment, vol. 650, p. 2314-2324.
JC Murphy, WH Farmer, LA Sprague, LA De Cicco, and RM Hirsch, 2018, Water-quality trends and trend component estimates for the Nation's rivers and streams using Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) models and generalized flow normalization, 1972-2012: U.S. Geological Survey data release.
HM Amos, CF Miniat, J Lynch, J Compton, PH Templer, LA Sprague, D Shaw, D Burns, A Rea, D Whitall, L Myles, D Gay, M Nilles, J Walker, AK Rose, J Bales, J Deacon, and R Pouyat, 2018, What Goes Up Must Come Down: Integrating Air and Water Quality Monitoring for Nutrients: Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 52, p. 11441-11448.
JC Murphy, WH Farmer, LA Sprague, LA De Cicco, and RM Hirsch, 2018, Water-quality trends and trend component estimates for the Nation's rivers and streams using Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) models and generalized flow normalization, 1972-2012: U.S Geological Survey data release.
LA Sprague, GP Oelsner, and DM Argue, 2017, Challenges with secondary use of multi-source water-quality data in the United States: Water Research, vol. 110, p. 252-261.
GP Oelsner, LA Sprague, JC Murphy, RE Zuellig, HM Johnson, KR Ryberg, JA Falcone, EG Stets, AV Vecchia, ML Riskin, LA De Cicco, TJ Mills, and WH Farmer, 2017, Water-quality trends in the Nation's rivers and streams 1972-2012—Data preparation, statistical methods, and trend results: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5006, 136 p.
LA Sprague, 2017, Water-quality changes in the Nation's streams and rivers: U.S. Geological Survey Web Page, http://nawqatrends.wim.usgs.gov/swtrends.
LA De Cicco, LA Sprague, JC Murphy, ML Riskin, JA Falcone, EG Stets, GP Oelsner, and HM Johnson, 2017, Water-quality and streamflow datasets used in the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) models to determine trends in the Nation’s rivers and streams, 1972-2012: U.S. Geological Survey data release.
TJ Mills, LA Sprague, JC Murphy, ML Riskin, JA Falcone, EG Stets, GP Oelsner, and HM Johnson, 2017, Water-quality and streamflow datasets used in Seasonal Kendall trend tests for the Nation’s rivers and streams, 1972-2012: U.S. Geological Survey data release.
JC Murphy, RM Hirsch, LA Sprague, 2014, Antecedent flow conditions and nitrate concentrations in the Mississippi River basin: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, vol. 18, p. 967-979.
JC Murphy, RM Hirsch, LA Sprague., 2013, Nitrate in the Mississippi River and its tributaries, 1980-2010--An update: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5169, 31 p.
LA Sprague and JM Gronberg, 2013, Estimated anthropogenic nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the land surface of the conterminous United States—1992, 1997, and 2002: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2012–5241, 14 p.
LA Sprague and JM Gronberg, 2012, Relating management practices and nutrient export in agricultural watersheds of the United States: Journal of Environmental Quality, vol. 41, p. 1939-1950.
LA Sprague, RM Hirsch, BT Aulenbach, 2011, Nitrate in the Mississippi River and its tributaries: are we making progress?: Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 45, no. 17, p. 7209–7216.
JB Brown, LA Sprague, and JA Dupree, 2011, Nutrient sources and transport in the Missouri River Basin, with emphasis on the effects of reservoirs and irrigation: Journal of the American Water Resources Association , vol. 47, no. 5, p. 1034-1060.
NL Booth, EE Everman, IL Kuo, LA Sprague, LA Murphy, 2011, A web-based decision support system for assessing regional water-quality conditions and planning management actions: Journal of the American Water Resources Association, vol. 47, no. 5, p. 1136-1150.
DC Heimann, LA Sprague, DW Blevins, 2011, Trends in suspended-sediment loads and concentrations in the Mississippi River Basin, 1950–2009: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011–5200, 33 p.
NM Dubrovsky, KR Burow, GM Clark, JM Gronberg, PA Hamilton, KJ Hitt, DK Mueller, MD Munn, BT Nolan, LJ Puckett, MG Rupert, TM Short, NE Spahr, LA Sprague, and WG Wilber, 2010, The quality of our Nation’s waters—Nutrients in the Nation’s streams and groundwater, 1992–2004: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1350, 174 p.
LA Sprague and DL Lorenz, 2009, Regional nutrient trends in streams and rivers of the United States, 1993–2003: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 43, no.10, p. 3430-3435.
LA Sprague, DK Mueller, GE Schwarz, DL Lorenz, 2009, Nutrient trends in streams and rivers of the United States, 1993–2003: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5202, 196 p.
EMP Giddings, AH Bell, KM Beaulieu, TF Cuffney, JF Coles, LR Brown, FA Fitzpatrick, J. Falcone, LA Sprague, WL Bryant, MC Peppler, C Stephens, and G McMahon, 2009, Selected physical, chemical, and biological data used to study urbanizing streams in nine metropolitan areas of the United States, 1999–2004: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 423, 11 p.
LA Sprague and LH Nowell, 2008, Comparison of pesticide concentrations in streams at low flow in six metropolitan areas of the United States: Journal of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, v. 27, no. 2, p. 288-298.
LA Sprague, DA Harned, DW Hall, LH Nowell, NJ Bauch, and KD Richards, 2007, Response of stream chemistry during base flow to gradients of urbanization in selected locations across the conterminous United States, 2002–04: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5083, 132 p.
RE Zuellig, LA Sprague, JA Collins, and ON Cox, 2007, Aquatic communities and selected water chemistry in St. Vrain Creek near the City of Longmont, Colorado, wastewater-treatment plant, 2005 and 2006: U.S. Geological Survey Data Report 253.
LA Sprague, ML Clark, DL Rus, RB Zelt, JL Flynn, JV Davis, 2006, Trends of nutrients and suspended sediment in the Missouri River Basin, 1993-2003: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5231, 80 p.
LA Sprague, RE Zuellig, and JA Dupree, 2006, Effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems in the South Platte River Basin, Colorado and Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5101-A, 139 p.
LA Sprague, RE Zuellig, and JA Dupree, 2006, Effects of urban development on stream ecosystems along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado and Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2006-3083, 4 p.
JA Collins and LA Sprague, 2005, The Cache la Poudre River, Colorado, as a drinking-water source: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2005-3037, 4 p.
LA Sprague and WA Battaglin, 2005, Wastewater chemicals in Colorado’s streams and ground water: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2004-3127, 4 p.
LA Sprague, 2005, Drought effects on water quality in the South Platte River Basin, Colorado: Journal of the American Water Resources Association, v. 41, no. 1, p. 11-24.
MR Stevens and LA Sprague, 2003, Hydrology and water-quality characteristics of Muddy Creek and Wolford Mountain Reservoir near Kremmling, Colorado, 1990 through 2001: U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 03-4073, 82 p.
LA Sprague and AI Greve, 2003, Changes in nutrient and pesticide concentrations in urban and agricultural areas of the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, 1994-2000: U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 02-4270, 12 p.
JS Herman, SJ Kauffman, LA Sprague, KE Hyer, GM Hornberger, 2002, Facilitated transport of atrazine in an agricultural watershed, in Colloids and colloid-facilitated transport of contaminants in soils and sediments, de Jonge, LW, Moldrup, Per, and Jacobsen, OH (eds.), Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences Plant Production report no. 80, 324 p.
LA Sprague, 2002, Nutrient dynamics in off-stream reservoirs of the lower South Platte River Basin, 1995: U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 02-4142, 72 p.
LA Sprague, RK Kimbrough, TJ Ranalli, 2002, What happens to nutrients in offstream reservoirs in the lower South Platte River Basin?: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 044-02, 6 p.
LA Sprague, 2001, Effects of storm-sampling frequency on estimation of water-quality loads and trends in two tributaries to Chesapeake Bay in Virginia: U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 01-4136, 39 p.
MJ Langland, RE Edwards, LA Sprague, SE Yochum, 2001, Summary of trends and status analysis for flow, nutrients, and sediments at selected non-tidal sites, Chesapeake Bay Basin, 1985-99: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 01-73, 49 p.
LA Sprague, MJ Langland, SE Yochum, RE Edwards, JD Blomquist, SW Phillips, GW Shenk, and SD Preston, 2000, Factors affecting nutrient trends in major rivers of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 00-4218, 98 p.
LA Sprague, JS Herman, GM Hornberger, AL Mills, 2000, Atrazine adsorption and colloid-facilitated transport through the unsaturated zone: Journal of Environmental Quality, v. 29, no. 5, p. 1632-1641.
MJ Langland, JD Blomquist, LA Sprague, RE Edwards, 2000, Trends and status of flow, nutrients, and sediments for selected non-tidal sites in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985-98: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 99-451, 46 p.
DL Belval and LA Sprague, 1999, Monitoring nutrients in the major rivers draining to Chesapeake Bay: U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 99-4238, 8 p.
Science and Products
Water Quality in the Nation’s Streams and Rivers – Current Conditions and Long-Term Trends
The Nation's rivers and streams are a priceless resource, but pollution from urban and agricultural areas pose a threat to our water quality. To understand the value of water quality, and to more effectively manage and protect the Nation's water resources, it's critical that we know the current status of water-quality conditions, and how and why those conditions have been changing over time....
Interactive Map Provides a Long-Term Look at Changes in River and Stream Quality
A new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) interactive map provides a comprehensive, long-term assessment of changes in the chemical composition and quality of our rivers and streams over the last four decades.
NAWQA South Platte River Basin Study
The South Platte River Basin study, conducted as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, combines information on water chemistry, physical characteristics, stream habitat, and aquatic life to provide science-based insights for current and...
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...
Van Metre, Peter C.; Qi, Sharon L.; Deacon, Jeffrey R.; Dieter, Cheryl A.; Driscoll, Jessica M.; Fienen, Michael N.; Kenney, Terry A.; Lambert, Patrick M.; Lesmes, David; Mason, Christopher Allen; Mueller-Solger, Anke; Musgrove, MaryLynn; Painter, Jaime A.; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Sprague, Lori A.; Tesoriero, Anthony J.; Windham-Myers, Lisamarie; Wolock, David M. Landscape drivers of dynamic change in water quality of US rivers
Water security is a top concern for social well-being and dramatic changes in the availability of freshwater have occurred as a result of human uses and landscape management. Elevated nutrient loading and perturbations to major ion composition have resulted from human activities and have degraded freshwater resources. This study addresses the...
Stets, Edward G.; Sprague, Lori A.; Oelsner, Gretchen P.; Johnson, Henry M.; Murphy, Jennifer C.; Ryberg, Karen R.; Vecchia, Aldo V.; Zuellig, Robert E.; Falcone, James A.; Riskin, Melissa L. Network controls on mean and variance of nitrate loads from the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico
Excessive nitrate loading to the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) has caused widespread hypoxia over many decades. Despite recent reductions in nitrate loads observed at local scales, decreases in nitrate loading from the MRB to the GoM have been small (1.58 % during 2002-2012) with a low level of analytical confidence in this trend. This work seeks to...
Crawford, John T.; Stets, Edward G.; Sprague, Lori A. Variable impacts of contemporary versus legacy agricultural phosphorus on US river water quality
Phosphorus (P) fertilizer has contributed to the eutrophication of freshwater ecosystems. Watershed-based conservation programs aiming to reduce external P loading to surface waters have not resulted in significant water-quality improvements. One factor that can help explain the lack of water-quality response is remobilization of accumulated...
Stackpoole, Sarah M.; Stets, Edward G.; Sprague, Lori A. Regional patterns of anthropogenic influences on streams and rivers in the conterminous United States, from the early 1970s to 2012
This paper introduces a dataset containing consistent time-series measurements of anthropogenic activities potentially affecting stream quality across the conterminous United States and summarizes the most noteworthy trends from 61 variables in 16 categories. Data include measures of atmospheric deposition, agricultural production, livestock,...
Falcone, James A.; Murphy, Jennifer C.; Sprague, Lori A. Assessing water-quality changes in U.S. rivers at multiple geographic scales using results from probabilistic and targeted monitoring
Two commonly used approaches for water quality monitoring are probabilistic and targeted. In a probabilistic approach like the US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Rivers and Streams Assessment, monitoring sites are selected using a statistically representative approach. In a targeted approach like that used by many monitoring...
Sprague, Lori A.; Mitchell, Richard M; Pollard, Amina I.; Falcone, James A. Water-quality trends in US rivers: Exploring effects from streamflow trends and changes in watershed management
We present a conceptual model that explores the relationship of streamflow trends to 15 water-quality parameters at 370 sites across the contiguous United States (US). Our analytical framework uses discrete water-quality data, daily streamflow records, and a statistical model to estimate water-quality trends between...
Murphy, Jennifer C.; Sprague, Lori A. Water-quality trends in U.S. rivers, 2002 to 2012: Relations to levels of concern
Effective management and protection of water resources relies upon understanding how water-quality conditions are changing over time. Water-quality trends for ammonia, chloride, nitrate, sulfate, total dissolved solids (TDS), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were assessed at 762 sites located in the conterminous United...
Shoda, Megan E.; Sprague, Lori A.; Murphy, Jennifer C.; Riskin, Melissa L. Modeling drivers of phosphorus loads in Chesapeake Bay tributaries and inferences about long-term change
Causal attribution of changes in water quality often consists of correlation, qualitative reasoning, listing references to the work of others, or speculation. To better support statements of attribution for water-quality trends, structural equation modeling was used to model the causal factors of total phosphorus loads in the Chesapeake Bay...
Ryberg, Karen R.; Blomquist, Joel D.; Sprague, Lori A.; Sekellick, Andrew J.; Keisman, Jennifer Water-quality and streamflow datasets used in Seasonal Kendall trend tests for the Nation’s rivers and streams, 1972-2012
In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-...
Mills, Taylor J.; Sprague, Lori A.; Murphy, Jennifer C.; Riskin, Melissa L.; Falcone, James A.; Stets, Edward G.; Oelsner, Gretchen P.; Johnson, Henry M.
Water-quality trends in the nation’s rivers and streams, 1972–2012—Data preparation, statistical methods, and trend results
Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, Federal, State, and local governments have invested billions of dollars to reduce pollution entering rivers and streams. To understand the return on these investments and to effectively manage and protect the Nation’s water resources in the future, we need to know how and why water quality has been...
Oelsner, Gretchen P.; Sprague, Lori A.; Murphy, Jennifer C.; Zuellig, Robert E.; Johnson, Henry M.; Ryberg, Karen R.; Falcone, James A.; Stets, Edward G.; Vecchia, Aldo V.; Riskin, Melissa L.; De Cicco, Laura A.; Mills, Taylor J.; Farmer, William H. Challenges with secondary use of multi-source water-quality data in the United States
Combining water-quality data from multiple sources can help counterbalance diminishing resources for stream monitoring in the United States and lead to important regional and national insights that would not otherwise be possible. Individual monitoring organizations understand their own data very well, but issues can arise when their data are...
Sprague, Lori A.; Oelsner, Gretchen P.; Argue, Denise M.
Very large dead zone forecast for the Gulf of Mexico
NOAA's annual prediction based on USGS data
Sampling design brings insights to changing stream quality
How does the choice of sampling approach affect our perception of whether water quality in streams and rivers has changed over time? A new joint U.S....
Average-sized Dead Zone Forecasted for the Gulf of Mexico
NOAA's annual prediction based on USGS data
First-of-its-kind Interactive Map Brings Together 40 Years of Water-Quality Data
USGS provides a long-term look at changes in the quality of our nation’s rivers and streams
Nation’s River Quality Data Could Power Deeper Science Insights
Challenges remain in combining data from multiple organizations