Patrick Lambert
Biography
A former Director of the Utah Water Science Center and member of the Rocky Mountain Regions Science Advisory staff, Pat has been involved in USGS science since 1985, focusing on the development of conceptual and computer models of hydrologic systems including groundwater/surface-water interaction. He has led and managed USGS science programs and staffs in Idaho, Nevada, and Utah, serving as the Director in Utah from 2003 to 2014. Pat served from 2014-2016 as the Federal Liaison to the Western States Water Council and currently serves as Chair of the Western States Federal Agency Support Team in support of coordination among the Federal family and Western States water stakeholders and managers. Pat currently serves as National Program Manager of the Water Mission Area’s Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs) Program which provides nationally and regionally consistent assessments of water for human and ecological needs and identifies factors that limit water availability.
Science and Products
Integrated Water Science (IWS) Basins
The U.S. Geological Survey is integrating its water science programs to better address the Nation’s greatest water resource challenges. At the heart of this effort are plans to intensively study at least 10 Integrated Water Science (IWS) basins — medium-sized watersheds (10,000-20,000 square miles) and underlying aquifers — over the next decade. The IWS basins will represent a wide range of...
Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs)
The USGS Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs) are a multi-extent, stakeholder driven, near real-time census and prediction of water availability for both human and ecological uses at regional and national extents.
Integrated Water Availability Assessments: Upper Colorado River Basin
Integrated Water Availability Assessments examine water supply, use, and availability. Snow from the Upper Colorado River Basin contributes 92% of the natural streamflow to the entire Colorado River Basin. The UCOL IWAAs will improve our understanding of the water budget, status and trends in water quality and ecological conditions, and ecosystem response to changes in climate and human water...
Integrated Water Availability Assessments: Delaware River Basin
Integrated Water Availability Assessments examine water supply, use, and availability. In the Delaware River Basin, which serves over 13 million people, water availability can be affected by drought, river temperature, salinity, and more. The Delaware River Basin IWAAs will investigate these and other water quantity, quality, and use issues to assess available water and how it changes over...
Salinity
Studies of Sources and Transport of Dissolved Solids (Salt) in the Colorado River Basin using the Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed Attributes (SPARROW) Model
The Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) encompasses about 112,000 mi2 and discharges more than 6 million tons of dissolved solids (salt) annually to the lower Colorado River Basin. It has been estimated...
Baseflow
The Colorado River has been identified as the most overallocated river in the world. Considering predicted future imbalances between water supply and demand and the growing recognition that base flow (a proxy for groundwater discharge to streams) is critical for sustaining flow in streams and rivers, there is a need to develop methods to better quantify present-day base flow across large...
Water priorities for the Nation—U.S. Geological Survey Integrated Water Availability Assessments
The United States faces growing challenges to its water supply, infrastructure, and aquatic ecosystems because of population growth, climate change, floods and droughts, and aging water delivery systems. To help address these challenges, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Resources Mission Area has established new strategic priorities that...
Miller, Mark P.; Clark, Brian R.; Eberts, Sandra M.; Lambert, Patrick M.; Toccalino, Patricia
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. An integrated framework for ecological drought across riverscapes of North America
Climate change is increasing the severity and extent of extreme droughts events, posing a critical threat to freshwater ecosystems, particularly with increasing human demands for diminishing water supplies. Despite the importance of drought as a significant driver of ecological and evolutionary dynamics, current understanding of drought...
Kovach, Ryan; Dunham, Jason B.; Al-Chokhachy, Robert; Snyder, Craig; Beever, Erik A.; Pederson, Gregory T.; Lynch, Abigail; Hitt, Nathaniel P.; Konrad, Christopher P.; Jaeger, Kristin; Rea, Alan H.; Sepulveda, Adam J.; Lambert, Patrick M.; Stoker, Jason M.; Giersch, J. Joseph; Muhlfeld, Clint C.
USGS integrated drought science
Project Need and OverviewDrought poses a serious threat to the resilience of human communities and ecosystems in the United States (Easterling and others, 2000). Over the past several years, many regions have experienced extreme drought conditions, fueled by prolonged periods of reduced precipitation and exceptionally warm temperatures. Extreme...
Ostroff, Andrea C.; Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Lambert, Patrick M.; Booth, Nathaniel L.; Carter, Shawn L.; Stoker, Jason M.; Focazio, Michael J.
Enhanced and updated spatially referenced statistical assessment of dissolved-solids load sources and transport in streams of the Upper Colorado River Basin
Approximately 6.4 million tons of dissolved solids are discharged from the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) to the Lower Colorado River Basin each year. This results in substantial economic damages, and tens of millions of dollars are spent annually on salinity control projects designed to reduce salinity loads in surface waters of the UCRB....
Miller, Matthew P.; Buto, Susan G.; Lambert, Patrick M.; Rumsey, Christine A.
Discharge, water quality, and native fish abundance in the Virgin River, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, in support of Pah Tempe Springs discharge remediation efforts
Pah Tempe Springs discharge hot, saline, low dissolved-oxygen water to the Virgin River in southwestern Utah, which is transported downstream to Lake Mead and the Colorado River. The dissolved salts in the Virgin River negatively influence the suitability of this water for downstream agricultural, municipal, and industrial use. Therefore, various...
Miller, Matthew P.; Lambert, Patrick M.; Hardy, Thomas B.
Assessment of groundwater/surface-water interaction and simulation of potential streamflow depletion induced by groundwater withdrawal, Uinta River near Roosevelt, Utah
Roosevelt City, Utah, asserts a need for an additional supply of water to meet municipal demands and has identified a potential location for additional groundwater development at the Sprouse well field near the West Channel of the Uinta River. Groundwater is commonly hydraulically linked to surface water and, under some conditions, the pumpage of...
Lambert, P.M.; Marston, T.; Kimball, B.A.; Stolp, B.J.
Hydrology and simulation of the ground-water flow system in Tooele Valley, Utah
Lambert, P.M.; Stolp, B.J. Numerical simulation of solute transport in southwestern Salt Lake Valley, Utah
Contaminated ground water characterized by high concentrations of dissolved solids and dissolved sulfate, and in areas, by low pH and elevated concentrations of metals, is present near public-supply wells in the southwestern Salt Lake Valley. To provide State officials and water users with information concerning the potential movement of...
Lambert, P.M. Particle-tracking analysis of flow paths and travel times within the capture areas of well fields in Salt Lake Valley, Utah
A particle-tracking analysis was done to estimate capture zones for selected public-supply wells in Salt Lake Valley. Twenty-five- and 50-year capture zones were estimated using a regional, finite-difference, ground-water flow model in conjunction with a particle-tracking program. Three sets of wells currently discharging ground water of adequate...
Lambert, P.M. Hydrology of the Sevier-Sigurd ground-water basin and other ground-water basins, central Sevier Valley, Utah.
The hydrologic system in the central Sevier Valley, and more specifically the Sevier-Sigurd basin, is a complex system in which surface- and ground-water systems are interrelated. Seepage from an extensive irrigation system is the primary source of recharge to the basin-fill aquifer in the Sevier-Sigurd basin.Water-quality data indicate that...
Lambert, P.M.; Mason, J.L.; Puchta, R.W Ground-water resources and simulated effects of withdrawals in the East Shore area of Great Salt Lake, Utah
The ground-water resources in the East Shore area of Great Salt Lake, Utah, were studied to better define the ground-water system; to document changes in ground-water levels, quality, and storage; and to simulate effects of an increase in ground-water withdrawals. The East Shore aquifer system is in basin-fill deposits, and is primarily a confined...
Clark, David W.; Appel, Cynthia L.; Lambert, Patrick M.; Puryear, Robert L.