Thomas J Williams
Thomas Williams is a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey - Kansas Water Science Center in Lawrence, Kansas. His work focuses on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting water-quality data in streams throughout eastern Kansas, with an emphasis on the Kansas River.
Research objectives include: (1) characterizing current and historic water-quality conditions in the Kansas River related to sediment, nutrients, major ions, bromide, fecal indicator bacteria, cyanobacteria, and associated toxins and taste-and-odor compounds; and (2) developing and evaluating surrogate models that use water-quality samples and continuously measured physiochemical properties to estimate concentrations or probability of occurrence of water-quality constituents that are not easily measured in real time.
Science and Products
Effect of Water-Injection Dredging (WID) Operations on Water Quality Downstream from Tuttle Creek Reservoir
USGS continuous water-quality monitoring and discrete sampling is an integral component for understanding pre-, during, and post-WID water-quality conditions and the impacts on the surrounding ecosystems.
Water-Quality Monitoring in the Lower Kansas River Basin
The Kansas River provides recreational and industrial uses, food procurement, groundwater recharge, irrigation, livestock water use, and drinking water to more than 950,000 people in northeastern Kansas. Water-quality concerns related to excessive chloride, bromide, nutrient, sediment, and bacteria concentrations have been identified by the State, several water suppliers that use the Kansas River...
Characterization of Potentially Toxic CyanoHAB Initiation in Slow-Moving Streams, Wetlands, and Oxbows
Targeted sampling in selected slow-moving streams, wetlands, and oxbows to receiving reservoirs and rivers will allow us to better characterize the hydrologic, water-quality, and biological conditions present during the formation and transport of potentially toxic cyanobacteria blooms.
Urban Water Quality Monitoring in Johnson County Kansas
Johnson County, a suburban part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, is one of the most populated counties in Kansas with 544,000 people in 2010, a 21 percent increase in population since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Located in northeastern Kansas, about one-half of the county is urban. Urban, industrial, and agricultural land uses affect the quality of streams and lakes in the...
Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins
Freshwater and marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) can occur anytime water use is impaired due to excessive accumulations of algae. In freshwater, the majority of HABs are caused by cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae). Cyanobacteria cause a multitude of water-quality concerns, including the potential to produce taste-and-odor causing compounds and toxins that are potent enough to poison...
Science and Products
Effect of Water-Injection Dredging (WID) Operations on Water Quality Downstream from Tuttle Creek Reservoir
USGS continuous water-quality monitoring and discrete sampling is an integral component for understanding pre-, during, and post-WID water-quality conditions and the impacts on the surrounding ecosystems.
Water-Quality Monitoring in the Lower Kansas River Basin
The Kansas River provides recreational and industrial uses, food procurement, groundwater recharge, irrigation, livestock water use, and drinking water to more than 950,000 people in northeastern Kansas. Water-quality concerns related to excessive chloride, bromide, nutrient, sediment, and bacteria concentrations have been identified by the State, several water suppliers that use the Kansas River...
Characterization of Potentially Toxic CyanoHAB Initiation in Slow-Moving Streams, Wetlands, and Oxbows
Targeted sampling in selected slow-moving streams, wetlands, and oxbows to receiving reservoirs and rivers will allow us to better characterize the hydrologic, water-quality, and biological conditions present during the formation and transport of potentially toxic cyanobacteria blooms.
Urban Water Quality Monitoring in Johnson County Kansas
Johnson County, a suburban part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, is one of the most populated counties in Kansas with 544,000 people in 2010, a 21 percent increase in population since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Located in northeastern Kansas, about one-half of the county is urban. Urban, industrial, and agricultural land uses affect the quality of streams and lakes in the...
Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins
Freshwater and marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) can occur anytime water use is impaired due to excessive accumulations of algae. In freshwater, the majority of HABs are caused by cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae). Cyanobacteria cause a multitude of water-quality concerns, including the potential to produce taste-and-odor causing compounds and toxins that are potent enough to poison...