Zeno Levy, Ph.D.
I am a hydrogeologist and geochemist at the California Water Science Center specializing in drinking water resources and groundwater-surface water interactions.
I work primarily on the California State Water Resources Control Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) program. I am interested in understanding how climate-driven groundwater recharge and discharge processes impact the hydrology and geochemistry of wetlands and drinking water resources. I specialize in low-temperature, aqueous geochemistry and utilize a wide variety of naturally occurring hydrologic tracers, including: major ions, trace halogens, stable isotopes of water, and dissolved noble gases. I couple these tracer suites with physical hydrology, geochemical modeling (equilibrium and reactive transport), and geoelectrical methods to better understand porefluid evolution and transport in space and time. While my work fundamentally engages a process-based understanding of pore- to landform-scale water system functions, I am interested in identifying specific processes with landscape-scale transfer value that can help to forecast the fate of wetlands and drinking water resources to changes in climate.
Science and Products
Groundwater Ambient Monitoring & Assessment (GAMA)
Environmental chemistry from selected sites in Lakeport, Lake County, California (version 1.1, August 2023)
Compilation of Public-Supply Well Construction Depths in California
Groundwater-quality data in the Modesto-Turlock-Merced Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit, 2020-2021: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Groundwater-quality data in the Northern San Joaquin Valley Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit, 2019: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Grid Cells and Modeled Groundwater Levels to Characterize Hydrologic Conditions for Public-supply Aquifers in California's Central Valley, 1990-2020
Potential Explanatory Factors for Groundwater Quality in the Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills Domestic-Aquifer Assessment Study Units, 2015-2017: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Dissolved Noble Gas Concentrations and Modeled Recharge Temperatures for Groundwater from Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills Shallow Aquifer Assessment Study Units, 2015-2017: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Mojave Basin Domestic-Supply Aquifer study unit, 2018—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Basin-scale responses of groundwater-resource quality to drought and recovery, San Joaquin Valley, California
Salinity trends in a groundwater system supplemented by 50 years of imported Colorado River water
Comparing domestic and public-supply groundwater quality in the northern San Joaquin Valley, 2019—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Quality of groundwater used for domestic drinking-water supply in the Coachella Valley, 2020
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced Subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley, California
Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California
Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021
Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills domestic-supply aquifer study units, 2015–17—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Geologic influences on the quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern Sierra Nevada Foothills
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Groundwater Ambient Monitoring & Assessment (GAMA)
Environmental chemistry from selected sites in Lakeport, Lake County, California (version 1.1, August 2023)
Compilation of Public-Supply Well Construction Depths in California
Groundwater-quality data in the Modesto-Turlock-Merced Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit, 2020-2021: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Groundwater-quality data in the Northern San Joaquin Valley Domestic-Supply Aquifer Study Unit, 2019: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Grid Cells and Modeled Groundwater Levels to Characterize Hydrologic Conditions for Public-supply Aquifers in California's Central Valley, 1990-2020
Potential Explanatory Factors for Groundwater Quality in the Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills Domestic-Aquifer Assessment Study Units, 2015-2017: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Dissolved Noble Gas Concentrations and Modeled Recharge Temperatures for Groundwater from Northern Sierra Nevada Foothills Shallow Aquifer Assessment Study Units, 2015-2017: Results from the California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Mojave Basin Domestic-Supply Aquifer study unit, 2018—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Basin-scale responses of groundwater-resource quality to drought and recovery, San Joaquin Valley, California
Salinity trends in a groundwater system supplemented by 50 years of imported Colorado River water
Comparing domestic and public-supply groundwater quality in the northern San Joaquin Valley, 2019—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Quality of groundwater used for domestic drinking-water supply in the Coachella Valley, 2020
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced Subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley, California
Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California
Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021
Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills domestic-supply aquifer study units, 2015–17—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Geologic influences on the quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern Sierra Nevada Foothills
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.