Zeno Levy, Ph.D.
I am a groundwater hydrologist and geochemist at the California Water Science Center specializing in drinking-water resources.
I work primarily on the California State Water Resources Control Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) program. My research deals with understanding hydrologic and geochemical factors driving changes in groundwater-resource quality over time. To accomplish this, I develop novel research integrating basic hydrogeochemical methods with “big data” statistical learning techniques. I develop computational tools to query large, geochemical databases and characterize regional drivers of groundwater-quality trends. I am interested in identifying specific processes with broad transfer value that can help to forecast the fate drinking-water resources to extreme precipitation and drought.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 18
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced Subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley, California Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced Subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley, California
Summary More than 2 million Californians rely on groundwater from privately owned domestic wells for drinking-water supply. This report summarizes a water-quality survey of domestic and small-system drinking-water supply wells in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley where more than 78,000 residents are estimated to use privately owned domestic wells...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Mariia Balkan, Jennifer L. Shelton
Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California
The penetration depth of post-1950s recharge (D-1950) in aquifers is a marker that is frequently used to identify groundwater that is susceptible to anthropogenic contamination. Here, we compute D-1950 values at wells, interpolate them in space, and project them across time to map the moving front of modern recharge in four dimensions in the Central Valley aquifer system, California, USA...
Authors
Kirsten Faulkner, Bryant Jurgens, Stefan Voss, Danielle Dupuy, Zeno Levy
Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021 Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021
Depressional wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America have a long history of investigation owing to their importance in maintaining migratory-bird populations, especially waterfowl. One area of particularly intensive study is the Cottonwood Lake study area in Stutsman County, North Dakota. Studies at the Cottonwood Lake study area began in 1967 and continue through the...
Authors
David M. Mushet, Ned H. Euliss, Donald O. Rosenberry, James W. LaBaugh, Sheel Bansal, Zeno F. Levy, Owen P. McKenna, Kyle McLean, Christopher T. Mills, Brian P. Neff, Richard D. Nelson, Matthew J. Solensky, Brian Tangen
Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought
Drought-induced pumpage has precipitated dramatic groundwater-level declines in California’s Central Valley over the past 30 years, but the impacts of aquifer overdraft on water quality are poorly understood. This study coupled over 160,000 measurements of nitrate from ∼6,000 public-supply wells with a 30-year reconstruction of groundwater levels throughout the Central Valley to evaluate...
Authors
Zeno Levy, Bryant Jurgens, Karen R. Burow, Stefan Voss, Kirsten Faulkner, Jose Alfredo Arroyo-Lopez, Miranda S. Fram
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and provides increased public access to groundwater-quality...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Mariia Balkan, Jennifer L. Shelton
Geologic influences on the quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern Sierra Nevada Foothills Geologic influences on the quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern Sierra Nevada Foothills
Approximately 2 million California residents depend on groundwater from domestic wells for their drinking-water supply. The State of California, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP) to assess the quality of groundwater used for domestic supply throughout the state and...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Miranda S. Fram
Non-USGS Publications**
Levy ZF, Rosenberry DO, Moucha R, Mushet DM, Goldhaber MB, LaBaugh JW, Fiorentino AJ, Siegel DI. 2018. Drought-induced recharge promotes long-term storage of porewater salinity beneath a prairie wetland. Journal of Hydrology 557: 391-406, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.12.005.
Levy ZF, Mills CT, Lu Z, Goldhaber MB, Rosenberry DO, Mushet DM, Lautz LK, Zhou X, Siegel DI. 2018. Using halogens (Cl, Br, I) to understand the hydrogeochemical evolution of drought-derived saline porewater beneath a prairie wetland. Chemical Geology 476: 191-207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.11.017.
Levy ZF, Siegel DI, Glaser PH, Samson SD, Dasgupta SS. 2016. Peat porewaters have contrasting geochemical fingerprints for groundwater recharge and discharge due to matrix diffusion in a large, northern bog-fen complex. Journal of Hydrology 541: 941-951, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.08.001.
Levy ZF, Smardon RC, Bays JS, Meyer D. 2014. A Point Source of a Different Color: Identifying a Gap in United States Regulatory Policy for “Green” CSO Treatment Using Constructed Wetlands. Sustainability 6(5): 2392-2412, https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su6052392.
Levy ZF, Siegel DI, Dasgupta SS, Glaser PH, Welker JM. 2014. Stable isotopes of water show deep seasonal recharge in northern bogs and fens. Hydrological Processes 228: 4938-4952, https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9983.
**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.
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 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
This data release documents 155 sets of dissolved noble gas analyses (neon, argon, krypton, xenon) and 153 modeled recharge temperatures for groundwater sampled from domestic water supply wells and springs throughout the northern Sierra Nevada foothills as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program in 2015...
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 18
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced Subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley, California Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced Subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley, California
Summary More than 2 million Californians rely on groundwater from privately owned domestic wells for drinking-water supply. This report summarizes a water-quality survey of domestic and small-system drinking-water supply wells in the Modesto, Turlock, and Merced subbasins of the San Joaquin Valley where more than 78,000 residents are estimated to use privately owned domestic wells...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Mariia Balkan, Jennifer L. Shelton
Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California
The penetration depth of post-1950s recharge (D-1950) in aquifers is a marker that is frequently used to identify groundwater that is susceptible to anthropogenic contamination. Here, we compute D-1950 values at wells, interpolate them in space, and project them across time to map the moving front of modern recharge in four dimensions in the Central Valley aquifer system, California, USA...
Authors
Kirsten Faulkner, Bryant Jurgens, Stefan Voss, Danielle Dupuy, Zeno Levy
Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021 Lessons learned from wetlands research at the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, 1967–2021
Depressional wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America have a long history of investigation owing to their importance in maintaining migratory-bird populations, especially waterfowl. One area of particularly intensive study is the Cottonwood Lake study area in Stutsman County, North Dakota. Studies at the Cottonwood Lake study area began in 1967 and continue through the...
Authors
David M. Mushet, Ned H. Euliss, Donald O. Rosenberry, James W. LaBaugh, Sheel Bansal, Zeno F. Levy, Owen P. McKenna, Kyle McLean, Christopher T. Mills, Brian P. Neff, Richard D. Nelson, Matthew J. Solensky, Brian Tangen
Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought Critical aquifer overdraft accelerates degradation of groundwater quality in California’s Central Valley during drought
Drought-induced pumpage has precipitated dramatic groundwater-level declines in California’s Central Valley over the past 30 years, but the impacts of aquifer overdraft on water quality are poorly understood. This study coupled over 160,000 measurements of nitrate from ∼6,000 public-supply wells with a 30-year reconstruction of groundwater levels throughout the Central Valley to evaluate...
Authors
Zeno Levy, Bryant Jurgens, Karen R. Burow, Stefan Voss, Kirsten Faulkner, Jose Alfredo Arroyo-Lopez, Miranda S. Fram
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and provides increased public access to groundwater-quality...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Mariia Balkan, Jennifer L. Shelton
Geologic influences on the quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern Sierra Nevada Foothills Geologic influences on the quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern Sierra Nevada Foothills
Approximately 2 million California residents depend on groundwater from domestic wells for their drinking-water supply. The State of California, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP) to assess the quality of groundwater used for domestic supply throughout the state and...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Miranda S. Fram
Non-USGS Publications**
Levy ZF, Rosenberry DO, Moucha R, Mushet DM, Goldhaber MB, LaBaugh JW, Fiorentino AJ, Siegel DI. 2018. Drought-induced recharge promotes long-term storage of porewater salinity beneath a prairie wetland. Journal of Hydrology 557: 391-406, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.12.005.
Levy ZF, Mills CT, Lu Z, Goldhaber MB, Rosenberry DO, Mushet DM, Lautz LK, Zhou X, Siegel DI. 2018. Using halogens (Cl, Br, I) to understand the hydrogeochemical evolution of drought-derived saline porewater beneath a prairie wetland. Chemical Geology 476: 191-207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.11.017.
Levy ZF, Siegel DI, Glaser PH, Samson SD, Dasgupta SS. 2016. Peat porewaters have contrasting geochemical fingerprints for groundwater recharge and discharge due to matrix diffusion in a large, northern bog-fen complex. Journal of Hydrology 541: 941-951, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.08.001.
Levy ZF, Smardon RC, Bays JS, Meyer D. 2014. A Point Source of a Different Color: Identifying a Gap in United States Regulatory Policy for “Green” CSO Treatment Using Constructed Wetlands. Sustainability 6(5): 2392-2412, https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su6052392.
Levy ZF, Siegel DI, Dasgupta SS, Glaser PH, Welker JM. 2014. Stable isotopes of water show deep seasonal recharge in northern bogs and fens. Hydrological Processes 228: 4938-4952, https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9983.
**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.
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 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
This data release documents 155 sets of dissolved noble gas analyses (neon, argon, krypton, xenon) and 153 modeled recharge temperatures for groundwater sampled from domestic water supply wells and springs throughout the northern Sierra Nevada foothills as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program in 2015...