Unified Interior Regions
Arizona
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Maricopa County Urban Stormwater Quality
Since 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (FCDMC), the city of Phoenix, and the city of Glendale, has been collecting, analyzing, and interpreting urban stormwater information from selected basins throughout the metropolitan Phoenix area. Water-resource managers and policy makers have used this information to determine...
Air Force Plant 44
Industrial activity at Air Force Plant 44 (AFP 44), a manufacturing facility located on property owned by the U.S. Air Force and operated by a major defense contractor, resulted in extensive contamination of groundwater with the industrial solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) and other organic compounds. The sole-source regional aquifer underlying AFP 44 provides potable water for municipal,...
Arizona Water Use
The Arizona Water Use program collects and estimates annual water withdrawals for the categories of irrigation, municipal, mining, thermoelectric-power, and drainage uses. The data for these categories are compiled for the Arizona Department of Water Resources groundwater basins outside of Active Management Areas.
USGS Data at Risk: Expanding Legacy Data Inventory and Preservation Strategies
As one of the largest and oldest science organizations in the world, USGS has produced more than a century of earth science data, much of which is currently unavailable to the greater scientific community due to inaccessible or obsolescent media, formats, and technology. Tapping this vast wealth of “dark data” requires 1) a complete inventory of legacy data and 2) methods and tools to...
Ecological Drought in Riparian Ecosystems
Drought is killing riparian trees along many rivers in the western United States. The cause can be increasing temperature or decreasing precipitation, flow or water-table elevation. At multiple locations we are relating water availability to physiological measurements of tree survival and water stress, such as ring width, carbon stable isotope ratio and branch hydraulic conductivity. These...
RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
The Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) seeks to assist U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other land management agencies in developing successful techniques for improving land condition in dryland ecosystems of the southwestern United States. Invasion by non-native species, wildfire, drought, and other disturbances are growing...
Erosion and Invasive Saltcedar
Formation of arroyos in the late 1800s greatly increased erosion across the southwestern United States. Since the 1930s, however, this erosion has decreased, partly because of bank stabilization by introduced saltcedar. With Isleta Pueblo Indian Nation, the Aquatic Systems Branch developed a new sediment dating method using saltcedar tree rings. We applied the method in a landmark study of...
Riparian Ecology
Riparian ecologists in the AS Branch study interactions among flow, channel change, and vegetation along rivers across the western United States and worldwide. Our work focuses on issues relevant to the management of water and public lands, including dam operation, climate change, invasive species, and ecological restoration. Investigations take place on a range of scales. For example,...
Science to Inform Riparian Ecosystem Restoration and Management
Throughout the world, riparian habitats have been dramatically modified from their natural condition. Dams, non-native species and climate change are often principal drivers of these changes, via their alteration of water and sediment regimes that determine key resources for riparian plants.
Large-scale streamflow experiments
Because the underlying cause of riparian system alteration is often attributed to the effects of dams on flow regime, managing flow releases, particularly high flows, from dams is an often-advocated approach to river and riparian restoration. Our work has focused on understanding effects of managed high flow releases (a.k.a., pulse flows, controlled floods) from dams along rivers in the lower...
Biological Invasions of Riparian Ecosystems
Beginning in the early twentieth century, non-native trees and shrubs, including tamarisk (also commonly known as saltcedar) and Russian-olive, were introduced to the United States for use as ornamental plants and in erosion-control plantings. These plants spread extensively, becoming the third and fourth most frequently occurring woody riparian plants in the American West.
Streamflow-fluvial Geomorphology-riparian Vegetation Interactions
The foundation for applying science to river and riparian restoration contexts lies in a basic understanding of the factors that drive riparian vegetation dynamics. Much of our research is focused on clarifying relationships between streamflow, fluvial geomorphology, and riparian vegetation, including various feedbacks.
Geohydrology and effects of water use in the Black Mesa area, Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations, Arizona
The N aquifer is the main source of water in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in the Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations in northeastern Arizona. The N aquifer consists of the Navajo Sandstone and parts of the underlying Kayenta Formation and Wingate Sandstone of Jurassic and Triassic age. Maximum saturated thickness of the aquifer is about 1...
Eychaner, James H.
Annual summary of ground-water conditions in Arizona, Spring 1981 to Spring 1982
The withdrawal of ground water was about 5.4 million acre-feet in Arizona in 1981, which is about 800,000 acre-feet more than the amount withdrawn in 1980. Most of the increase in 1981 was in the amount of ground water used for irrigation in the Basin and Range lowlands province. Through 1981, slightly more than 189 million acre-feet of ground...
Shallow subsurface temperatures and some estimates of heat flow from the Colorado Plateau of northeastern Arizona
Temperature data to depths of a few hundred meters were obtained from 29 wells in northeastern Arizona; 12 in the region surrounding the San Francisco Volcanic Field, 8 in the Black Mesa area, and 9 in the south-central Colorado Plateau which includes the White Mountains. Although there was evidence for local hydrologic disturbances in many...
Sass, J.H.; Stone, Claudia; Bills, D.J.
Annual summary of ground-water conditions in Arizona, spring 1979 to spring 1980
Withdrawal of ground water, about 4.0 million acre-feet in Arizona in 1979, is about 200,000 acre-feet less than the amount withdrawn in 1978. The withdrawals in 1978 and 1979 are the smallest since the mid-1950 's except in 1966. Nearly all the decrease was in the amount of ground water used for irrigation in the Basin and Range lowlands province...
Geohydrology and effects of water use in the Black Mesa area, Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations, Arizona
The main source of water in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area is the N aquifer, which consists of the Navajo Sandstone and underlying Kayenta Formation and Wingate Sandstone. Water is under confined conditions in the central 3,300 square miles. Transmissivity is less than 1,000 feet squared per day. Storage coefficient is less than 0.0004 in...
Eychaner, James H.
Maps Showing Ground-Water Conditions in the San Francisco Peaks Area, Coconino County, Arizona - 1979
INTRODUCTION The San Francisco Peaks area includes about 2,300 mi2, of which about 500 mi2 is in the Navajo Indian Reservation, in north-central Arizona. Ground-water development has been slight except for the public-supply wells for Flagstaff and domestic wells in Fort Valley, Pitman Valley, and the area west of Elden Mountain. The public...
Appel, Cynthia L.; Bills, Donald J.
Annual summary of ground-water conditions in Arizona, spring 1978 to spring 1979
In 1978 the withdrawal of ground water was about 4.2 million acre-feet in Arizona, and slightly more than 3.4 million acre-feet of ground water was used for the irrigation of crops. The amount of ground water withdrawn in 1978 decreased more than 1.2 million acre-feet from the amount withdrawn in 1977 and is the smallest amount withdrawn since the...
Map showing ground-water conditions in the Canyon Diablo area, Coconino and Navajo Counties, Arizona - 1979
The Canyon Diablo area includes about 1,400 square miles in northeastern Arizona. The main source of ground water is the Coconino aquifer, which includes the Kaibab Limestone, the Cononino Sandstone, and the upper member of the Supai Formation. In places the alluvium and volcanic rocks yield water to wells and springs. Information on the map...
Appel, Cynthia L.; Bills, Donald J.
Annual summary of ground-water conditions in Arizona, spring 1977 to spring 1978
The withdrawal of ground water was about 5.5 million acre-feet in Arizona in 1977. About 4.7 million acre-feet of ground water was used for the irrigation of crops in 1977. The Salt River Valley and the lower Santa Cruz basin are the largest agricultural areas in the State. For 1973-77, ground-water withdrawal in the two areas was about 8.1 and 5....
Progress report on Black Mesa monitoring program; 1977
Monitoring of coal mine operations on Black Mesa, Ariz., was started in 1971 to determine the effects of strip mining on water resources in the area. Monitoring on and near the mesa includes measurements of ground-water levels and quality and quantity, sediment concentration, and chemical quality of surface water. The surface-water monitoring...
Analog simulation of the ground-water system, Yuma, Arizona
Patten, E.P.
Annual summary of ground-water conditions in Arizona, spring 1975 to spring 1976
Two small-scale maps of Arizona show (1) pumpage of ground water by areas and (2) the status of the ground-water inventory in the State. A larger map of the State at a scale of 1:500,000 shows potential well production, depth to water in selected wells in spring 1976, and change in water level in selected wells from 1971 to 1976. The brief text...
Babcock, H.M.
Explaining Flood Measurements
Explaning why USGS streamgagers make discharge measurements.
Measuring Low Flow in San Pedro River
Measuring low flow in the San Pedro River with flume.
Streamflow Measurement, Pinto Creek, AZ (Jan 2010)
USGS streamgagers, Mike Sanders, Arthur Rees, and Mike Schilling, are servicing the Pinto Creek near Miami, Arizona streamflow gaging station and making a streamflow measurement on January 28, 2010. Flow was measured to be 207 cubic feet per second (CFS) on the 28th but peaked earlier on the 22nd at an estimated 7,400 cfs. Debris from the flood flow can be seen in trees
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USGS Measurement, Salt River (January 2010 )
USGS streamgagers, Mike Sanders and Henry Sanger are servicing the, Salt River near Roosevelt, Arizona streamflow gaging station and making a streamflow measurement on January 22, 2010. Flow was measured to be 44,500 cubic feet per second (CFS) on the 22th but peaked earlier on the 22nd at an estimated 88,000 cfs. The measurement was made from the cableway just downstream
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Streamflow Measurement, Rillito Creek AZ (Jan 2010)
USGS employees, John Hoffmann, Corey Salmond, Robert Fritzinger, and Chris Smith are being interviewed by Naomi Pescovitz from KVOA on January 22, 2010. Robert Fritzinger and Corey Salmond are making a streamflow measurement at Rillito Creek at La Cholla BLVD near Tucson streamflow gaging station. The updated peak was 1,360 cubic feet per second (CFS) on January 22, 2010.
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Jurassic Rocks in Arizona
Gordon Haxel (USGS, Flagstaff) explains the Jurassic geology of the Baboquivari Mountains, Arizona. Kitt Peak, Arizona, November 2009. Bob Powell (USGS, Tucson) holds the map.
The former Pigeon Mine in northern Arizona
The former Pigeon Mine in northern Arizona is seen here looking towards the northeast.
Uranium levels in Pigeon Spring, just north of the Grand Canyon, are likely due to a natural source of uranium and not related to the nearby former Pigeon Mine, according to a recent study by the USGS.
Pigeon Canyon in northern Arizona
Here, Pigeon Spring emerges in Pigeon Canyon just before it merges with Snake Gulch in northern Arizona.
Uranium levels in Pigeon Spring, just north of the Grand Canyon, are likely due to a natural source of uranium and not related to the nearby former Pigeon Mine, according to a recent study by the USGS.
Boundary Monument 75E, Southeastern Arizona - 2009
An anti-vehicle barricade has been constructed across this section of the international boundary. Grass cover has increased in the foreground, providing evidence of the site’s grassland connection. (Raymond M. Turner)
WERC A Silky Flycatcher with a Mistletoe Berry
A female silky flycatcher with a mistletoe berry in her beak. These flycatchers are intimately tied to mistletoe. They build their beautiful cup nests (much like a large hummingbird nest) within the mistletoe, or nearby. The young hatch during February when the mistletoe may be in flower and supply a rich source of insect nutrients for growing young. The rest of the year,
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Grand Canyon sand
Grand Canyon sand was photographed with a hand-held point-and-shoot camera in a waterproof housing.
Intersex in smallmouth and largemouth basses is widespread in numerous river basins throughout the United States is the major finding of the most comprehensive and large-scale evaluation of the condition, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research published online in Aquatic Toxicology.
A report on long-term glacier measurements released today by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar shows that glaciers are dramatically changing in mass, length and thickness as a result of climate change.
U.S. Geological Survey scientists and cartographers played an important but relatively unknown role during the Apollo 11 moon landing 40 years ago this week. USGS astrogeologists trained the Apollo astronauts in the science and strategy of field geology.
Critical science support for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched today from Cape Canaveral, Florida, will help pave the way for further human and robotic exploration of the Moon. U.S. Geological Survey scientists are providing unique knowledge and skills as members of the science teams operating instruments on LRO.
The U.S. Geological Survey will conduct scientific overflights at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, during Memorial Day weekend to document the status of natural and cultural resources along the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. Aerial photographs will be taken using two fixed-wing aircraft flying at an elevation about 7,000 feet above ground level.
Adult endangered humpback chub (Gila cypha) in Grand Canyon, Arizona, increased by about 50 percent between 2001 and 2008, according to analysis recently conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey. The upward trend reverses population declines from 1989 to 2001.
U.S. Geological Survey scientists will brief reporters by phone at 3:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time/12:00 pm Mountain Standard Time. Monday, April 27, on the latest population numbers for the humpback chub (Gila cypha) in Grand Canyon, Arizona.
Volunteers across the nation are being recruited to get outdoors and help track the effects of climate on seasonal changes in plant and animal behavior.
The USA-National Phenology Network (USA-NPN), a consortium of government, academic and citizen-scientists, is launching a new national program built on volunteer observations of flowering, fruiting and other seasonal events.
Unique fractures in lavas on ancient Mars suggest water occasionally flooded portions of the planet's surface.
The fractures, known as "columnar joints", are the first that have been observed on a planet other than Earth.
Astrogeologists at the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff provided critical datasets used in the latest release of Google Earth. The updated software enables users to explore Mars in high detail.
"Without the ability to accurately co-align data sets, applications like Google Earth would not be nearly as useful," said Trent Hare, a GIS expert with the USGS Astrogeology Team.
Dr. Julio Betancourt, a U.S. Geological Survey senior scientist, was recently awarded a prestigious 2008 Presidential Rank Award. Betancourt, who has conducted groundbreaking research in how climate variability affects ecosystems, is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona, where he received his graduate degrees.
Local planetary geologist Chris Okubo is on a mission to understand the past roles of groundwater and faulting on Mars by studying similar locations on Earth. Okubo works in the Astrogeology Research Program for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Flagstaff.
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Locations
Astrogeology Science Center
Phone: 928-556-7000
Fax: 928-556-7014
Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
Western Geographic Science Center - Tucson Project Office
Western Geographic Science Center - Flagstaff Project Office
Arizona Water Science Center, Tucson Office
Phone: (520) 670-6671
Fax: (520) 670-5592
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO)
yvowebteam@usgs.gov
Phone: 360-993-8906
Southwest Biological Science Center - Flagstaff, AZ, Research Station
Phone: 928-556-7094
Fax: 928-556-7092
Southwest Biological Science Center - Tucson, AZ, Research Station
Phone: (520) 670-6671
Fax: (520) 670-5592
Arizona Water Science Center, Flagstaff Office
Phone: (928) 556-7136
Fax: (928) 556-7112
Arizona Water Science Center, Tempe Office
Phone: (480) 736-1093
Fax: (480) 736-1356
Arizona Water Science Center, Yuma Office
Phone: (928) 782-6024
Fax: (928) 782-0268