Unified Interior Regions
District of Columbia
Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States is located in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. East Coast and had an estimated population of 672,228 as of July 2015. The Potomac River forms the District's border with Virginia and has two major tributaries: the Anacostia River and Rock Creek.The District has 7,464 acres of parkland, occupying about 19% of the city's total area.
Maryland - Delaware - Washington D.C. Water Science Center
5522 Research Park Drive
Catonsville, MD 21228
Phone: 443-498-5500
Fax: 442-498-5510
States L2 Landing Page Tabs
Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States is located in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. East Coast and had an estimated population of 672,228 as of July 2015. The Potomac River forms the District's border with Virginia and has two major tributaries: the Anacostia River and Rock Creek.The District has 7,464 acres of parkland, occupying about 19% of the city's total area.
News
Interagency Statement: USGS and Partners Investigating DC Area Bird Mortality Event
In late May, wildlife managers in Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia began receiving reports of sick and dying birds with eye swelling and crusty discharge, as well as neurological signs. No definitive cause of death is identified at this time.
USGS Field Crews Document Isaias' Effects Along Atlantic Coast
To learn more about USGS’s role in providing science to decision makers before, during, and after Hurricane Isaias, visit the USGS Hurricane Isaias page at https://www.usgs.gov/isaias.
Assessment of Mercury Bioaccumulation in US National Parks Using Citizen Science
A team of federal, academic, and NGO researchers conducted a national-scale assessment of mercury bioaccumulation in aquatic ecosystems using dragonfly larvae as biosentinels.
Publications
The value of US coral reefs for flood risk reduction
Habitats, such as coral reefs, can mitigate increasing flood damages through coastal protection services. We provide a fine-scale, national valuation of the flood risk reduction benefits of coral habitats to people, property, economies and infrastructure. Across 3,100 km of US coastline, the top-most 1 m of coral reefs prevents the 100-yr flood...
Reguero, Borja G.; Storlazzi, Curt; Gibbs, Ann E.; Shope, James B.; Cole, Aaron D.; Cumming, Kristen A.; Beck, Mike Amplification of earthquake ground motions in Washington, DC, and implications for hazard assessments in central and eastern North America
The extent of damage in Washington, DC, from the 2011 Mw 5.8 Mineral, VA, earthquake was surprising for an epicenter 130 km away; U.S. Geological Survey “Did-You-Feel-It” reports suggest that Atlantic Coastal Plain and other unconsolidated sediments amplified ground motions in the city. We measure this amplification relative to...
Pratt, Thomas L.; Horton, J. Wright; Munoz, Jessica; Hough, Susan E.; Chapman, Martin C.; Olgun, C. Guney
U.S. Geological Survey Chesapeake science strategy, 2015-2025—Informing ecosystem management of America’s largest estuary
Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has the critical role of providing scientific information to improve the understanding and management of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The USGS works with Federal, State, and academic science partners to provide research and monitoring, and communicate results of these activities to enhance...
Phillips, Scott; Blomquist, Joel D.; Phillips, Scott; Blomquist, Joel D.; Bennett, Mark; Berlin, Alicia; Blazer, Vicki; Claggett, Peter R.; Faulkner, Stephen; Hyer, Kenneth; Ladino, Cassandra; Moyer, Douglas; Muir, Rachel; Noe, Gregory B.; Phillips, Patrick J.
North Atlantic-Appalachian AI/ML Capabilities
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) includes a broad suite of flexible data-driven empirical approaches to perform tasks that are difficult to implement using conventional methods. AI and ML harness the power of computing resources to evaluate the underlying patterns and relationships within a dataset without explicit instructions.
The North Atlantic-Appalachian AI/...
Water Quality Watch for Maryland
Maryland's Water Quality Watch provides access to real time water-quality data collected in surface waters throughout the United States as part of the USGS mission to describe water resources. Measurements include streamflow (through WaterWatch) water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and nitrate.
2012 SPARROW Models for the Northeast: Total Phosphorus, Total Nitrogen, Suspended Sediment, and Streamflow
The 2012 SPAtially Referenced Regression On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) Models measure the damaging contaminants of phosphorus, nitrogen, and suspended sediment in streamflow throughout the Northeast United States. Through various types of watershed management practices, loads of nutrients and suspended sediment are significantly reduced within the stream network in impounded reaches, and...
MD-DE-DC Sample for Topic Page
This is a sample page to test for "TOPIC" type
Anacostia Water Quality Monitoring Project
The broad goal of the study is to significantly expand data collection at the Northeast Branch Anacostia and Northwest Branch Anacostia to include water-quality sampling and analysis for a wide suite of natural and anthropogenic constituents (nutrients, sediment, metals, bacteria, and organics such as PCBs and PAHs).
MD-DE-DC WSC Project #LF00BK4
MD-DE-DC WSC Water Use & Water Supply Capabilities
The MD-DE-DC WSC works with state and local agencies to collect, estimate, review, and compile water use information. Data are used in USGS groundwater and watershed models, and other USGS studies. The data are also compiled and incorporated into the USGS national estimates of water-use. WSC staff currently participate in various national water use projects focused on improving water use...
MD-DE-DC WSC Contaminant Fate and Transport Capabilities
The Contaminant Fate and Transport team conducts research on the transport and fate of contaminants in groundwater through the unsaturated and saturated zones using innovative and proven USGS methods. The team's research focuses on the often complex processes that affect contaminant fate and transport, and includes expertise in wetland environments. Performing both field and laboratory studies...
MD-DE-DC WSC Geomorphology and Sediment Studies Capabilities
Geomorphology is classified as the study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near the Earth's surface. Adding water creates a whole new dynamic known as Fluvial Morphology. Rivers and streams act as conduits of water along with sediment. As water flows over the channel bed, it is able to...
MD-DE-DC WSC Modeling Capabilities
USGS models are widely used to predict responses of hydrologic systems to changing stresses, such as increases in precipitation or ground-water pumping rates, as well as to predict the fate and movement of solutes and contaminants in water.
The USGS is at the forefront of devising new techniques and computer software to solve practical problems in the study of water resources....
MD-DE-DC WSC Laboratory Capabilities
The labs at the MD-DE-DC WSC are clean, well-stocked, and appointed with modern equipment and a highly talented staff. The three labs analyze samples, conduct controlled-environment chemical tests with GCMS in the Water Qualty lab. Scientists and technicians work with core samples and analyze soils in the Sediment Lab.
Our labs assure reliability, reproducibility, and high quality of...
MD-DE-DC Coding and Statistical Data Capabilities
This site is dedicated to Coding and Statistical Data that is produced and analyzed by scientists at the MD-DE-DC WSC. We use many tools at the USGS including software exclusively developed for, sometimes written by the USGS.
MD-DE-DC WSC Water Quality Capabilities
Water quality is a measure of the suitability of water for a particular use based on selected physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Water-quality monitoring is used to help water-resource managers understand and avert potential negative effects of man-made and natural stresses on water resources, evaluate trends, and compare to water-quality criteria.
One of our primary...
Domestic Wells in the United States
Domestic wells provide drinking water supply for approximately 40 million people in the United States. Knowing the location of these wells, and the populations they serve, is important for identifying heavily used aquifers, locations susceptible to contamination, and populations potentially impacted by poor-quality groundwater.
Coastal and Marine Geoscience Data System
Information about scientific data collected through field activities conducted by scientists in the USGS Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources program
National Water Information System (NWIS) Mapper
The NWIS mapper provides access to over 1.5 million sites contained in the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), including sites where current and historical surface-water, groundwater, springs, and atmospheric data has been collected. Users can search by site type, data type, site number, or place.
USGS Domestic Continuous (Unconventional) Oil & Gas Assessments, 2000-Present
Interactively explore assessment summary information for continuous (unconventional) assessments conducted at the USGS from 2000-2018. The assessment results data used to generate this visualization can be downloaded here in Excel Format. These data represent all assessment results...
Oblique Aerial Photography Viewer
Obique photos offer a unique perspective of the coast. Features such as beach erosion or accretion, dune erosion and overwash can all be clearly characterized in this imagery. It also documents coastal infrastructure, as well as the damage that infrastructure may incur as the result of an impacting hurricane.
National Water Information System web interface (NWISweb)
The National Water Information System (NWIS) web application provides access to real-time and historical surface-water, groundwater, water-quality, and water-use data collected at approximately 1.5 million sites across all 50 states.
Hurricane and Flood Response Map Viewer
The USGS Flood Event Viewer (FEV) is the public data discovery component of the Short-Term Network (STN) database. Data viewable and downloadable from this page are from the STN database. This application integrates with the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) database for display of time-series water data.
Structures Data
USGS data portray selected structures data, including the location and characteristics of manmade facilities. Characteristics consist of a structure's physical form (footprint), function, name, location, and detailed information about the structure. The types of structures collected are largely determined by the needs of the disaster planning and response and homeland security organizations....
Boundaries Data
Boundaries data or governmental units represent major civil areas including states, counties, Federal, and Native American lands, and incorporated places such as cities and towns.
Hydrography Data
The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) are used to portray surface water on The National Map.
The United States Interagency Elevation Inventory (USIEI)
The USIEI is a comprehensive, nationwide listing of known high-accuracy topographic and bathymetric data for the United States and its territories. The project is a collaborative effort of the USGS and NOAA with contributions from other federal agencies. The inventory supports the 3D Elevation Program and the Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping effort. This resource is updated in Spring and...
Elevation Data
The 3DEP products and services available through The National Map consist of lidar point clouds (LPC), standard digital elevation models (DEMs) at various horizontal resolutions, elevation source and associated datasets, an elevation point query service and bulk point query service. All 3DEP products are available, free of charge and without use restrictions.
Domestic wells provide drinking water supply for approximately 40 million people in the United States. Knowing the location of these wells, and the populations they serve, is important for identifying heavily used aquifers, locations susceptible to contamination, and populations potentially impacted by poor-quality groundwater.
This map shows the provinces assessed by the USGS for undiscovered oil and gas resources.
The 3DEP products and services available through The National Map consist of standard digital elevation models (DEMs) at various horizontal resolutions, elevation source and associated datasets, an elevation point query service and bulk point query service. All 3DEP products are available, free of charge and without use restrictions.
The value of US coral reefs for flood risk reduction
Habitats, such as coral reefs, can mitigate increasing flood damages through coastal protection services. We provide a fine-scale, national valuation of the flood risk reduction benefits of coral habitats to people, property, economies and infrastructure. Across 3,100 km of US coastline, the top-most 1 m of coral reefs prevents the 100-yr flood...
Reguero, Borja G.; Storlazzi, Curt; Gibbs, Ann E.; Shope, James B.; Cole, Aaron D.; Cumming, Kristen A.; Beck, Mike Amplification of earthquake ground motions in Washington, DC, and implications for hazard assessments in central and eastern North America
The extent of damage in Washington, DC, from the 2011 Mw 5.8 Mineral, VA, earthquake was surprising for an epicenter 130 km away; U.S. Geological Survey “Did-You-Feel-It” reports suggest that Atlantic Coastal Plain and other unconsolidated sediments amplified ground motions in the city. We measure this amplification relative to...
Pratt, Thomas L.; Horton, J. Wright; Munoz, Jessica; Hough, Susan E.; Chapman, Martin C.; Olgun, C. Guney U.S. Geological Survey Chesapeake science strategy, 2015-2025—Informing ecosystem management of America’s largest estuary
Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has the critical role of providing scientific information to improve the understanding and management of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The USGS works with Federal, State, and academic science partners to provide research and monitoring, and communicate results of these activities to enhance...
Phillips, Scott; Blomquist, Joel D.; Phillips, Scott; Blomquist, Joel D.; Bennett, Mark; Berlin, Alicia; Blazer, Vicki; Claggett, Peter R.; Faulkner, Stephen; Hyer, Kenneth; Ladino, Cassandra; Moyer, Douglas; Muir, Rachel; Noe, Gregory B.; Phillips, Patrick J.
Bird with Swollen Eyes and Discharge
This bird was found in the Washington, D.C. metro region with swollen eyes and crusty discharge, a sign observed on most birds affected by a May/June 2021 mortality event in the area.
The Essential Storm Drain Water Management
Why storm drains are essential to watershed management.
Chesapeake Bay Watershed boundary, USA
The Chesapeake Bay watershed, or draingage basin, encompasses six states - New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Deleware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A drainage basin is a giant system of creeks, streams, and rivers that all flow into a common outlet, which in this case is the Chesapeake Bay.
USGS Baltimore Office
USGS Baltimore Office
Measuring streamflow on Rock Creek after Hurricane Isaias
Fisseha Mengistu, USGS hydrologic technician, uses a device that lowers a water sampler into the creek below to collect samples used for water quality testing. Experts will be able to use this data to track how Tropical Storm Isaias impacted water quality in the area. This work was done on Rock Creek in Washington, D.C. Real-time data for this water quality site is
...
National Liaison Committee Meeting for the NWQP — Part 1
In these videos, speakers discuss upcoming changes to the USGS National Water Quality Program (NAWQA Project) and three new priority areas for the USGS Water Mission Area. Gary Rowe discusses plans for transitioning from current NAWQA Project activities to the new priority areas. Chad Wagner discusses plans for the Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS), which will
National Oil and Gas Assessment Provinces
This is a graphic from the USGS National Oil and Gas Assessment Explorer application, which allows user to drill into 70 oil and gas assessment provinces throughout the United States.
Satellite Image of the Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay Region
This Indian Space Research Organization LISS-3 image of the Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay region, acquired on January 25, 2017, shows the landscape along the densely populated U.S. East coast. Ecosystems and sea-level rise are among the regional landscape changes that satellite imagery helps to monitor.
Washington Monument in DC
Washington Monument in DC, with the cherry blossoms in bloom.
Discarded mylar balloons on display
Anna Ormiston and Jesi Hessong, student contractors with the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, or ARMI, display several discarded mylar balloon collected by field teams working in and around the Capital Region National Parks in the summer of 2015. They collected a total of 71 balloons.
Old Post Office Pavailion in Washington, DC
In this view from the Washington Monument, the Old Post Office Pavillion can be seen in the center of the image, surrounded by the red-roofed Federal office-buildings of the Federal Triangle.
District of Columbia War Memorial
The District of Columbia War Memorial commemorates the residents of DC that served in the First World War. It's made of marble and concrete and sits in the National Mall.
In late May, wildlife managers in Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia began receiving reports of sick and dying birds with eye swelling and crusty discharge, as well as neurological signs. No definitive cause of death is identified at this time.
To learn more about USGS’s role in providing science to decision makers before, during, and after Hurricane Isaias, visit the USGS Hurricane Isaias page at https://www.usgs.gov/isaias.
A team of federal, academic, and NGO researchers conducted a national-scale assessment of mercury bioaccumulation in aquatic ecosystems using dragonfly larvae as biosentinels.
There's a lot of talent at the Maryland, Delaware, Washington, DC Water Science Center!
We’ve created a series of websites, thematically named to characterize our work as our “Capabilities”, working interdependently with a diverse array of cooperative partners, the scientists, technicians, and support staff work tirelessly to produce the high-quality output for which the USGS is world renown.
Budget Focuses on Bringing Science, Facilities, and Infrastructure into the 21st Century
A new study finds that a high density of green stormwater infrastructure can provide enhanced mitigation of peak flows and runoff volumes compared to large, detention-based stormwater control practices.
A new report and map published by the U.S. Geological Survey provides critical insight to electric power grid operators across the northeastern United States in the event of a once-per-century magnetic superstorm.
Are you attending the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting this year in D.C.? Don't miss these presentations from staff and partners from across the CASC network!
A carbonatite here, a glacial moraine there, a zig-zagging fault or two, even a behemoth of a batholith. The geology of the 50 States is an enormous patchwork of varied forms, beautiful in their variance but challenging to present as a single map.
Low- and no-oxygen area threatens crabs, oysters, fish
A regional assessment of untreated groundwater in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system in the eastern United States is now available from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Threats to groundwater availability and sustainability in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain are dependent to a large degree by the type of aquifers used for water supply, according to a new regional assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Social Media
Locations
MD-DE-DC Water Science Center
information@usgs.gov
Phone: 443-498-5500
Fax: 442-498-5510
MD-DE-DC WSC: Delaware Field Office
lrlanham@usgs.gov
Phone: 443-498-5500
Contacts
Maryland - Delaware - Washington D.C. Water Science Center
5522 Research Park Drive
Catonsville, MD 21228
Phone: 443-498-5500
Fax: 442-498-5510