Images

A USGS mobile laboratory vehicle out in the field before dawn near the Lynnwood monitoring site: S F Shenandoah River Near Lynnwood, VA - USGS Water Data for the Nation

The North Fork Shenandoah River near the Lynnwood monitoring station at dawn.

This photo was taken as a part of the Shenandoah River HABs Project.

Accotink Creek is an urban stream in Fairfax County, Virginia. Like many urban streams, its banks are heavily eroded, and that eroded sediment is transported downstream. This impacts downstream water quality and contributes to lake sedimentation in Lake Accotink.

Accotink Creek is an urban creek and a tributary of Lake Accotink. Accotink Creek suffers from high rates of streambank erosion, which causes the steep, unstable banks seen on the far side of the creek in the above image.

Water quality samples collected at USGS monitoring station 01628500 - S F Shenandoah River Near Lynnwood, VA.

USGS staff preparing to deploy a bedload sampler.

What is bedload?

USGS staff retrieving a bedload sampler from a riverbed.

What is bedload?

USGS staff preparing to deploy a bedload sampler into the river below.

What is bedload?

USGS staff preparing to deploy a bedload sampler.

What is bedload?

USGS geologists document potential paleoliquefaction features from past seismicity at the southernmost edge of the Central Virginia Seismic Zone. Radiocarbon data suggest these features along Fountain Creek near Skippers, VA may be related to an earthquake that occurred near Petersburg, VA in the late 1700s.

Fountain Creek, Skippers, Virginia

Upper Accotink Creek is the longer of the of two streams that feed Lake Accotink. The USGS has been monitoring water quality in Accokink Creek since 2011, and has been monitoring water depth in the creek as far back as 1947.

Upper Accotink Creek is the longer of the of two streams that feed Lake Accotink. The USGS has been monitoring water quality in Accokink Creek since 2011, and has been monitoring water depth in the creek as far back as 1947.

The Landslide Observation Dashboard, a multi-agency effort to map where landslides have occurred in the southern Appalachian Mountains, launched September 30, 2024, as a “timely best science” provisional interface that can be used by the general public and local authorities as they prioritize resources. 

U.S. Geological Survey landslide experts conduct an aerial reconnaissance flight October 3, 2024, over the southern Appalachian Mountains to get a better understanding of the extent and severity of landslide impacts in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which brought widespread flooding and destruction. (USGS photo by Ben Mirus). 

The Lake Accotink dam. 

Lake Accotink is a 55-acre lake that is greatly valued to the local community. High sediment loads puts this lake at risk of becoming a wetland if not regularly dredged.

Lake Accotink is a 55-acre lake that is greatly valued to the local community. High sediment loads puts this lake at risk of becoming a wetland if not regularly dredged.

The Lake Accotink dam. 

Lake Accotink is a 55-acre lake that is greatly valued to the local community. High sediment loads puts this lake at risk of becoming a wetland if not regularly dredged.

The South Fork of the Shenandoah River during a harmful algal bloom (HAB) event. A USGS scientist wades into the river to collect readings. Mats of algae float at the surface while filamentous algae coats the riverbed.

The USGS and local partners hosted a meeting at the War Branch monitoring station to share water-quality and conservation work happening in the watershed with farmers, environmental and agricultural agencies, nonprofit groups, and local universities.

USGS scientists Jimmy Webber and Dan Burns explain how water quality equipment is used to take measurements at War Branch and other monitoring stations.

A groundwater sample taken from a shallow piezometer near USGS surface water monitoring station 01634000 near Strausburg.