Unified Interior Regions
Region 3: Great Lakes
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
For more information on the Great Lakes and work being done, check out the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative website here!
GLRIUSGS Science Centers in the Great Lakes Region
For more information on what each center is doing in the Great Lakes, please follow the links below!
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center
Upper Midwest Water Science Center
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
Ohio Microbiology Program - Analytical Services
The Ohio Water Microbiology Laboratory (OWML) offers a wide-range of sample analyses, media, and other microbiological supplies for USGS Water Science Centers across the nation. Analyses include quantification of standard bacterial indicators and other bacteria in water or sediment, and quantification or detection of coliphage in water. Other analyses can be performed at the OWML, but...
Ohio Microbiology Program - About Us
The MI-OH Water Microbiology Laboratories provide microbiological data of public-health significance from surface waters, ground waters, and sediments for a variety of study objectives.
Ohio Microbiology Program - Laboratory Capabilities
Indicator bacteria are routinely measured by means of membrane-filtration or liquid broth most-probable number techniques. Find out more about the analytical methods used for standard bacterial indicators.
Ohio Microbiology Program - Home
The U.S. Geological Survey MI-OH Water Science Center Microbiology Laboratories in Lansing, Michigan and Columbus, Ohio address water-related public-health concerns across the Nation using traditional and cutting-edge analytical approaches. The laboratories work with government agencies, academic institution, and regional and local partners to study the processes and anthropogenic influences...
Correlating seasonal trends and occupancy of bigheaded carp eDNA to land use and stream characteristics
The results of this study will advance our understanding of environmental DNA (eDNA) and how eDNA signatures change as fish behavior changes over the course of the open water season. This will further develop eDNA as an easy sampling method to collect information about invading populations or cryptic species that are difficult to capture so that resource managers can be given better...
Use of antimycin-microparticles and alfalfa to control Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella
Since their introduction in the 1960’s, grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) have spread across the North American continent as far north as the U.S./Canadian border in the Great Lakes. Grass carp are an herbivorous species and can significantly reduce the amount of macrophytes and other plant material in a body of water. Subsequently, this can lead to many detrimental effects for...
Conservation Farming Relating to Water-Quality and Quantity
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservations Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have focused part of the...
Low-Flow Statistics for Indiana Streams
Indiana and Kentucky scientists have produced new low-flow statistics for Indiana streams, specifically for 7-day, 10-year low flow (7Q10); 30-day, 10-year low flow (30Q10); 1-day, 10-year low flow (1Q10); and harmonic mean streamflow. The low-flow statistics are critical for the state of Indiana to administer the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program,...
Invasive Carp
Adult bighead, silver, and hybrid carp are invavsive species of fish that spread quickly once they are established in a water body. These carp damage habitat and reduce water-quality for native fish. Invasive carp have been confirmed within the Wabash River basin for at least 15 years. Scientists and natural resource managers are extremely concerned about the carp migrating to the Great Lakes...
Ecological Monitoring
Scientists research biology, botany, microbiology, habitat, climate, water quality, and other fields to achieve a comprehensive view of ecosystems and their health. Ecosystems can be easily stressed by human activities, climate change, sediment, nutrients, contaminants, and many other variables. Ecosystem monitoring is critical to ecosystem health and answers important questions about the...
Pesticides
About 1 billion pounds of conventional pesticides are used each year in the United States to control weeds, insects, and other pests. The use of pesticides has resulted in a range of benefits, including increased food production and reduction of insect-borne disease, but also raises questions about possible adverse effects on the environment, including water quality. The...
Investigations and Monitoring of Mercury in Indiana
Starting in 2000, the U.S. Geological Survey partnered with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, and the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium to investigate and monitor mercury in the environment in Indiana. This web page provides a list of publications and links to statewide studies of mercury in Indiana and regional mercury...
Large-volume virus water sample filtration and collection system
Custom-designed, automated, large-volume virus water sample filtration and collection system at Underwood Creek, WI.
Surficial sediment collection on Wilson Park Creek, WI.
Surficial sediment collection on Wilson Park Creek, Milwaukee, WI.
PAMF Participation Cycle
This video describes the annual participation cycle for those enrolled in the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework (PAMF). PAMF encompasses three annual steps including enrolling, monitoring and managing. As participants employ management actions and submit monitoring reports they will receive management guidance generated by the PAMF model, which provides the most
PAMF Participation Cycle (Audio-Described)
This video describes the annual participation cycle for those enrolled in the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework (PAMF). PAMF encompasses three annual steps including enrolling, monitoring and managing. As participants employ management actions and submit monitoring reports they will receive management guidance generated by the PAMF model, which provides the most
Sunset on the Milwaukee River at Estabrook Park
Sunset on the Milwaukee River at Estabrook Park.
White River at Hazelton IN - downstream view of channel
White River at Hazelton IN - downstream view of channel
White River at Hazelton, IN - - downstream view of channel from bridge
White River at Hazelton, IN - downstream view of channel from bridge
Bedload sample collected from the Durand bridge
Bedload sample collected from the Durand bridge.
Red River at Oslo, MN (Streamgage 05083500)
USGS Hydrologic Technician Dan Thomas preparing to measure discharge using an acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) with a manned boat on the Red River at Oslo, MN (streamgage 05083500) on April 25, 2018. The ADCP measures water currents with sound, using a principle of sound waves called the Doppler effect. The ADCP works by transmitting "pings" of sound at a constant
...View of Durand Bridge and sampling crew from boat
View of Durand Bridge and sampling crew from boat during multibeam bathymetry survey.
Black River at Elyria, OH - high and fast moving water
Black River at Elyria, OH - high and fast moving water
At least one contaminant was found at levels of human-health concern in about one third of untreated groundwater samples collected from wells in the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system, according to a recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Streamflow levels are below normal across much of the Midwest states of Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and Wisconsin, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Many states are experiencing severe drought, such as Iowa, where flows are less than 25 percent of normal streamflow conditions for the majority of the state.
Free arsenic testing for private water wells in Licking County, Ohio is available at two public workshops, as part of a collaborative project by the U.S. Geological Survey, Licking County Health Department, Ohio Water Development Authority, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio Department of Health, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
U.S. Geological Survey crews are measuring record flooding in northeast Minnesota, including the Duluth area and the headwaters of the Mississippi River.
Ottawa, Ohio is now better prepared to protect lives and property because of a collaborative early flood-warning project put in place by the U.S. Geological Survey, Village of Ottawa, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and National Weather Service (NWS).
National Wildlife Health Center Collaborates with EcoHealth Alliance
AMBLE along the lake this summer and fall and join a local community that cares about lakeshore conditions and bird health.
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have, for the first time, demonstrated how aquifer composition can affect how excessive levels of phosphorous (an essential nutrient contained in fertilizers) can be carried from fertilized agricultural fields via groundwater to streams and waterways.
A new series of seismic hazard maps that outline the effects from quakes occurring in the Evansville, Ind., area will be unveiled by the U.S. Geological Survey and local and regional partners. These earthquake hazard maps are critical tools for business leaders, city planners, emergency management and homeowners since the area is at risk from both the New Madrid and the Wabash Valley seismic zones
Lake Erie and its largest tributaries are suitable habitats for invasive Asian carps to reproduce and mature, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
Porter, IN – Water quality information collected by local officials may provide increased beach access while minimizing swimming-related illnesses from harmful bacteria, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
More than 280 million acre-feet of groundwater has been withdrawn from the Mississippi embayment aquifer system between 1870-2007, according to a new water modeling tool developed by the U.S. Geological Survey.