Unified Interior Regions
Region 4: Mississippi Basin
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
Preliminary Characterization of Thermal Waters East of Hot Springs National Park - Arkansas
Short Title: Hot Springs Thermal Study
Project Chief: Tim Kresse
Cooperators: Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department
Project Time Frame: 2007 - 2009
Established in 1832 to preserve 47 hot springs flowing from of Hot Springs Mountain, Hot Springs National Park (HSNP) is the oldest National Park in the...
Digital Hydrogeologic Surface and Thickness of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)
Short Title: MERAS Framework
Project Chief: Rheannon Hart
Cooperator: U.S. Geological Survey Office of Ground-Water Resources Program
Project Time Frame: January 2006 - 2009
A hydrogeologic framework for a ground-water flow model is under development as part...
Lower Mississippi River National Rivers and Streams Assessment
Short Title: Mississippi River NRSA
Project Chief: Billy Justus
Cooperator: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Project Time Frame: 2008 - 2009
The USGS Arkansas and Missouri Water Science Centers (WSC) are conducting a study for the U.S. Environmental...
Analysis of Chloride Data in the Alluvial Aquifer of Southeastern Arkansas
Short Title: Southeastern Arkansas Chloride Study
Project Chief: Brian Clark
Cooperator: Boeuf-Tensas Regional Irrigation Water Distribution District
Project Time Frame: July 2007 - September 2008
The Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer is one of the highest use aquifer systems...
Water Quality of Potential Reference Lakes in Two Level-Three Ecoregions of Arkansas
Short Title: Reference Lakes
Project Chief: Billy Justus
Cooperators: Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Project Time Frame: 2007 - 2008
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has classified all lakes within Arkansas into five classifications...
Water Use in Louisiana
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), has collected and published information on water withdrawals and use on a 5-year basis since 1960. The reports present information on withdrawals from ground- and surface-water sources for use in water supply, industry, power generation, rural domestic, livestock,...
East Baton Rouge Parish Hurricane Response Map
In the event of a hurricane, the appropriate response could save your life. This “East Baton Rouge Parish Hurricane Response Map” is a tool that can be useful in making decisions pertaining to evacuation and safety. IF LOCAL AUTHORITIES RECOMMEND EVACUATION, YOU SHOULD LEAVE--via major evacuation routes shown in red. Louisiana State Police Troop (A) headquarters can assist you in the most...
Mississippi Delta Management Systems Evaluation Areas (MDMSEA)
The Mississippi Delta Management Systems Evaluation Areas (MDMSEA) Project began in 1995 with two purposes: 1) to assess how agricultural activities affect water quality; and 2) to evaluate Best Management Practices (BMPs) that mitigate agricultural nonpoint source pollution. The project is located in the northwestern portion of Mississippi, an area of intense agriculture referred to as the...
Arkansas Water Use Program
In 1977, the Congress of the United States recognized the need for uniform, current, and reliable information on water use and directed the U.S. Geological Survey to establish a National Water-Use Information Program (NWUIP) to complement the Survey's data on the availability and quality of the Nations water resources. Since 1985 site-specific water-use data for several categories have been...
Category count models for adaptive management of metapopulations: Case study of an imperiled salamander
Managing spatially structured populations of imperiled species presents many challenges. Spatial structure can make it difficult to predict population responses to potential recovery activities, and learning through experimentation may not be advised if it could harm threatened populations. Adaptive management provides an appealing framework when...
O'Donnell, Katherine; Fackler, Paul L.; Johnson, Fred A.; Bonneau, Mathieu; Martin, Julien; Walls, Susan C.Increasing rates of carbon burial in southwest Florida coastal wetlands
Rates of organic carbon (OC) burial in some coastal wetlands appear to be greater in recent years than they were in the past. Possible explanations include ongoing mineralization of older OC or the influence of an unaccounted‐for artefact of the methods used to measure burial rates. Alternatively, the trend may represent real acceleration in OC...
Breithaupt, Joshua L.; Smoak, Joseph M.; Bianchi, Thomas S.; Vaughn, Derrick; Sanders, Christian; Radabaugh, Kara; Osland, Michael J.; Feher, Laura C.; Lynch, James C.; Cahoon, Donald R.; Anderson, Gordon H.; Whelan, Kevin R. T.; Rosenheim, Brad E.; Moyer, Ryan P.; Chambers, LisaSimulation of water-management scenarios for the Mississippi Delta
To compare the effectiveness of proposed alternative water-supply scenarios on future water availability in the Mississippi Delta, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality are collaborating on the update and enhancement of an existing regional groundwater-flow model of the area. Through this collaboration...
Haugh, Connor J.; Killian, Courtney D.; Barlow, Jeannie R. B.Modeling soil porewater salinity response to drought in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
There is a growing concern about the adverse effects of saltwater intrusion via tidal rivers, streams and creeks into tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) due to sea‐level rise (SLR) and intense and extended drought events. However, the magnitude and duration of porewater salinity in exceedance of plant salinity stress threshold (2 practical...
Wang, Hongqing; Krauss, Ken W.; Noe, Gregory B.; Stagg, Camille L.; Swarzenski, Christopher M.; Duberstein, Jamie A.; Conner, William H.; DeAngelis, Donald L.Characterization of pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) spawning habitat in the Lower Missouri River
Acipenseriformes (sturgeons and paddlefish) globally have declined throughout their range due to river fragmentation, habitat loss, overfishing, and degradation of water quality. In North America, pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) populations have experienced poor to no recruitment, or substantial levels of hybridization with the closely...
Elliott, Caroline M.; Delonay, Aaron J.; Chojnacki, Kimberly; Jacobson, Robert B.Final project memorandum: Identifying conservation objectives for the Gulf Coast habitats of the black skimmer and gull-billed tern
Many shorebirds and nearshore waterbirds are of conservation concern across the Gulf of Mexico due to stressors such as human disturbance, predation, and habitat loss and degradation. Conservation and protection of these birds is important for the functioning of healthy ecosystems and for maintaining biodiversity in North America. Consequently,...
Cronin, James P.Acute toxicity and clotting times of anticoagulant rodenticides to red-toothed (Odonus niger) and black (Melichthys niger) triggerfish, fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)
Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) areused in rateradication efforts on island wildlife refuges. ARbait pellets can get into coralreefareasduring broadcasting and leadto exposure ofnon-target organisms, such as marine fishes. The objective of this study was to determine the sensitivity of representative saltwater fishes, Red-toothed triggerfish (Odonus...
Riegerix, Rachelle; Tanner, Mike; Gale, Robert W.; Tillitt, Donald E.Influence of remediation on sediment toxicity within the Grand Calumet River, Indiana, USA
The Grand Calumet River (GCR), located in northern Indiana, is contaminated due to a wide range of historical industrial activities. This study was conducted to determine the influence of sediment remediation within the GCR on concentrations of chemical contaminants and toxicity to sediment-dwelling organisms. Between 2005 and 2016, sediments with...
Steevens, Jeffery; Besser, John M.; Dorman, Rebecca A.; Sparks, Daniel W.Expert bioblitzes facilitate non-native fish tracking and interagency partnerships
Documenting the distribution and composition of non-native species populations can be challenging, especially when species cross jurisdictional boundaries that require interagency coordination. Herein I report the development of three tools that have been used in Florida over the past seven years to assist with tracking of non-native fishes: 1) an...
Schofield, Pamela J.Throughfall reduction x fertilization: Deep soil water usage in a clay rich ultisol under loblolly pine in the Southeast USA
Forests in the Southeast USA are predicted to experience a moderate decrease in precipitation inputs over this century that may result in soil water deficiency during the growing season. The potential impact of a drier climate on the productivity of managed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations in the Southeast USA is uncertain. Access to...
Qi, Jiaguo; Markewitz, Daniel M.; McGuire, Mary Ann; Samuelson, Lisa; Ward, EricPassive seismic survey of sediment thickness, Dasht-e-Nawar basin, eastern Afghanistan
Exploration of water resources is needed for public supply, extraction of mineral resources, and economic development in Afghanistan. Remotely-sensed data are useful for identifying the general nature of surface sediments, however, “boots on the ground” geophysical surveys or drilling programs are needed to quantify the thickness of sediments or...
Mack, Thomas J.Identification of Acara (Cichlidae: Cichlasoma) established in Florida, USA
The Black Acara, Cichlasoma bimaculatum (Linnaeus, 1758), was first reported as introduced to Florida in 1965. Native to Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, western French Guiana, and northern Brazil, the species is now distributed throughout Florida’s southern peninsula. Examination of live and preserved acara from Central Florida, heretofore...
Robins, Robert H; Brown, Mary E.; Crutchfield, Ryan AThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is participating in nine of the 14 public workshops scheduled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) this fall. The Corps of Engineers is conducting the workshops and a series of hearings to receive public comment on their recently released Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement to the Master Water Control Manual for the Missouri River system.
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Madison, Wisc., confirmed today that five dead crows found in the St. Louis, Mo., area tested positive for the West Nile Virus. On Thursday, USGS biologists announced that a dead blue jay, found near El Dorado, Ark., also tested positive for the virus.
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Madison, Wisc., said today that two dead crows, found in the Chicago area tested positive for the West Nile Virus. Last week, dead crows found near Milwaukee also tested positive for the virus. So far this year, West Nile Virus has been identified in 20 states, the District of Columbia and in southern Ontario.
A minor earthquake, preliminary magnitude 3.9 according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), occurred in the northern part of Arkansas at 9:29 p.m.
More than 100 scientists will converge on the Cajundome in Lafayette, La., Nov. 2-4 to share the latest technologies used in studying everything from hurricanes in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico to grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park. They are participants in the U.S. Geological Survey’s symposium, "BioGeo99: Applications of Geospatial Technology to Biological Sciences."
Wildfires have long played a key role in structuring ecosystems and plant communities in the southeastern United States. From the coastal prairie of Texas and Louisiana to the marshes and pinelands of Florida, many native species have adapted to a natural regime of frequent wildfire caused by lightning strikes.
Gaye S. Farris of Carencro, La., is the new national secretary of the National Association of Government Communicators, a national professional network of federal, state and local government employees who disseminate information within and outside government.
From the drastic impacts of major floods and droughts to more gradual shifts in channel, sandbar and floodplain habitats, large river systems such as the Missouri are always changing. Over the past century human activities also have caused physical and biological changes in such rivers.
The mysterious brain disease responsible for the deaths of bald eagles and American coots in Arkansas has now been found in two species of ducks discovered dead at Woodlake, North Carolina, and in bald eagles and coots from three other southeastern states.
Nutrients from the Mississippi River Basin are believed to be responsible, at least in part, for the large hypoxic zone that develops on the Louisiana-Texas shelf in the Gulf of Mexico each summer, according to Don Goolsby, a hydrologist with the U.S.Geological Survey in Denver, Colo.
Effective immediately, the Environmental and Contaminants Research Center, an environmental research facility of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Biological Resources Division (Central Region) located in Columbia, MO, was re-named the Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC).
Heavy rainfall and flooding prompted an emergency response from USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) engineers and field technicians to keep stream gages operational during and after Hurricane Georges. Personnel from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are working to secure gages threatened by rising rivers and streams or damaged by the storm. Some gaging stations monitored by the USGS are used