Unified Interior Regions
Region 5: Missouri Basin
USGS Science Centers in the Missouri Basin Region
For more information on what each center is doing in the Missouri Basin, please follow the links below!
Wyoming - Montana Water Science Center
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
Regions L2 Landing Page Tabs
Fluvial Geomorphology
An understanding of river- and stream-channel geomorphic responses to various human-caused and natural disturbances is important for effective management, conservation, and rehabilitation of rivers and streams to accommodate multiple, often conflicting, needs. Channel changes may have implications for the protection of property and structures, water supply, navigation, and habitat. The channel...
Urban Water Quality Monitoring in Johnson County Kansas
Johnson County, a suburban part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, is one of the most populated counties in Kansas with 544,000 people in 2010, a 21 percent increase in population since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Located in northeastern Kansas, about one-half of the county is urban. Urban, industrial, and agricultural land uses affect the quality of streams and lakes in the...
Watershed Contamination from Hard Rock Mining
Since 1986, the USGS Hard-Rock Mining Toxic-Substances Hydrology Project has focused on metal transport in streams affected by mining. Tracer-injection studies in St. Kevin Gulch, near Leadville, Colorado, helped the USGS design methods to characterize loading from mining activities on a watershed scale. Tracer-injection studies were done in 1995, in support of the planning needs of ederal...
Time Series of Glacier Retreat
The retreat of glaciers in Glacier National Park, Montana, has received widespread attention by the media, the public, and scientists because it is a clear and poignant indicator of change in the northern Rocky Mountains of the USA. In 2017, the...
Cheney Reservoir and Water Quality Studies
Cheney Reservoir is located on the North Fork Ninnescah River in south-central Kansas, 20 miles west of Wichita. Cheney Reservoir is the primary drinking water supply for the city and a popular recreational resource for the region. After cyanobacterial blooms in 1990 and 1991, which caused servere taste-and-odor events, the USGS Kansas Water Science Center partnered with the City of Wichita ...
Effects of Wastewater Discharge and Treatment Facility Upgrades on Environmental and Biological Conditions of Indian Creek, Johnson County, Kansas
The purpose of the study is to assess the effects of wastewater discharge and treatment facility upgrades on the environmental and biological conditions of Indian Creek, downstream from the Middle Basin wastewater treatment facility (WWTF). Streamflow, discrete and continuously measured stream-water chemistry, streambed-sediment chemistry, and habitat data will be used to: evaluate differences...
Lakes and Reservoirs in Kansas
The lakes and reservoirs in Kansas are located in two major river basins—the Missouri River Basin and the Arkansas River Basin. Basin summaries and individual lake and reservoir information are available courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S Bureau of Reclamation.
Groundwater/surface-water interaction near the confluence of the Elkhorn and Lower Platte Rivers
Recent droughts in Nebraska (2000–06; 2012–13) have amplified concerns about the long-term sustainability of groundwater and surface-water resources as well as concerns about the effect of groundwater irrigation on streamflow and water supplies needed to meet wildlife, recreational, and municipal needs. The Lower Platte River Basin-wide Management Plan is currently being developed jointly by...
Improving the Water Quality of Cub Creek: Homestead National Monument Water Quality Partnership
Homestead National Monument of America, (HOME) a National Park Service (NPS) site which commemorates the impacts of the Homestead Act of 1862 is located on the site of one of the first homestead claims filed in the United States of America, a site that was chosen by Daniel Freeman because of the clean abundant water that Cub Creek provided for...
Missouri River Water-Quality Monitoring in Relation to Combined Sewer Overflow Systems near Omaha, Nebraska
In 2012, the USGS Nebraska Water Science Center, in cooperation with the City of Omaha, began monitoring the Missouri River near Omaha to document water-quality changes in the river as the City improved their combined sewer overflow (CSO) system. The monitoring program includes both discrete and continuous data collection at four sampling sites on the Missouri River. Monitoring at each site...
Continuous Water-Quality Monitoring Network
The USGS Nebraska Water Science Center maintains a network of continuous water-quality monitors across Nebraska which provide near-real-time water-quality data. Continuous water-quality monitors are typically installed at or near existing USGS stream gages or wells. Parameters that are monitored at continuous water-quality sites include water temperature, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen...
High Plains Water-Level Monitoring Study
The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (about 175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. In response to a directive from Congress, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with local, state, and federal entities, has collected water-level data from wells screened in the High Plains...
MODIS Observes Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor is located onboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites. MODIS data are crucial tools for studying changes that have occurred on the surface of the Earth, including during times of drought. This video highlights Terra MODIS data over the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and the changes in the amount of snowpack in
Getting Started with MODIS Version 6 Therm. Anom. & Fire Data Part 3
This video focuses on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Version 6 Thermal Anomalies and Fire data distributed by NASA’s Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC). Information about MODIS Thermal Anomalies and Fire quality information, including how to decode
Scientist participating in snowmobile training in Montana.
Scientist participating in snowmobile training in Montana.
Sperry Glacier perimeter: 1966,1998, 2005, 2015.
This image shows the perimeter of Sperry Glacier in Glacier National Park in 1966,1998, 2005, and 2015.
Chaney Glacier perimeter: 1966, 1998, 2005, 2015.
This image shows the perimeter of Chaney Glacier in Glacier National Park in 1966, 1998, 2005, and 2015.
Rainbow Glacier perimeter: 1966, 1998, 2005, 2015.
This image shows the perimeter of Rainbow Glacier in Glacier National Park: 1966, 1998, 2005, 2015.
Siyeh Glacier: upper - 2015 satellite photo, lower - 2005 aerial photo
Siyeh Glacier (upper – 2015 satellite photo, lower - 2005 aerial photo). The glacier margin is more clearly identified in the 2015 image because seasonal snow is persisting on the ice and rock debris atop the ice can be more clearly seen than in the heavily shaded 2005 image.
Groundwater use from the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system, 1900 to 2010
Groundwater use from the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system, 1900 to 2010” is a short video showing modeled groundwater withdrawal rates from the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (Ozark system) in the central United States. The Ozark Plateaus Groundwater Availability Study aims to quantify current groundwater resources in the Ozark system, evaluate how these resources have changed
Streamflow Measurements Under Ice Using Acoustic Doppler Technology
Hydrologic Technicians from USGS offices across North and South Dakota took part in training on how to make flow measurements under ice using acoustic Doppler technology. This technology increases measurement quality, while decreasing time, effort, and risk to the individuals making the measurements. The photograph was taken at USGS streamgage 05059300 Sheyenne River above
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Streamflow Measurements Under Ice Using Acoustic Doppler Technology
Hydrologic Technicians from USGS offices across North and South Dakota took part in training on how to make flow measurements under ice using acoustic Doppler technology. This technology increases measurement quality, while decreasing time, effort, and risk to the individuals making the measurements. The photograph was taken at USGS streamgage 05059300 Sheyenne River above
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USGS WY-MT WSC Billings Office
USGS Billings Office
Measuring streamflow in slushy Sun River at Simms, MT, station 0608580
Measuring streamflow in slushy Sun River at Simms, MT, station 06085800
Kanopolis and Tuttle Creek Lakes in Kansas are losing water storage capacity because they retain at least 95 percent of the sediment transported by streams, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.
Deposition of sediment reduces the ability for Kanopolis and Tuttle Creek Lakes to serve several purposes including flood control, water supply, and recreation.
Dr. Gary Krapu, U.S. Geological Survey scientist and Dickey County, N.D. native, was recently elected Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union for his exceptional contributions to ornithology through research, conservation efforts, and education.
Multiple floods during the last 2,000 years were substantially larger than the devastating Black Hills, S.D. flood of 1972 that resulted in at least 238 deaths in the Rapid City and Keystone areas, according to a recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The effects of urbanization, wastewater discharge and treatment facility upgrades on Indian Creek, in Johnson County, Kan., will be evaluated in a new study developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Johnson County Wastewater.
The Kansas River is the drinking water source for more than 600,000 people in Topeka, Lawrence, and Johnson County, Kan. Water suppliers in these areas requested that the USGS sample the Kansas River to determine if algal toxins and taste and odor compounds were present. While taste-and-odor compounds are not harmful, algal toxins can be poisonous to people, aquatic life, pets and livestock.
U.S. Geological Survey biologist Dr. Marsha A. Sovada was recently granted the Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award, the second highest award for a DOI career employee, for her contributions to the development and management of wildlife research studies.
A non-toxic dye, rhodamine WT, will be injected into Tenmile Creek near Rimini, Mont., downstream from the City of Helena’s municipal water intake on Sept. 13 and 14.
U.S. Geological Survey scientists will continually inject a small stream of the dye as part of a metal-loading study being conducted by the USGS, Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
A magnitude-5.3 earthquake rattled southern Colorado Monday, August 22, at 11:46PM MDT, causing strong shaking, but minor damage, and was felt throughout the state of Colorado and neighboring states. The USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system issued a Green Alert, indicating a low probability for fatalities or significant economic losses.
Flights using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) will monitor bank erosion on the Lower Brule Reservation, S.D., the week of August 22.
Flooding along the Missouri River continues as shown in Landsat satellite images of the Nebraska and Iowa border. Heavy rains and snowmelt have caused the river to remain above flood stage for an extended period.
Peak streamflow during the current Souris River flood was almost twice the previous record in Sherwood, N.D., according to U.S. Geological Survey streamgage data.
The flooded Souris, or "Mouse," River peaked at 29,700 cubic feet per second (cfs) on June 24 at the USGS-operated streamgage in Sherwood—almost doubling the 1976 record of 14,800 cfs at this location.
Record flooding along the Souris River near Minot, N.D. and record drought at O.C. Fisher Lake near San Angelo, Texas have more than their contrasting water conditions in common.
These places, nearly 1,000 miles apart, are situated almost exactly north and south of each other near the100th meridian of longitude. On average they have similar amounts of precipitation.
Contacts
Locations
Dakota Water Science Center- Huron Programs Office
Phone: (605) 352-4241
Fax: (605) 352-4304
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
custserv@usgs.gov
Phone: 800-252-4547
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) Headquarters
Phone: 406-994-7544
Fax: 406-994-6556
Nebraska Water Science Center
Phone: (402) 328-4100
Fax: (402) 437-5139
Kansas Water Science Center
Phone: (785) 842-9909
Fax: (785) 832-3500
Dakota Water Science Center- Bismarck
Phone: (701) 250-7400
Fax: (701) 250-7429
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Phone: 701-253-5500
Fax: 701-253 5553
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Helena Office
Phone: (406) 457-5900
Fax: (406) 457-5990
Dakota Water Science Center- Grand Forks Field Office
Phone: (701) 775-7221
Fax: (701) 775-1114
Dakota Water Science Center- Rapid City
Phone: (605) 394-3200
Fax: (605) 355-4523
Dakota Water Science Center- Pierre Field Office
Phone: (605) 224-8440
Fax: (605) 224-8478
Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory (OGRL)
Phone: (785) 832-3564
Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center - Billings Office
Phone: 406-656-1444
Wichita Field Office
Phone: (316) 773-3225
Hays Field Office
Phone: (785) 623-2848
North Platte Field Office
Phone: (308) 532-5323
Fax: (308) 532-5603
Yankton, South Dakota Field Research Station
Phone: 605-665-9217