Unified Interior Regions

After enduring a summer full of sweltering temperatures, tropical storms, and floods, 20 inches of rain suddenly fell in areas of south central and eastern Texas this past week causing weather turmoil once again. Flooding from these rains has teams of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mobilized to take water level and discharge measurements at rain-swollen streams.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist, Katherine Kendall, will be awarded the National Park Service’s Natural Resource Research Award on September 28, at the Service’s annual Natural Resources Stewardship and Science Meeting in Austin, Texas.

A 5-year study of water quality in the Rio Grande Valley, from its headwaters in Colorado to near El Paso, Texas, has been completed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The study focused on ground water in the flood plain of the Rio Grande and surface water in the Rio Grande and selected tributaries.

The gasoline additive MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) was detected in some urban stormwater samples collected in 16 cities and metropolitan areas by the U.S. Geological Survey, but all detections of MTBE were less than the lower limit of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s draft lifetime health advisory for drinking water.

A quick computer search of the nearly 2 million official place names in the United States shows that Texas is still the state with the most geographic features named "Turkey." From "Turkey Creek" to "Turkeyroost Mountain," Texas has 175 features named after the holiday bird, an addition of one since the last check in 1982. Arizona is second with 134 turkey names.

31ST AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE Nov. 5-9, 1995