Publications
This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 19115
The quality of our Nation's waters: Groundwater quality in the Columbia Plateau and Snake River Plain basin-fill and basaltic-rock aquifers and the Hawaiian volcanic-rock aquifers, Washington, Idaho, and Hawaii, 1993-2005 The quality of our Nation's waters: Groundwater quality in the Columbia Plateau and Snake River Plain basin-fill and basaltic-rock aquifers and the Hawaiian volcanic-rock aquifers, Washington, Idaho, and Hawaii, 1993-2005
The Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, and Hawaii are large volcanic areas in the western United States and mid-Pacific ocean that contain extensive regional aquifers of a hard, gray, volcanic rock called basalt. Residents of the Columbia Plateau, the Snake River Plain, and the island of Oahu depend on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water. Although the depth to the...
Authors
Michael G. Rupert, Charles D. Hunt, Kenneth D. Skinner, Lonna M. Frans, Barbara Mahler
The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in the Mississippi embayment-Texas coastal uplands aquifer system and Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, south-central United States, 1994-2008 The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in the Mississippi embayment-Texas coastal uplands aquifer system and Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, south-central United States, 1994-2008
About 8 million people rely on groundwater from the Mississippi embayment—Texas coastal uplands aquifer system for drinking water. The Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer also provides drinking water for domestic use in rural areas but is of primary importance to the region as a source of water for irrigation. Irrigation withdrawals from this aquifer are among the largest in the...
Authors
James A. Kingsbury, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Brian G. Katz, Heather L. Welch, Roland W. Tollett, Lynne S. Fahlquist
The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in the glacial aquifer system, northern United States, 1993-2009 The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in the glacial aquifer system, northern United States, 1993-2009
The glacial aquifer system underlies much of the northern United States. About one-sixth (41 million people) of the United States population relies on the glacial aquifer system for drinking water. The primary importance of the glacial aquifer system is as a source of water for public supply to the population centers in the region, but the aquifer system also provides drinking water for...
Authors
Kelly L. Warner, Joseph D. Ayotte
The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain surficial aquifer system, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia, 1988-2009 The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain surficial aquifer system, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia, 1988-2009
The surficial aquifer system of the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain is made up of unconfined aquifers that underlie most of the area. This aquifer system is a critical renewable source of drinking water and is the source of most flow to streams and of recharge to underlying confined aquifers. Millions of people rely on the surficial aquifer system for public and domestic water supply, in
Authors
Judith M. Denver, Scott W. Ator, Jeffrey M. Fischer, Douglas C. Harned, Christopher Schubert, Zoltan Szabo
The quality of our nation's waters: Water quality in the Principal Aquifers of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge regions, eastern United States, 1993-2009 The quality of our nation's waters: Water quality in the Principal Aquifers of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge regions, eastern United States, 1993-2009
The aquifers of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge regions underlie an area with a population of more than 40 million people in 10 states. The suburban and rural population is large, growing rapidly, and increasingly dependent on groundwater as a source of supply, with more than 550 million gallons per day withdrawn from domestic wells for household use. Water from some of...
Authors
Bruce D. Lindsey, Tammy M. Zimmerman, Melinda J. Chapman, Charles A. Cravotta, Zoltan Szabo
The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in the Upper Floridan aquifer and overlying surficial aquifers, southeastern United States, 1993-2010 The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in the Upper Floridan aquifer and overlying surficial aquifers, southeastern United States, 1993-2010
About 10 million people rely on groundwater from the Upper Floridan and surficial aquifers for drinking water. The Upper Floridan aquifer also is of primary importance to the region as a source of water for irrigation and as a source of crystal clear water that discharges to springs and streams providing recreational and tourist destinations and unique aquatic habitats. The reliance of...
Authors
Marian P. Berndt, Brian G. Katz, James A. Kingsbury, Christy A. Crandall
Hydrogeology of the Ramapo River-Woodbury Creek valley-fill aquifer system and adjacent areas in eastern Orange County, New York Hydrogeology of the Ramapo River-Woodbury Creek valley-fill aquifer system and adjacent areas in eastern Orange County, New York
The hydrogeology of the valley-fill aquifer system and surrounding watershed areas was investigated within a 23-mile long, fault-controlled valley in eastern Orange County, New York. Glacial deposits form a divide within the valley that is drained to the north by Woodbury Creek and is drained to the south by the Ramapo River. Surficial geology, extent and saturated thickness of sand and...
Authors
Paul M. Heisig
Soil greenhouse gas emissions and carbon budgeting in a short-hydroperiod floodplain wetland Soil greenhouse gas emissions and carbon budgeting in a short-hydroperiod floodplain wetland
Understanding the controls on floodplain carbon (C) cycling is important for assessing greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for C sequestration in river-floodplain ecosystems. We hypothesized that greater hydrologic connectivity would increase C inputs to floodplains that would not only stimulate soil C gas emissions but also sequester more C in soils. In an urban Piedmont river...
Authors
Jackie Batson, Gregory B. Noe, Cliff R. Hupp, Ken W. Krauss, Nancy B. Rybicki, Edward R. Schenk
Concentrations of hormones, pharmaceuticals and other micropollutants in groundwater affected by septic systems in New England and New York Concentrations of hormones, pharmaceuticals and other micropollutants in groundwater affected by septic systems in New England and New York
Septic-system discharges can be an important source of micropollutants (including pharmaceuticals and endocrine active compounds) to adjacent groundwater and surface water systems. Groundwater samples were collected from well networks tapping glacial till in New England (NE) and sandy surficial aquifer New York (NY) during one sampling round in 2011. The NE network assesses the effect of...
Authors
Patrick J. Phillips, Christopher Schubert, Denise M. Argue, Irene J. Fisher, Edward T. Furlong, William T. Foreman, James L. Gray, Ann T. Chalmers
Development of a HEC-RAS temperature model for the North Santiam River, northwestern Oregon Development of a HEC-RAS temperature model for the North Santiam River, northwestern Oregon
A one-dimensional, unsteady streamflow and temperature model (HEC-RAS) of the North Santiam and Santiam Rivers was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey to be used in conjunction with previously developed two-dimensional hydrodynamic water-quality models (CE-QUAL-W2) of Detroit and Big Cliff Lakes upstream of the study area. In conjunction with the output from the previously developed...
Authors
Adam J. Stonewall, Norman L. Buccola
The effects of sample scheduling and sample numbers on estimates of the annual fluxes of suspended sediment in fluvial systems The effects of sample scheduling and sample numbers on estimates of the annual fluxes of suspended sediment in fluvial systems
Since the 1970s, there has been both continuing and growing interest in developing accurate estimates of the annual fluvial transport (fluxes and loads) of suspended sediment and sediment-associated chemical constituents. This study provides an evaluation of the effects of manual sample numbers (from 4 to 12 year−1) and sample scheduling (random-based, calendar-based and hydrology-based)...
Authors
Arthur J. Horowitz, Robin T. Clarke, Gustavo Henrique Merten
Patterns of floodplain sediment deposition along the regulated lower Roanoke River, North Carolina: annual, decadal, centennial scales Patterns of floodplain sediment deposition along the regulated lower Roanoke River, North Carolina: annual, decadal, centennial scales
The lower Roanoke River on the Coastal Plain of North Carolina is not embayed and maintains a floodplain that is among the largest on the mid-Atlantic Coast. This floodplain has been impacted by substantial aggradation in response to upstream colonial and post-colonial agriculture between the mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. Additionally, since the mid-twentieth century...
Authors
Cliff R. Hupp, Edward R. Schenk, Daniel Kroes, Debra A. Willard, Phil A. Townsend, Robert K. Peet