Great Salt Lake Hydro Mapper
Information on salinity, lake levels, and more for the Great Salt Lake in Utah
Information on salinity, lake levels, and more for the Great Salt Lake in Utah
Walker Basin Hydro Mapper
A basin-wide perspective of real-time streamflow and lake storage capacity for the Walker River Basin in Nevada and California
A basin-wide perspective of real-time streamflow and lake storage capacity for the Walker River Basin in Nevada and California
Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment
Increased water use, coupled with long-term drought conditions and a warming climate, have resulted in historic low water levels in saline lakes ecosystems across the Great Basin in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah. The Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA is using an integrated scientific approach to monitor and assess water availability, migratory birds, and other wildlife dependent on saline lakes.
Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessments
Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessments
The loss of water has cascading impacts to habitats and birds. Read more about the Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA’s integrated approach to answering complex questions
News
An Avocet's Travels
An Avocet's Travels
Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA Fall 2024 Webinar Series
Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA Fall 2024 Webinar Series
New Monitoring Station at Lake Abert
New Monitoring Station at Lake Abert
Publications
Integrated science strategy for assessing and monitoring water availability and migratory birds for terminal lakes across the Great Basin, United States
Executive SummaryIn 2022, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established the Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment (IWAAs) to monitor and assess the hydrology of terminal lakes in the Great Basin and the migratory birds and other wildlife dependent on those habitats. Scientists from across the USGS (with specialties in water quantity, water quality, limnology, avian biolog
Nesting ecology of White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) in Great Salt Lake, Utah
We studied the nesting ecology of White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) at 3 sites within the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA. Ibises built nests in small mounds (mean height = 14.4 ± 4.3 cm) above shallow water (mean depth = 12.0 ± 6.6 cm) located within patchy vegetation (mean percent vegetative cover = 17.2 ± 17.8% vegetative cover) with mean vegetation height of 31.7 ±
Increased drought severity tracks warming in the United States’ largest river basin
Across the Upper Missouri River Basin, the recent drought of 2000 to 2010, known as the “turn-of-the-century drought,” was likely more severe than any in the instrumental record including the Dust Bowl drought. However, until now, adequate proxy records needed to better understand this event with regard to long-term variability have been lacking. Here we examine 1,200 y of streamflow from a networ
Science
Waterbird Ecology and Movement in the Saline Lakes
How do changing conditions in the terminal lakes of the Great Basin effect the migratory birds that depend on them? USGS scientists investigate bird movement and habitat use to find out.