Publications
All of our publications are accessible through the USGS Publication Warehouse. Publications by scientists of the Oregon Water Science Center are listed below.
Filter Total Items: 752
Groundwater, biodiversity, and the role of flow system scale
Groundwater-dependent ecosystems and species (GDEs) are found throughout watersheds at locations of groundwater discharge, yet not all GDEs are the same, nor are the groundwater systems supporting them. Groundwater moves along a variety of flow paths of different lengths and with different contributing areas, ranging from shorter local flow paths with low discharge and large seasonal variability t
Authors
Allison R Aldous, Marshall W. Gannett
Seasonally dynamic nutrient modeling quantifies storage lags and time-varying reactivity across large river basins
Nutrients that have gradually accumulated in soils, groundwaters, and river sediments in the United States over the past century can remobilize and increase current downstream loading, obscuring effects of conservation practices aimed at protecting water resources. Drivers of storage accumulation and release of nutrients are poorly understood at the spatial scale of basins to watersheds. Predictin
Authors
Noah Schmadel, Judson Harvey, Gregory E. Schwarz
Multiple in-stream stressors degrade biological assemblages in five U.S. regions
Biological assemblages in streams are affected by a wide variety of physical and chemical stressors associated with land-use development, yet the importance of combinations of different types of stressors is not well known. From 2013 to 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey completed multi-stressor/multi-assemblage stream ecological assessments in five regions of the United States (434 streams total).
Authors
Ian R. Waite, Peter C. Van Metre, Patrick W. Moran, Christopher P. Konrad, Lisa H. Nowell, Michael R. Meador, Mark D. Munn, Travis S. Schmidt, Allen C. Gellis, Daren Carlisle, Paul M. Bradley, Barbara Mahler
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, California Water Science Center, Kansas Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Washington Water Science Center, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
Climate impacts on source contributions and evaporation to flow in the Snake River Basin using surface water isoscapes (δ2H and δ18O)
Rising global temperatures are expected to decrease the precipitation amount that falls as snow, causing greater risk of water scarcity, groundwater overdraft, and fire in areas that rely on mountain snowpack for their water supply. Streamflow in large river basins varies with the amount, timing, and type of precipitation, evapotranspiration, and drainage properties of watersheds; however, these c
Authors
Grace Windler, J. Renée Brooks, Henry M. Johnson, Randy Comeleo, Rob Coulombe, Gabriel J. Bowen
Sediment transport, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen responses to annual streambed drawdowns for downstream fish passage in a flood control reservoir
Sediment transport, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen were evaluated during six consecutive water years (2013–2018) of drawdowns of a flood control reservoir in the upper Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA. The drawdowns were conducted to allow volitional passage of endangered juvenile chinook salmon through the dam's regulating outlets by lowering the reservoir elevation to a point where the historical
Authors
Liam N. Schenk, Heather M. Bragg
Is there an urban pesticide signature? Urban streams in five U.S. regions share common dissolved-phase pesticides but differ in predicted aquatic toxicity
Pesticides occur in urban streams globally, but the relation of occurrence to urbanization can be obscured by regional differences. In studies of five regions of the United States, we investigated the effect of region and urbanization on the occurrence and potential toxicity of dissolved pesticide mixtures. We analyzed 225 pesticide compounds in weekly discrete water samples collected during 6–12
Authors
Lisa H. Nowell, Patrick W. Moran, Laura M. Bexfield, Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre, Paul M. Bradley, Travis S. Schmidt, Daniel T. Button, Sharon L. Qi
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, California Water Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, New Mexico Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Washington Water Science Center
Improving flood-frequency analysis with a 4,000-year record of flooding on the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee
This comprehensive field study applied paleoflood hydrology methods to estimate the frequency of low-probability floods for the Tennessee River near Chattanooga, Tennessee. The study combined stratigraphic records of large, previously unrecorded floods with modern streamflow records and historical flood accounts. The overall approach was to (1) develop a flood chronology for the Tennessee River ne
Authors
Tessa M. Harden, Jim E. O'Connor, Meredith L. Carr, Mackenzie Keith
Trends in agricultural triazole fungicide sse in the United States, 1992–2016 and possible implications for antifungal-resistant fungi in human disease
Background:The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus (A. fumigatus) is the leading cause of invasive mold infections, which cause severe disease and death in immunocompromised people. Use of triazole antifungal medications in recent decades has improved patient survival; however, triazole-resistant infections have become common in parts of Europe and are emerging in the United States. Triazoles are also a
Authors
Mitsuru Toda, Karlyn D. Beer, Kathryn Kuivila, Tom M. Chiller, Brendan R. Jackson
Field-level exposure of bumble bees to fungicides applied to a commercial cherry orchard
Bumble bees, Bombus spp. (Apidae), are important native pollinators; however, populations of some species are declining in North America and agricultural chemicals are a potential cause. Fungicides are generally not highly toxic to bees, but little is known about sublethal or synergistic effects. This study evaluates bumble bee exposure to fungicides by quantifying concentrations of boscalid and p
Authors
Kathryn M. Kuivila, Houston Judd, Michelle Hladik, James P. Strange
Groundwater-quality and select quality-control data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, January 2017 through December 2019
Groundwater-quality environmental data were collected from 983 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Program and are included in this report. The data were collected from six types of well networks: principal aquifer study networks, which are used to assess the quality of groundwater used for public water supply; land-us
Authors
James A. Kingsbury, Laura M. Bexfield, Terri Arnold, MaryLynn Musgrove, Melinda L. Erickson, James R. Degnan, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Bruce D. Lindsey, Kenneth Belitz
Exploring biophysical linkages between coastal forestry management practices and aquatic bivalve contaminant exposure
Terrestrial land use activities present cross-ecosystem threats to riverine and marine species and processes. Specifically, pesticide runoff can disrupt hormonal, reproductive, and developmental processes in aquatic organisms, yet non-point source pollution is difficult to trace and quantify. In Oregon, U.S.A., state and federal forestry pesticide regulations, designed to meet regulatory water qua
Authors
Kaegan Scully-Engelmeyer, Elise F. Granek, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Andy Lanier, Steven S Rumrill, Patrick W. Moran, Elena Nilsen, Michelle Hladik, Lori Pillsbury
Documentation of methods and inventory of irrigation information collected for the 2015 U.S. Geological Survey estimated use of water in the United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Use Science Project strives to report water-use estimates using the best available information for the period of the estimates. The information available on water used for irrigation activities varies from State to State and in some areas from county to county within a State, which results in many information sources and methods being used to estima
Authors
Jaime A. Painter, Justin T. Brandt, Rodney R. Caldwell, Jonathan V. Haynes, Amy L. Read