Diagram of the process of water use from source (surface water, groundwater, reuse water) through transmission, utility reservoir, water treatment, distribution, and withdrawal for industry, residential, and commercial.
Richard G Niswonger
Richard Niswonger is a Research Hydrologist with the USGS Water Resources Mission Area.
We study local and regional water resources to aid water management decisions by developing software and constructing models that simulate both natural hydrologic processes and human water usage.
In my current role as the national water use research manager, I lead teams in the development of nationally consistent models with three key features: automated data retrieval, monthly simulation at the USGS 12-digit Watershed Boundary Dataset (HUC12) resolution, and periodic updates for current and forecasted results. These models help identify data gaps, enhance data collection, and refine water use predictions. They facilitate frequent reporting, synthesis, and interpretation of data that support communities making informed water resources decisions.
Science and Products
Water for the Seasons
Public supply water use reanalysis for the 2000-2020 period by HUC12, month, and year for the conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, August 2024)
Thermoelectric-power condenser duty estimates by month and cooling type for use to calculate water use by power plant for the 2008-2020 reanalysis period for the conterminous United States
Thermoelectric-power water use reanalysis for the 2008-2020 period by power plant, month, and year for the conterminous United States
Monthly crop irrigation withdrawals and efficiencies by HUC12 watershed for years 2000-2020 within the conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, September 2024)
Irrigation water use reanalysis for the 2000-20 period by HUC12, month, and year for the conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, September 2024)
MODFLOW-NWT model used to simulate Potential Effects of Changes in Water Use in the Middle Carson River Basin for Eagle, Dayton, and Churchill Valleys, West-Central, Nevada
GSFLOW and MODSIM-GSFLOW model used to evaluate the potential effects of increased temperature on the Carson Valley watershed and agricultural system in eastern California and western Nevada
Nitrogen and phosphorus, other water quality parameters, and sediment temperature data for Incline Creek and Marlette Creek stream-lake interface, Lake Tahoe, Nevada, September 2013
Diagram of the process of water use from source (surface water, groundwater, reuse water) through transmission, utility reservoir, water treatment, distribution, and withdrawal for industry, residential, and commercial.
Next generation public supply water withdrawal estimation for the conterminous United States using machine learning and operational frameworks
A probabilistic approach to training machine learning models using noisy data
Declining groundwater storage expected to amplify mountain streamflow reductions in a warmer world
An agricultural package for MODFLOW 6 using the Application Programming Interface
Assessing potential effects of changes in water use in the middle Carson River Basin with a numerical groundwater-flow model, Eagle, Dayton, and Churchill Valleys, west-central Nevada
Can hydrological models benefit from using global soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and runoff products as calibration targets?
Integrated hydrologic model development and postprocessing for GSFLOW using pyGSFLOW
Integrated hydrology and operations modeling to evaluate climate change impacts in an agricultural valley irrigated with snowmelt runoff
Baseflow age distributions and depth of active groundwater flow in a snow‐dominated mountain headwater basin
An agricultural water use package for MODFLOW and GSFLOW
Managed aquifer recharge in snow-fed river basins: What, why and how?
Linkages between hydrology and seasonal variations of nutrients and periphyton in a large oligotrophic subalpine lake
Version 2.3.0 of Coupled Ground-Water and Surface-Water Flow Model Based on the Integration of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and the Modular Ground-Water Flow Model
GSFLOW: Coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow Model
Groundwater and Surface-water FLOW (GSFLOW) was developed to simulate coupled groundwater and surface-water resources. The model is based on the integration of the U.S. Geological Survey Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and the U.S. Geological Survey Modular Groundwater Flow Model (MODFLOW).
MODFLOW-NWT: A Newton Formulation for MODFLOW-2005
MODFLOW-NWT is a Newton-Raphson formulation for MODFLOW-2005 to improve solution of unconfined groundwater-flow problems. MODFLOW-NWT is a standalone program that is intended for solving problems involving drying and rewetting nonlinearities of the unconfined groundwater-flow equation.
GSFLOW: Coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow Model, version 2.2.1
GSFLOW: Coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow Model, version 2.2.0
pyGSFLOW v1.0.0
GSFLOW: Coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow Model, version 2.1.0
CRT: Cascade Routing Tool to Define and Visualize Flow Paths for Grid-Based Watershed Models
The U.S. Geological Survey Cascade Routing Tool (CRT) is a computer application for watershed models that include the coupled Groundwater and Surface-water FLOW model GSFLOW and the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). CRT generates output to define cascading surface and shallow subsurface flow paths for grid-based model domains.
Science and Products
Water for the Seasons
Public supply water use reanalysis for the 2000-2020 period by HUC12, month, and year for the conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, August 2024)
Thermoelectric-power condenser duty estimates by month and cooling type for use to calculate water use by power plant for the 2008-2020 reanalysis period for the conterminous United States
Thermoelectric-power water use reanalysis for the 2008-2020 period by power plant, month, and year for the conterminous United States
Monthly crop irrigation withdrawals and efficiencies by HUC12 watershed for years 2000-2020 within the conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, September 2024)
Irrigation water use reanalysis for the 2000-20 period by HUC12, month, and year for the conterminous United States (ver. 2.0, September 2024)
MODFLOW-NWT model used to simulate Potential Effects of Changes in Water Use in the Middle Carson River Basin for Eagle, Dayton, and Churchill Valleys, West-Central, Nevada
GSFLOW and MODSIM-GSFLOW model used to evaluate the potential effects of increased temperature on the Carson Valley watershed and agricultural system in eastern California and western Nevada
Nitrogen and phosphorus, other water quality parameters, and sediment temperature data for Incline Creek and Marlette Creek stream-lake interface, Lake Tahoe, Nevada, September 2013
Diagram of the process of water use from source (surface water, groundwater, reuse water) through transmission, utility reservoir, water treatment, distribution, and withdrawal for industry, residential, and commercial.
Diagram of the process of water use from source (surface water, groundwater, reuse water) through transmission, utility reservoir, water treatment, distribution, and withdrawal for industry, residential, and commercial.
Next generation public supply water withdrawal estimation for the conterminous United States using machine learning and operational frameworks
A probabilistic approach to training machine learning models using noisy data
Declining groundwater storage expected to amplify mountain streamflow reductions in a warmer world
An agricultural package for MODFLOW 6 using the Application Programming Interface
Assessing potential effects of changes in water use in the middle Carson River Basin with a numerical groundwater-flow model, Eagle, Dayton, and Churchill Valleys, west-central Nevada
Can hydrological models benefit from using global soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and runoff products as calibration targets?
Integrated hydrologic model development and postprocessing for GSFLOW using pyGSFLOW
Integrated hydrology and operations modeling to evaluate climate change impacts in an agricultural valley irrigated with snowmelt runoff
Baseflow age distributions and depth of active groundwater flow in a snow‐dominated mountain headwater basin
An agricultural water use package for MODFLOW and GSFLOW
Managed aquifer recharge in snow-fed river basins: What, why and how?
Linkages between hydrology and seasonal variations of nutrients and periphyton in a large oligotrophic subalpine lake
Version 2.3.0 of Coupled Ground-Water and Surface-Water Flow Model Based on the Integration of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and the Modular Ground-Water Flow Model
GSFLOW: Coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow Model
Groundwater and Surface-water FLOW (GSFLOW) was developed to simulate coupled groundwater and surface-water resources. The model is based on the integration of the U.S. Geological Survey Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and the U.S. Geological Survey Modular Groundwater Flow Model (MODFLOW).
MODFLOW-NWT: A Newton Formulation for MODFLOW-2005
MODFLOW-NWT is a Newton-Raphson formulation for MODFLOW-2005 to improve solution of unconfined groundwater-flow problems. MODFLOW-NWT is a standalone program that is intended for solving problems involving drying and rewetting nonlinearities of the unconfined groundwater-flow equation.
GSFLOW: Coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow Model, version 2.2.1
GSFLOW: Coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow Model, version 2.2.0
pyGSFLOW v1.0.0
GSFLOW: Coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow Model, version 2.1.0
CRT: Cascade Routing Tool to Define and Visualize Flow Paths for Grid-Based Watershed Models
The U.S. Geological Survey Cascade Routing Tool (CRT) is a computer application for watershed models that include the coupled Groundwater and Surface-water FLOW model GSFLOW and the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). CRT generates output to define cascading surface and shallow subsurface flow paths for grid-based model domains.