The USGS was established by Congress in 1879 to provide the Nation with reliable and impartial information in order to understand the Nation's natural resources. This information is used to protect life and property from natural disasters, manage the Nation's natural resources, and protect the environment. The USGS is a scientific organization concerned with providing credible, relevant, impartial, and timely information to all.
Today, the USGS is known for its long-term and extensive data-collection networks, and research of water, mapping, biology and geology issues in Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri and throughout the Nation. These efforts provide policy makers, managers, and scientists, and the general public with information needed to understand and make decisions about our three state's natural resources.
The USGS Central Midwest Water Science Center primarily addresses water issues. These include flooding and surface- and groundwater quality. The Central Midwest Water Science Center investigates the occurrence, distribution, quantity, movement, and chemical and biological quality of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri's surface and groundwater. Specific water resources activities of the Central Midwest Water Science Center include maintenance and analysis of long-term (prior to the turn of the Century) quantitative and qualitative data for streams, reservoirs, estuaries, and groundwater; and short-term interpretive investigations of specific water-resources issues on a local, State, regional, and national level. Such investigations include the study of urbanization and flooding, water quality of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri's major river basins, sedimentation of rivers and lakes, and contamination of surface water and groundwater by hazardous waste.
Amy M. Beussink – Director
