Publications

Mobile and persistent chemicals that are present in urban wastewater, such as pharmaceuticals, may survive on-site ormunicipal wastewater treatment and post-discharge environmental processes. These pharmaceuticals have the potential to reach surface and groundwaters, essential drinking-water sources. A joint, two-phase U.S. Geological Survey-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study examined sour

Forecasts of flows entering and leaving the Chain of Lakes reservoir on the Fox River in northeastern Illinois are critical information to water-resource managers who determine the optimal operation of the dam at McHenry, Illinois, to help minimize damages to property and loss of life because of flooding on the Fox River. In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey; the Illinois Department of Natural Reso

A statewide study was conducted to develop regression equations for estimating six selected low-flow frequency statistics and harmonic mean flows for ungaged stream sites in Iowa. The estimation equations developed for the six low-flow frequency statistics include: the annual 1-, 7-, and 30-day mean low flows for a recurrence interval of 10 years, the annual 30-day mean low flow for a recurrence i

The Little Blue River in Jackson County, Missouri, was listed as impaired in 2012 due to Escherichia coli (E. coli) from urban runoff and storm sewers. A study was initiated to characterize E. coli concentrations and loads to aid in the development of a total maximum daily load implementation plan. Longitudinal sampling along the stream revealed spatial and temporal variability in E. coli loads. R

Lead and zinc were mined in the Tri-State Mining District (TSMD) of southwest Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, and southeast Kansas for more than 100 years. The effects of mining on the landscape are still evident, nearly 50 years after the last mine ceased operation. The legacies of mining are the mine waste and discharge of groundwater from underground mines. The mine-waste piles and underground mi

Endogenous progestogens and pharmaceutical progestins enter the environment through wastewater treatment plant effluent and agricultural field runoff. Lab studies demonstrate strong, negative exposure effects of these chemicals on aquatic vertebrate reproduction. Behavior can be a sensitive, early indicator of exposure to environmental contaminants associated with altered reproduction yet is rarel

Triclocarban (TCC) and triclosan (TCS), two of the most commonly used antimicrobial compounds, can be introduced into ecosystems by applying wastewater treatment plant biosolids to agricultural fields. Concentrations of TCC and TCS were measured in different trophic levels within a terrestrial food web encompassing land-applied biosolids, soil, earthworms (Lumbricus), deer mice (Peromyscus manicul

Results of a flood-hazard analysis conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Argonne National Laboratory, for four headwater streams within the Argonne National Laboratory property indicate that the 1-percent and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability floods would cause multiple roads to be overtopped. Results indicate that most of the effects on the infrastructure would

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During water year 2015 (October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2015), data were collected at 74 stations—72 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stati

Water-supply needs in LaSalle County in northern Illinois are met by surface water and groundwater. Water-supply needs are expected to increase to serve future residential and mining uses. Available information on water use, geology, surface-water and groundwater hydrology, and water quality provides a hydrogeologic framework for LaSalle County that can be used to help plan the future use of the w

The use of oxbow wetlands has been identified as a potential strategy to reduce nutrient transport from agricultural drainage tiles to streams in Iowa. In 2013 and 2014, a study was conducted in north-central Iowa in a native oxbow in the Lyons Creek watershed and two restored oxbow wetlands in the Prairie Creek watershed (Smeltzer west and Smeltzer east) to assess their effectiveness at reducing

Three different geophysical sensor types were used to characterize the underwater pressure waves and ground velocities generated by the underwater firing of seismic water guns. These studies evaluated the use of water guns as a tool to alter the movement of Asian carp. Asian carp are aquatic invasive species that threaten to move into the Great Lakes Basin from the Mississippi River Basin. Previou