Publications

The Pine River Watershed Stakeholders Group was created in December 1997 to allow local participation in addressing water-quality issues in Los Pi?os River watershed, including Vallecito Reservoir in southwestern Colorado. One water-quality issue identified by the stakeholder group is to increase the understanding of the current water quality of Vallecito Reservoir, its two major inflows, and its

To examine the effect of urban development on pesticide concentrations in streams under low-flow conditions, water samples were collected at stream sites along an urban land use gradient in six environmentally heterogeneous metropolitan areas of the United States. In all six metropolitan areas, total insecticide concentrations generally increased significantly as urban land cover in the basin incr

Fractionation of Cu and Zn isotopes during adsorption onto amorphous ferric oxyhydroxide is examined in experimental mixtures of metal-rich acid rock drainage and relatively pure river water and during batch adsorption experiments using synthetic ferrihydrite. A diverse set of Cu- and Zn-bearing solutions was examined, including natural waters, complex synthetic acid rock drainage, and simple NaNO

Changes in stream chemistry were studied for 4 years following large wildfires that burned in Glacier National Park during the summer of 2003. Burned and unburned drainages were monitored from December 2003 through August 2007 for streamflow, major constituents, nutrients, and suspended sediment following the fires. Stream-water nitrate concentrations showed the greatest response to fire, increasi

Aquifer susceptibility to contamination is controlled in part by the inherent hydrogeologic properties of the vadose zone, which includes preferential-flow pathways. The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of seasonal ponding near leaky irrigation wells as a mechanism for depression-focused preferential flow and enhanced chemical migration through the vadose zone of the High Pl

In 2003–2005, systematic studies in four contrasting hydrogeologic settings were undertaken to improve understanding of source and transport controls on nitrate movement to public supply wells (PSW) in principal aquifers of the United States. Chemical, isotopic, and age tracer data show that agricultural fertilizers and urban septic leachate were the primary sources of large nitrate concentrations

The potential for in situ biodegradation of 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) was investigated in three hydrologically distinct streams impacted by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the United States. Microcosms were prepared with sediments from each site and amended with [U-ring-14C]4-n-nonylphenol (4-n-NP) as a model test substrate. Microcosms prepared with sediment collected upstream of the WWTP outfal

This study evaluated decadal-scale changes of nitrate concentrations in groundwater samples collected by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program from 495 wells in 24 well networks across the USA in predominantly agricultural areas. Each well network was sampled once during 1988-1995 and resampled once during 2000-2004. Statistical tests of decadal-scale changes of nitrate concentrations

In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began the first cycle of its National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The Program encompassed 51 river basins that collectively accounted for more than 70% of the total water use (excluding power generation), and 50% of the drinking water supply in the U.S. The basins represented a variety of hydrologic settings, rock types (geology), land-use c

The lower South Platte River basin of Colorado and Nebraska is an area of intense agriculture supported by surface-water diversions from the river and ground-water pumping from a valley-fill alluvial aquifer. Two well networks consisting of 45 wells installed in the South Platte alluvial aquifer were sampled in the early 1990s and again in the early 2000s to examine near-decadal ground-water quali

Reduction/oxidation (redox) conditions in 15 principal aquifer (PA) systems of the United States, and their impact on several water quality issues, were assessed from a large data base collected by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the USGS. The logic of these assessments was based on the observed ecological succession of electron acceptors such as dissolved oxygen, nitrate, and sul

In‐stream flow protection programs require accurate, real‐time streamflow data to aid in the protection of aquatic ecosystems during winter base flow periods. In cold regions, however, winter streamflow often can only be estimated because in‐channel ice causes variable backwater conditions and alters the stage‐discharge relation. In this study, an automated dye dilution gauging system, a tracer ga