Publications
► To fine-tune a search for USGS publications, try the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 659
Evidence of long-range transport of selenium downstream of coal mining operations in the Elk River Valley, Canada
Expanding coal-mining operations in the Elk River Valley (British Columbia, Canada) have increased total selenium (Se) concentrations in the transboundary Lake Koocanusa (Canada and United States), but the spatial extent of Se transport from the Elk River Mines is unknown. We evaluated multiple lines of evidence of long-range transport of Se at five sites downstream of the mines relative to a site
Authors
Madison Jo Foster, Meryl Biesiot Storb, Johanna Blake, Travis S. Schmidt, Rochelle A. Nustad, Ashley Morgan Bussell
Why snow is crucial for water supply — And what will happen when it becomes scarce
Analysis of 70 years of snowfall in the Northern Hemisphere reveals that snow buffers the effect of varying precipitation levels on streamflow. The link highlights the need to rethink water-resource management as snow levels decline.
Authors
Karen R. Ryberg
Peak streamflow trends and their relation to changes in climate in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
Flood-frequency analysis, also called peak-flow frequency or flood-flow frequency analysis, is essential to water resources management applications including critical structure design and floodplain mapping. Federal guidelines for doing flood-frequency analyses are presented in a U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods report known as Bulletin 17C. A basic assumption within Bulletin 17C is t
Introduction and methods of analysis for peak streamflow trends and their relation to changes in climate in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
Flood-frequency analysis, also called peak-flow frequency or flood-flow frequency analysis, is essential to water resources management applications including critical structure design and floodplain mapping. Federal guidelines for doing flood-frequency analyses are presented in a U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods Report known as Bulletin 17C. A basic assumption within Bulletin 17C is t
Authors
Karen R. Ryberg, Thomas M. Over, Sara B. Levin, David C. Heimann, Nancy A. Barth, Mackenzie K. Marti, Padraic S. O'Shea, Christopher A. Sanocki, Tara J. Williams-Sether, Harper N. Wavra, T. Roy Sando, Steven K. Sando, Milan S. Liu
Water-quality characteristics of the Red River of the North and tributaries in the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area, North Dakota, 2019–22
The Flood Risk Management Project was initiated in 2008 in the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area to reduce flood risk, flood damages, and flood protection costs in the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. In cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a water-quality monitoring study to describe the water-quality characteristics of the Red River of the North
Authors
Joel M. Galloway, Rochelle A. Nustad, Spencer L. Wheeling
Assessing the added value of antecedent streamflow alteration information in modeling stream biological condition
In stream systems, disentangling relationships between biology and flow and subsequent prediction of these relationships to unsampled streams is a common objective of large-scale ecological modeling. Often, streamflow metrics are derived from aggregating continuous streamflow records available at a subset of stream gages into long-term flow regime descriptors. Despite demonstrated value, shortcomi
Authors
Taylor E Woods, Ken Eng, Daren Carlisle, Matthew Joseph Cashman, Michael Meador, Karen R. Ryberg, Kelly O. Maloney
Comprehensive water-quality trend analysis for selected sites and constituents in the International Souris River Basin, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada, and North Dakota, United States, 1970–2020
The Souris River Basin is an international basin in southeast Saskatchewan, north-central North Dakota, and southwest Manitoba. Sustained exceedances of water-quality objectives for total phosphorus, sodium, sulfate, total dissolved solids, and total iron have been reported since the late 1990s at the two binational sites on the Souris River (Souris River near Sherwood, North Dakota [U.S. Geologic
Authors
Rochelle A. Nustad, Wyatt S. Tatge
Machine-learning model to delineate sub-surface agricultural drainage from satellite imagery
Knowing subsurface drainage (tile-drain) extent is integral to understanding how landscapes respond to precipitation events and subsequent days of drying, as well as how soil characteristics and land management influence stream response. Consequently, a time series of tile-drain extent would inform one aspect of land management that complicates our ability to explain streamflow and water-quality a
Authors
Fleford Santos Redoloza, Tanja N. Williamson, Alex O. Headman, Barry J. Allred
Method for identification of reservoir regulation within U.S. Geological Survey streamgage basins in the Central United States using a decadal dam impact metric
Researchers routinely study streamflow data to understand the effects of natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change, and to develop methods for estimating streamflow at ungaged locations. These studies require streamflow data that are not modified or largely altered by other anthropogenic activities, such as reservoirs or diversions. This report discusses a method for identifying
Authors
Mackenzie K. Marti, Karen R. Ryberg
Flood-frequency analysis in the Midwest: Addressing potential nonstationarity of annual peak-flow records
Flood-frequency analysis is essential in numerous water-resource management applications, including critical structure design and flood-plain mapping. A basic assumption within Bulletin 17C [1], the standardized guidelines for conducting flood-frequency analysis, is that basins without major hydrologic alterations, such as regulation or urbanization, exhibit stationary statistical properties of th
Authors
Mackenzie K. Marti, Karen R. Ryberg, Sara B. Levin
Research needs identified for potential effects of energy development activities on environmental resources of the Williston Basin, United States
Unconventional oil and gas development that uses horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing is rapidly changing the landscape and exponentially increasing oil production within the Williston Basin, especially in North Dakota and eastern Montana. The activities associated with unconventional oil and gas development are complex and wide reaching and include, in part, road and well-pad construction
Authors
Gregory C. Delzer, Max Post van der Burg
Hydrogeologic characteristics of Hourglass and New Years Cave Lakes at Jewel Cave National Monument, South Dakota, from water-level and water-chemistry data, 2015–21
Jewel Cave National Monument is in the western Black Hills of South Dakota and contains an extensive cave network, including various subterranean water bodies (cave lakes) that are believed to represent the regionally important Madison aquifer. Recent investigations have sought to improve understanding of hydrogeologic characteristics of cave lakes in Jewel Cave. The U.S. Geological Survey, in coo
Authors
Colton J. Medler