Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey - in cooperation with the Ohio Water Development Authority; National Park Service; Cities of Aurora, Bedford, Bedford Heights, Solon, and Twinsburg; and Portage and Summit Counties - and in collaboration with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, did a study to determine the occurrence and distribution of organic wastewater compounds (OWCs) in the Tinkers Creek water

This report presents water-quality data from two nationwide studies on the occurrence and distribution of organic wastewater contaminants. These data are part of the continuing effort of the U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program to collect baseline information on the environmental occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants. In 2000, samples were col

Storage capacity in John Redmond Reservoir is being lost to sedimentation more rapidly than in other federal impoundments in Kansas. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, initiated a study to characterize suspended-sediment loading to and from John Redmond Reservoir from February 21, 2007, through February 21, 2008. Turbidity sensors were installed at tw

Precipitation-frequency and discharge-frequency relations for small drainage basins with areas less than 32 square miles in Kansas were evaluated to reduce the uncertainty of discharge-frequency estimates. Gaged-discharge records were used to develop discharge-frequency equations for the ratio of discharge to drainage area (Q/A) values using data from basins with variable soil permeability, channe

This report summarizes the results of algae and water-quality sampling on Rapid Creek and Canyon Lake during May and September 2007. The overall purpose of the study was to determine the algal community composition of Rapid Creek and Canyon Lake in relation to organisms that are known producers of unwanted tastes and odors in drinking-water supplies. Algal assemblage structure (phytoplankton and p

Created in 1954 by an impoundment on the San Jacinto River, Lake Houston currently (2008) supplies about 20 percent of the total source water for the city of Houston. Houston historically has relied on ground water as the major source of supply. As a result of regulations to limit ground-water withdrawals because of associated land subsidence (effective in 2010), the lake will become the primary s

Multi-year droughts have been a recurrent feature of the climate and hydrology of Kansas since at least the 1930s. Streamflow records collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) indicate that water years 2000 to 2006 (October 1, 1999, through September 30, 2006) represent the sixth hydrologic drought during the past eight decades, and that corresponding streamflow levels in some parts of Kansas

Cyanobacteria and associated toxins and taste-and-odor compounds are of increasing environmental concern. However, consistent guidelines for the development of studies assessing cyanobacterial toxins and taste-and-odor compounds presently are not available. This report provides guidance for the development of scientific studies of cyanobacteria and associated by-products in lakes and reservoirs. T

A combination of available bathymetric-survey information and bottom-sediment coring was used to investigate sedimentation and the occurrence of selected nutrients (total nitrogen and total phosphorus), organic and total carbon, 25 trace elements, diatoms, and the radionuclide cesium-137 in the bottom sediment of Fall River Lake, southeast Kansas. The total estimated volume and mass of bottom sedi

Water quality in Johnson County, Kansas was characterized on the basis of continuous, in-stream monitoring. The results summarized in this fact sheet may be used to better understand concentration and load variability during changing seasonal and streamflow conditions and to assess water-quality conditions relative to water-quality standards and management goals. The baseline information also will

Johnson County is one of the most rapidly developing counties in Kansas. Population growth and expanding urban land use affect the quality of county streams, which are important for human and environmental health, water supply, recreation, and aesthetic value. This report describes estimates of streamflow and constituent concentrations, loads, and yields in relation to watershed characteristics in

Shawnee Mission Lake is an artificial impoundment central to Shawnee Mission Park, the largest public park in Johnson County, Kansas. The Shawnee Mission Lake watershed has remained relatively undeveloped since the completion of the dam in 1962. However, recent (1990?2006) urban development has been a cause for concern regarding the quantity and quality of sediment entering the reservoir. The U.S.