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The fourth edition of "In The Flow," the newsletter of the Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C. Water Science Center focused on water science issues and solutions in our region.

Tracking Our Rivers and Streams: How USGS Surface Water Monitoring Provides Important Information For The MD-DE-DC Region

Video Transcript

As humans leave an ever-increasing impact upon the earth’s natural resources, and in an increasingly complex world of water infrastructure and man-made structures, understanding where water comes from and where it flows to is more important than ever. One of the U.S. Geological Survey’s core capabilities is to monitor our nation’s waterways, providing publicly available data that impact all our lives.

The USGS has 190 surface water streamgages in Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C., which are part of the USGS’ network of over 11,000 automated streamgages collecting continuous data on streams, rivers, lakes, canals, rainfall, and more.

Our publicly available high-quality USGS data is used by federal partners, states, municipalities, non-profits, meteorologists, and citizens, so it’s important that we report accurate data. That’s why you can find our dedicated crew of hydrologic technicians collecting measurements and servicing our gages on nearly any day of the year, rain or shine, holidays and weekends.

Watch our video on USGS surface water monitoring capabilities in the Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C. region.

🔗 GET THE LATEST SURFACE WATER DATA

 

Leetown PFAS Lab Studies An Emerging Contaminant of Concern

Video Transcript

PFAS, also called “forever chemicals,” are emerging contaminants of concern that can be found in air, rain, lakes, rivers, groundwater, soils, and in products we use every day, like non-stick pans and popcorn bags. PFAS exposure has been associated with a variety of human and ecosystem health effects, making it very important to have good analytical methods to ensure the data is of the highest quality.

The U.S. Geological Survey laboratory for the analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) uses cutting-edge techniques to analyze environmental samples including tissues, plasma, water, and soils to undertake and support research projects across the country.

This video was produced for the USGS Eastern Ecological Science Center office at Leetown, West Virginia. If you have any questions feel free to email Andrea Tokranov at atokranov@usgs.gov.

 

2023 Center Awards

Sam Woomer, Michael Brownley, Angela Flack, Ashley Melvin, Jacob Mavrogeorge.

Every year, the USGS Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center awards employees and teams for their outstanding contributions to our center. Their selfless dedication, scientific excellence, and work ethic bring great credit upon themselves and the U.S. Geological Survey, and truly uphold the USGS motto, "Science for a changing world."

🔗 FIND OUT WHO RECEIVED AWARDS

 

Updates To Our Gage Network

Gage box next to a bridge. A road sign above the box reads: Monocacy Scenic Rvr
USGS water quality streamgage Monocacy River near Dickerson, MD (01643580) as seen from the road.

Please welcome our latest water quality gages located at Northwest Branch Anacostia at Brentwood, MD (01651003) and at Monocacy River near Dickerson, MD (01643580). Both streamgages collect data on gage height, specific conductance, temperature, and turbidity. The Anacostia gage also provides discharge measurements, and the Monocacy gage also collects data on dissolved oxygen, pH, and stream water-level elevation.

In other water-quality news, we added a nitrate sensor to our gage at the Choptank River near Greensboro, MD (01491000), which collects continuous nitrate plus nitrite data.  The additional sensor augments our existing water-quality capabilities at this site.

 

Testing New Water Quality Observation Methods In Philadelphia

Video Transcript

When USGS scientists need to test new ways of monitoring waterways, we use a test bed! This site is located at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a crucial point of the Delaware River, and is operated by the Pennsylvania Water Science Center.

The Delaware River is rich in history, ecologically diverse, and critical to the regional economy. Water managers in this basin have a long history of applying innovative solutions to ensure the long-term sustainability of a treasured resource that provides drinking water to over 15 million people in the region.

Implementing the USGS Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) in the Delaware River Basin provides an opportunity to develop an integrated system to support innovative modern water prediction and decision support systems in a nationally important, complex interstate river system.

 

This Summer in Photos

Following rains brought on by Tropical Storm Ophelia, Fisseha Mengistu collects a water-quality sample from Governor's Bridge over the Patuxent River near Bowie.
Following rains brought on by Tropical Storm Ophelia, Fisseha Mengistu collects a water-quality sample from Governor's Bridge over the Patuxent River near Bowie.

 

Hydrologic technician Tyler Bowser calibrated our new rain gage at Harford Glen Park. For this weighing-bucket rain gage to report accurate data, it must be calibrated to a standard weight. This gage weighs rainfall and converts the weight to rainfall in inches.
Hydrologic technician Tyler Bowser calibrated our new rain gage at Harford Glen Park. For this weighing-bucket rain gage to report accurate data, it must be calibrated to a standard weight. This gage weighs rainfall and converts the weight to rainfall in inches.

 

Marina Metes (left) and Natalie Hall (right) installed a new time lapse trail camera at Little Seneca Creek to expand the Flow Photo Explorer network.
Smile! USGS scientists Marina Metes (left) and Natalie Hall (right) installed a new time lapse trail camera at Little Seneca Creek to expand the Flow Photo Explorer network. Images collected by the USGS, our partners, and citizen scientists go to developing an AI model that can predict streamflow from images. Learn more at: https://www.usgs.gov/apps/ecosheds/fpe/#/

 

In a forest, USGS scientist Zach Clifton stands in a stream and assesses a streambank.
Physical Scientist Zach Clifton examines a streambank's riparian zone. Scientists can use streambank metrics to determine how quickly and how much the stream may erode and change the landscape around it. They can also estimate the regularity of floods by looking at plant species as well as wood and sediment size transported by the stream.

 

Under a tent on a table, a scientist analyzes PFAS. A cornfield can be seen in the background.
Nothing beats processing groundwater samples next to a cornfield! Kelly McVicker (pictured) and Nicole King of our water quality team were on the Eastern Shore of Maryland collecting groundwater samples for selected analyses including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals.” 

 

Group photo in a lodge.
Aspiring leaders convened for a four-day leadership training event at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Conservation Training Center in August.

 

Using a ruler, a scientist measures a sediment core on table outside.
USGS Research Geologist Dr. Jean Self-Trail of the Florence Bascom Geoscience Center measures a freshly extracted sediment core in Sandtown, Delaware. The sediment will help scientists understand the mid-Atlantic’s climate history and groundwater resources. This project was undertaken in cooperation with the Delaware Geological Survey.

 

 

 

Recent Publications

New study evaluates effects of agricultural conservation practices on nitrogen in streams of the Chesapeake Bay | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)

Examining terrestrial and subterranean sediment sources and transport processes in an urban sewershed with an entirely buried stream network, Washington, D.C., United States (usgs.gov)

Quantifying connectivity and its effects on sediment budgeting for an agricultural basin, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, United States (usgs.gov)

Spatial patterns and seasonal timing of increasing riverine specific conductance from 1998 to 2018 suggest legacy contamination in the Delaware River Basin (usgs.gov)

Geology, hydrology, and groundwater contamination in the vicinity of Central Chemical facility, Hagerstown, Maryland (usgs.gov)

 

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