Water Quality

Nitrate, age tracer, and continuous groundwater-level data within the BGMA were interpreted in conjunction with AEM data as a case demonstration of the Nebraska Geocloud. The Nebraska Geocloud was initiated to protect taxpayer investments in AEM data collection and realize maximum benefit of these data by creating a publicly available, online digital database for long-term data storage. The Lower...

In 1991, Congress established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) to address where, when, why, and how the Nation's water quality has changed, or is likely to change in the future, in response to human activities and natural factors. Since then, NAWQA has been a leading source of scientific data and knowledge used by national, regional, state, and local agencies to develop science-based...

Homestead National Monument of America, (HOME) a National Park Service (NPS) site which commemorates the impacts of the Homestead Act of 1862 is located on the site of one of the first homestead claims filed in the United States of America, a site that was chosen by Daniel Freeman because of the clean abundant water that Cub Creek provided for his family and livestock. The USGS Nebraska Water...

In 2012, the USGS Nebraska Water Science Center, in cooperation with the City of Omaha, began monitoring the Missouri River near Omaha to document water-quality changes in the river as the City improved their combined sewer overflow (CSO) system. The monitoring program includes both discrete and continuous data collection at four sampling sites on the Missouri River. Monitoring at each site...

The USGS Nebraska Water Science Center maintains a network of continuous water-quality monitors across Nebraska which provide near-real-time water-quality data. Continuous water-quality monitors are typically installed at or near existing USGS stream gages or wells. Parameters that are monitored at continuous water-quality sites include water temperature, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen...

The Niobrara-Missouri Rivers delta at the head of Lewis and Clark Reservoir and the 59-mile reach of Missouri River below Gavins Point Dam are important river ecosystems for a variety of fish species including paddlefish, sauger, catfish and the endangered pallid sturgeon. From August 2015 through August 2016, we collected nutrient and chlorophyll water samples, and nutrient and carbon bed...

USGS Nebraska Water Science Center hydrologists, in cooperation with Douglas County, Nebraska, are monitoring the performance of stormwater bioretention cells that use “green” infrastructure techniques in Omaha, Nebraska. Bioretention cells are used to reduce the quantity of stormwater that flows into a combined sewer overflow (CSO) system which reduces discharge of raw sewage into local streams...

In eastern Nebraska, secondary aquifer systems are increasingly being considered to supplement growing municipal, domestic, and agricultural water demands. Within the Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment (ENWRA) area, airborne geophysical surveys have mapped the thickness and extent of these aquifers over much of eastern Nebraska; however little is known about the age and quality of water...

The USGS Nebraska Water Science Center has been collecting groundwater quality samples in cooperation with the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (NRD) since 1992 in support of the NRD's groundwater management plan. The basic geochemistry and age of the groundwater was established. Well waters are sampled yearly throughout the NRD to monitor the resource and assess concentrations of...

Willow Creek Reservoir is a 700-acre lake in northeast Nebraska. The reservoir has been experiencing frequent harmful algal blooms which pose a health threat to wildlife and humans. The USGS Nebraska Water Science Center has been working with several partners to characterize the algal blooms, investigate possible causes, correlate the algal blooms and possible causes, and deliver the information...

Stormwater management methodologies are shifting from the traditional storm sewer to a more green-infrastructure approach that stresses the importance of capturing, retaining and treating stormwater. The implementation of green infrastructure uses various Best Management Practices (BMPs) to mitigate the effects of stormwater on flooding and water quality. A bioretention cell is a BMP that captures...

We are providing monitoring assistance related to the construction of off-channel aquatic habitat (such as chutes) along the Missouri River. This construction is currently done using a hydraulic dredge to excavate floodplain material. The dredge slurry is discharged into the main channel of the Missouri River. The potential impacts on nutrient and sediment levels in the river from this practice...