Publications
Publications authored by the Nevada Water Science Center scientists are listed below. Older publications may not be available in electronic form yet. If a Nevada Water Science Center publication that you would like to view isn't listed below, please send email to GS-W-NVpublic-info@ usgs.gov.
Filter Total Items: 378
A new temperature profiling probe for investigating groundwater-surface water interaction
Measuring vertically nested temperatures at the streambed interface poses practical challenges that are addressed here with a new discrete subsurface temperature profiling probe. We describe a new temperature probe and its application for heat as a tracer investigations to demonstrate the probe's utility. Accuracy and response time of temperature measurements made at 6 discrete depths in the probe
Authors
Ramon C. Naranjo, Robert Turcotte
Mixing effects on nitrogen and oxygen concentrations and the relationship to mean residence time in a hyporheic zone of a riffle-pool sequence
Flow paths and residence times in the hyporheic zone are known to influence biogeochemical processes such as nitrification and denitrification. The exchange across the sediment-water interface may involve mixing of surface water and groundwater through complex hyporheic flow paths that contribute to highly variable biogeochemically active zones. Despite the recognition of these patterns in the lit
Authors
Ramon C. Naranjo, Richard G. Niswonger, Clinton Davis
Multimodel analysis of anisotropic diffusive tracer-gas transport in a deep arid unsaturated zone
Gas transport in the unsaturated zone affects contaminant flux and remediation, interpretation of groundwater travel times from atmospheric tracers, and mass budgets of environmentally important gases. Although unsaturated zone transport of gases is commonly treated as dominated by diffusion, the characteristics of transport in deep layered sediments remain uncertain. In this study, we use a multi
Authors
Christopher T. Green, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Brian J. Andraski, Robert G. Striegl, David A. Stonestrom
Steady-state numerical groundwater flow model of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system
This report describes the construction, calibration, evaluation, and results of a steady-state numerical groundwater flow model of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system that was developed as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Census Initiative to evaluate the nation’s groundwater availability. The study area spans 110,000 square miles across five states. The numerica
Authors
Lynette E. Brooks, Melissa D. Masbruch, Donald S. Sweetkind, Susan G. Buto
Simulation of the Lower Walker River Basin hydrologic system, west-central Nevada, using PRMS and MODFLOW models
Walker Lake is a terminal lake in west-central Nevada with almost all outflow occurring through evaporation. Diversions from Walker River since the early 1900s have contributed to a substantial reduction in flow entering Walker Lake. As a result, the lake is receding, and salt concentrations have increased to a level in which Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi (Lahontan Cutthroat trout) are no longer p
Authors
Kip K. Allander, Richard G. Niswonger, Anne E. Jeton
Hydrogeologic framework and occurrence, movement, and chemical characterization of groundwater in Dixie Valley, west-central Nevada
Dixie Valley, a primarily undeveloped basin in west-central Nevada, is being considered for groundwater exportation. Proposed pumping would occur from the basin-fill aquifer. In response to proposed exportation, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation and Churchill County, conducted a study to improve the understanding of groundwater resources in Dixie Valley. The
Authors
Jena M. Huntington, C. Amanda Garcia, Michael R. Rosen
Groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration, Dixie Valley, west-central Nevada, March 2009-September 2011
With increasing population growth and land-use change, urban communities in the desert Southwest are progressively looking toward remote basins to supplement existing water supplies. Pending applications by Churchill County for groundwater appropriations from Dixie Valley, Nevada, a primarily undeveloped basin east of the Carson Desert, have prompted a reevaluation of the quantity of naturally dis
Authors
C. Amanda Garcia, Jena M Huntington, Susan G. Buto, Michael T. Moreo, J. LaRue Smith, Brian J. Andraski
Hydroclimate of the Spring Mountains and Sheep Range, Clark County, Nevada
Precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and actual evapotranspiration often are used to characterize the hydroclimate of a region. Quantification of these parameters in mountainous terrains is difficult because limited access often hampers the collection of representative ground data. To fulfill a need to characterize ecological zones in the Spring Mountains and Sheep Range of southern Nevada
Authors
Michael T. Moreo, Gabriel B. Senay, Alan L. Flint, Nancy A. Damar, Randell J. Laczniak, James Hurja
Surface-groundwater interactions in hard rocks in Sardon Catchment of western Spain: an integrated modeling approach
The structural and hydrological complexity of hard rock systems (HRSs) affects dynamics of surface–groundwater interactions. These complexities are not well described or understood by hydrogeologists because simplified analyses typically are used to study HRSs. A transient, integrated hydrologic model (IHM) GSFLOW (Groundwater and Surface water FLOW) was calibrated and post-audited using 18 years
Authors
S.M. Tanvir Hassan, Maciek W. Lubczynski, Richard G. Niswonger, Su Zhongbo
Preliminary geochemical assessment of water in selected streams, springs, and caves in the Upper Baker and Snake Creek drainages in Great Basin National Park, Nevada, 2009
Water in caves, discharging from springs, and flowing in streams in the upper Baker and Snake Creek drainages are important natural resources in Great Basin National Park, Nevada. Water and rock samples were collected from 15 sites during February 2009 as part of a series of investigations evaluating the potential for water resource depletion in the park resulting from the current and proposed gro
Authors
Angela P. Paul, Carl E. Thodal, Gretchen M. Baker, Michael S. Lico, David E. Prudic
Site-characteristic and hydrologic data for selected wells and springs on Federal land in Clark County, Nevada
Site-characteristic and hydrologic data for selected wells and springs on U.S. Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service land in Clark County, Nevada, were updated in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System (NWIS) to facilitate multi-agency research. Data were researched and reviewed, sites were visited, and NWI
Authors
Michael T. Pavelko
Vegetation database for land-cover mapping, Clark and Lincoln Counties, Nevada
Floristic and other vegetation data were collected at 3,175 sample sites to support land-cover mapping projects in Clark and Lincoln Counties, Nevada, from 2007 to 2013. Data were collected at sample sites that were selected to fulfill mapping priorities by one of two different plot sampling approaches. Samples were described at the stand level and classified into the National Vegetation Classific
Authors
David A. Charlet, Nancy A. Damar, Patrick J. Leary