Watershed Hydrology

The Water Cycle Center is a cooperation between U.S. Geological Survey and academic partners in the Northeast that studies complete water cycles and watersheds, from mountaintops to shorelines, concentrating on freshwater ecosystems. This research advances the understanding of processes that determine water availability and is needed to best address future water resource challenges.

The U.S. Geological Survey, New England Water Science Center, in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is modeling seasonal nutrient loads to Long Island Sound (LIS). Nutrients that originate from within the 41,867-square-mile section of the LIS watershed that is north of the Sound include both point (specific) and nonpoint (widespread) sources. Dynamic modeling of the...

The term environmental streamflows refers to the magnitude, frequency, seasonal timing, duration, and rate of change of streamflows needed to sustain freshwater and estuary ecosystems and human wellbeing. It is important that environmental streamflow assessments by water managers consider changes in climate, land use, and water management; this cannot be done effectively without understanding...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), is currently conducting a 4-year water-quality investigation in the lower portion of the Merrimack River watershed, April 2020 – October 2024.

Coastal estuaries in southern New England and New York show the effects of excess nutrients and coastal eutrophication. These include excessive growth of macroalgae, excessive blooms of phytoplankton, oxygen depletion, hypoxia and deteriorated substrates. State and Federal regulators have responded to these nutrient-caused impairments by requiring more stringent permit limits for National...

The Scituate Reservoir system is the largest inland body of water in Rhode Island and the principal drinking-water supply for more than 60 percent of the State’s population. The system includes the Scituate Reservoir and five tributary reservoirs with a maximum storage capacity of 37 billion gallons. The drainage basin that contributes water to the reservoir extends across 93 square miles in...

The Sleepers River Research Watershed in Danville, Vermont has been the site of active hydrologic research since 1959, when the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) established a research program in the watershed. The Sleepers River site is now operated by the USGS, in cooperation with several other Federal agencies and universities.

The Merrimack River watershed, the 4th largest watershed in New England (Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, 2001), has seen substantial growth and development in recent years.

In 2019 USGS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 initiated a study to measure spatial and temporal patterns of nitrogen loading in selected rivers on Cape Cod and then determine whether the measured patterns can be related to nitrogen source areas in the surrounding watersheds to prioritize nitrogen reduction efforts. Study results will improve understanding of nitrogen...

In 2019 the USGS began a partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD), EPA Region 1 Southeast New England Program for Coastal Watershed Restoration (SNEP), Barnstable Clean Water Coalition (BCWC), and other stakeholders to conduct hydrologic monitoring and assessment in support of multifaceted nutrient-management activities in the Three...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) New England Water Science Center installed, operated, and maintained surface water-quality sites at the Chequessett Neck Road dike on the Herring River from November 2015 through September 2018.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) are collaborating on a study to develop a water quality monitoring strategy for Mount Hope Bay and the Taunton River Estuary.