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Publications

This list of Upper Midwest Water Science Center publications spans from 1899 to present. It includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. To access the full, searchable catalog of USGS publications, please visit the USGS Publications Warehouse.

Filter Total Items: 2244

Effectiveness of submerged vanes for stabilizing streamside bluffs

The effectiveness of submerged vanes for stabilizing streamside bluffs varied over a 10-year monitoring period in a tributary to Lake Superior, United States. Submerged vanes are a river training device used to divert river flows away from eroding banks along meander bends and ultimately hold constant or reverse the direction of lateral migration. At the study site, the relatively steep slope, lar
Authors
Benjamin O. Lee, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, John A. Hoopes

Reducing leaf litter contributions of phosphorus and nitrogen to urban stormwater through municipal leaf collection and street cleaning practices

As the boundaries of urban land use continue to expand, environmental managers are looking for innovative ways to reduce export of nutrients from urban sources. Municipal services such as leaf collection and street cleaning have the potential to reduce nutrient pollution at its source while continuing to offer services valued by residents. This study characterized reductions of total and dissolved
Authors
William R. Selbig, Nicolas H. Buer, Roger T. Bannerman, Phillip Gaebler

Uncertainty in critical source area predictions from watershed-scale hydrologic models

Watershed-scale hydrologic models are frequently used to inform conservation and restoration efforts by identifying critical source areas (CSAs; alternatively 'hotspots'), defined as areas that export relatively greater quantities of nutrients and sediment. The CSAs can then be prioritized or ‘targeted’ for conservation and restoration to ensure efficient use of limited resources. However, CSA sim
Authors
Grey R. Evenson, Margaret M Kalcic, Yu-Chen Wang, Dale M. Robertson, Donald Scavia, Jay Martin, Noel Aloysius, Anna Apostel, Chelsie Boles, Michael Brooker, Remegio Confesor, Awoke T Dagnew, Tian Guo, Jeffrey Kast, Hailey Kajawa, Rebecca Logsdon Muenich, Asmita Murumkar, Todd Redder

Effects of a crude-oil recovery remediation system operated 1999–2003 on groundwater plumes and unsaturated-zone vapor concentrations at a crude-oil spill site near Bemidji, Minnesota

A crude-oil spill occurred in 1979 when a pipeline burst near Bemidji, Minnesota. More than 70 percent of the 1.7 million liters of spilled crude oil was removed shortly thereafter. In response to a requirement by the State regulatory agency to remove the remaining crude to a sheen in all wells, in 1998, the pipeline company installed a dual-pump recovery system at the site. This additional remedi

Authors
Geoffrey N. Delin, William N. Herkelrath, Jared J. Trost

Modeling water quality in watersheds: From here to the next generation

In this synthesis, we assess present research and anticipate future development needs in modeling water quality in watersheds. We first discuss areas of potential improvement in the representation of freshwater systems pertaining to water quality, including representation of environmental interfaces, in‐stream water quality and process interactions, soil health and land management, and (peri‐)urba
Authors
Baihua Fu, J. S. Horsburgh, Anthony J. Jakeman, C Gaultieri, Todd W. Arnold, Lucy A. Marshall, Tim R Green, Nigel W. T. Quinn, Martin Volk, Randall J. Hunt, L. Vezzaro, Barry Croke, John Jakeman, Valerie O Snow, Brenda Rashleigh

Physical and chemical stressors on algal, invertebrate, and fish communities in 14 Milwaukee area streams, 2004–2013

In 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began sampling 14 wadable streams in urban or urbanizing watersheds near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The overall goal of the study is to assess the health of the aquatic communities in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District planning area to inform current and future watershed management. In addition to collection of biological data on aquatic communities,
Authors
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Michelle A. Nott, Jana S. Stewart, Daniel J. Sullivan, David A. Alvarez, Amanda H. Bell, Faith A. Fitzpatrick

Utica shale play oil and gas brines: Geochemistry and factors influencing wastewater management

The Utica and Marcellus Shale Plays in the Appalachian Basin are the fourth and first largest natural gas producing plays in the United States, respectively. Hydrocarbon production generates large volumes of brine (“produced water”) that must be disposed of, treated, or reused. Though Marcellus brines have been studied extensively, there are few studies from the Utica Shale Play. This study presen

Authors
Madalyn S. Blondes, Jenna L. Shelton, Mark A Engle, Jason Trembly, Colin A. Doolan, Aaron M. Jubb, Jessica Chenault, Elisabeth L. Rowan, Ralph J. Haefner, Brian E. Mailot

The influence of legacy contamination on the transport and bioaccumulation of mercury within the Mobile River Basin

Past industrial use and subsequent release of mercury (Hg) into the environment have resulted in severe cases of legacy contamination that still influence contemporary Hg levels in biota. While the bioaccumulation of legacy Hg is commonly assessed via concentration measurements within fish tissue, this practice becomes difficult in regions of high productivity and methylmercury (MeHg) production,
Authors
Sarah E. Janssen, Michael T. Tate, David P. Krabbenhoft, John F. DeWild, Jacob M. Ogorek, Christopher L. Babiarz, Anthony Sowers, Peter L. Tuttle

Observed and modeled mercury and dissolved organic carbon concentrations and loads at control structure S-12D, Florida Everglades, 2013–17

Mercury (Hg) has been a contaminant of concern for several decades in South Florida, particularly in the Florida Everglades. The transport and bioavailability of Hg in aquatic systems is intimately linked to dissolved organic carbon (DOC). In aquatic systems, Hg can be converted to methylmercury (MeHg), which is the form of Hg that bioaccumulates in food webs. The bioaccumulation of MeHg poses sig
Authors
Amanda Booth, Brett A. Poulin, David P. Krabbenhoft

Rapid-assessment test strips: Effectiveness forcyanotoxin monitoring in a northern temperate lake

Precise and rapid methods of determining toxin levels are needed in lakes used for recreation and drinking water to facilitate a quick risk assessment during cyanobacteria blooms. Therefore, we evaluated rapid-assessment test strips, a newer technology for estimating the toxicity of cyanobacterial blooms, in Kabetogama Lake, a popular recreational area of Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnes
Authors
Jaime F. LeDuc, Victoria Christensen, Ryan P. Maki

Hydrology of Haskell Lake and investigation of a groundwater contamination plume, Lac du Flambeau Reservation, Wisconsin

Haskell Lake is a shallow, 89-acre drainage lake in the headwaters of the Squirrel River, on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation in northern Wisconsin. The lake has long been valued by the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (LDF Tribe) for abundant wild rice and game fish. In recent decades, however, wild rice has mostly disappeared from the lake and the fishery has declined. A pet
Authors
Andrew T. Leaf, Megan J. Haserodt

A distributed temperature sensing investigation of groundwater discharge to Haskell Lake, Lac du Flambeau Reservation, Wisconsin, July 27–August 1, 2016

Haskell Lake is a shallow, 89-acre drainage lake in the headwaters of the Squirrel River, on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation in northern Wisconsin. Historically, this lake was an important producer of wild rice for the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (LDF Tribe); but, beginning in the late 1970s, the rice began to diminish and by the late 1990s, the lake no longer had harves
Authors
Andrew T. Leaf