Publications

Eutrophication is a common problem for lakes in agricultural and urban areas, such as Lakes Wingra and Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. This report describes a study to estimate the sources of phosphorus, a major contributor to eutrophication, to Lakes Wingra and Mendota from two small urban residential drainage basins. The Monroe Basin empties into Lake Wingra, and the Harper Basin into Lake Mendot

Water-resources information has been compiled from 82 studies in which data were collected from the Oneida Reservation and vicinity. Forty-seven studies addressed surface-water issues, 33 studies addressed ground-water issues, and 23 studies addressed aquatic-biology issues. Some multidisciplinary studies are included in more than one category. Most of the surface-water studies summarized in this

Numerous earthen basins have been constructed in Minnesota for storage of livestock waste. Typically, these basins are excavated pits with partially above-grade, earth-walled embankments and compacted clay liners. Some have drain tile installed around them to prevent shallow ground and soil water to discharge into the basins. Environmental concerns associated with the waste include contamination o

A model that simulates lake stage was developed to test the current understanding of the hydrology of Shell Lake, Wisconsin and to provide a tool for predicting the effects of withdrawing lake water on future lake stages. The model code is written in Fortran and simulates daily lake stage by summing estimates of hydrologic-budget components - precipitation falling on the lake surface, water evapor

Test well BN-483, near the Better Brite Superfund Site, was drilled to a total depth of 169 feet below land surface. The Ordovician-age Sinnipee Group, which includes the Galena Dolomite, and the Decorah and Platteville Formations, was encountered from about 25 feet below land surface to a depth of about 160 feet. Analysis of core samples and single-well aquifer tests of the dolomites indicate low

From 1995 through 1998, water-quality and aquatic-biological samples were collected, processed, and analyzed for the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program in the Upper Mississippi River Basin in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Sites were selected and samples collected for integrated studies designed to provide a comprehensive description of water-quality conditions, to identi

Fish communities in the Upper Mississippi River Basin have been affected by changing environmental and land-use factors. Fish communities in small streams in agricultural and urban basins were compared to the fish community in a relatively undisturbed forested basin. In small streams, nutrient inputs from fertilizer, habitat modification from channelization, hydrologic modification from dams and t

Although considered the most important component for the establishment and persistence of wetlands, hydrology has been hard to characterize and linkages between hydrology and other environmental conditions are often poorly understood. In this work, methods for characterizing a wetland’s hydrology from hydrographs were developed, and the importance of ground water to the physical and geochemical co

The Grand Portage Reservation is located in northeastern Cook County, Minnesota (fig. 1). In 1997 and 1998 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a study, in cooperation with the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa, to determine the quality of water in selected inland lakes and streams in the Reservation. The USGS collected and analyzed water from two streams, two wetlands, and four lakes (fig 1).

Fecal coliform and Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations were determined in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway to assess whether pathogenic organisms pose a potential problem for recreational use. Samples were collected from May through September 1999 at 22 locations on the St. Croix and Namekagon Rivers. No concentrations exceeded water-quality criteria or standards set by the U.S. Enviro

An aquifer test of the Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer was conducted in the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community located southwest of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A well open to the Jordan Sandstone was pumped at 600 gallons per minute for 57 hours. Drawdown was monitored in three observation wells located near the pumped well. These wells were open to: (1) the Jordan Sandstone, the principa

Water quality, physical habitat, and fish-community composition were characterized at 13 Twin Cities metropolitan area streams during low-flow conditions, September 1997. Fish communities were resampled during September 1998. Sites were selected based on a range of human population density. Nutrient concentrations were generally low, rarely exceeding concentrations found in agricultural streams or