Publications
The majority of publications in this section address water resources in Utah or in bordering states. Some of the publications are included because one or more of the authors work at the Utah Water Science Center but have provided expertise to studies in other geographic areas.
Filter Total Items: 906
Differences in macroinvertebrate community structure in streams and rivers with different hydrologic regimes in the semi-arid Colorado Plateau
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are sensitive to changes in their chemical and physical environment, and as such, serve as excellent indicators of overall ecosystem health. Moreover, temporal and spatial differences in macroinvertebrate community structure can be used to investigate broad issues in aquatic science, such as the hypothesis that changes in climate are likely to have disproportionately lar
Authors
Matthew P. Miller, Anne M.D. Brasher
Conceptual understanding and groundwater quality of selected basin-fill aquifers in the Southwestern United States
The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey has been conducting a regional analysis of water quality in the principal aquifer systems in the southwestern United States (hereinafter, “Southwest”) since 2005. Part of the NAWQA Program, the objective of the Southwest Principal Aquifers (SWPA) study is to develop a better understanding of water quality in basin-
Authors
Susan A. Thiros, Laura M. Bexfield, David W. Anning, Jena M. Huntington
Groundwater resources of Ribeira Fajã basin, island of São Nicolau, Cape Verde, West Africa
Groundwater resources in Cape Verde provide water for agriculture, industry, and human consumption. These resources are limited and susceptible to contamination. Additional groundwater resources are needed for continued agricultural development, particularly during times of drought, but increased use and (or) climatic change may have adverse effects on the quantity and quality of freshwater availa
Authors
Victor M. Heilweil, Stephen B. Gingerich, Niel Plummer, Ingrid M. Verstraeten
Groundwater resources of Ribeira Paúl basin, island of Santo Antão, Cape Verde, West Africa
Groundwater resources in Cape Verde provide water for agriculture, industry, and human consumption. These resources are limited and susceptible to contamination. Additional groundwater resources are needed for continued agricultural development, particularly during times of drought, but increased use and (or) climatic change may have adverse effects on the quantity and quality of freshwater availa
Authors
Victor M. Heilweil, Stephen B. Gingerich, Ingrid M. Verstraeten
Groundwater resources of Mosteiros basin, island of Fogo, Cape Verde, West Africa
Groundwater resources in Cape Verde provide water for agriculture, industry, and human consumption. These resources are limited and susceptible to contamination. Additional groundwater resources are needed for continued agricultural development, particularly during times of drought, but increased use and (or) climatic change may have adverse effects on the quantity and quality of freshwater availa
Authors
Victor M. Heilweil, Stephen B. Gingerich, Niel Plummer, Ingrid M. Verstraeten
Decadal-scale changes in dissolved-solids concentrations in groundwater used for public supply, Salt Lake Valley, Utah
Basin-fill aquifers are a major source of good-quality water for public supply in many areas of the southwestern United States and have undergone increasing development as populations have grown over time. During 2005, the basin-fill aquifer in Salt Lake Valley, Utah, provided approximately 75,000 acre-feet, or about 29 percent of the total amount of water used by a population of 967,000. Groundwa
Authors
Susan A. Thiros, Larry Spangler
Simulation of ground-water flow and solute transport in the Glen Canyon aquifer, East-Central Utah
The extraction of methane from coal beds in the Ferron coal trend in central Utah started in the mid-1980s. Beginning in 1994, water from the extraction process was pressure injected into the Glen Canyon aquifer. The lateral extent of the aquifer that could be affected by injection is about 7,600 square miles. To address regional-scale effects of injection over a decadal time frame, a conceptual m
Authors
Geoffrey W. Freethey, Bernard J. Stolp
Land Disturbance Associated with Oil and Gas Development and Effects of Development-Related Land Disturbance on Dissolved-Solids Loads in Streams in the Upper Colorado River Basin, 1991, 2007, and 2025
Oil and gas resource development in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) has increased substantially since the year 2000. The UCRB encompasses several significant oil and gas producing areas that have the potential for continued oil and gas resource development. Land disturbance associated with oil and gas resource development is caused by activities related to constructing drill pads to contain
Authors
Susan G. Buto, Terry A. Kenney, Steven J. Gerner
Utah Science Activities, Update 2010
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior, serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. The USGS has become a world leader in the natural scie
Authors
Hydrogeology of the Markagunt Plateau, Southwestern Utah
The Markagunt Plateau, in southwestern Utah, lies at an altitude of about 9,500 feet and is capped primarily by Quaternary-age basalt that overlies Eocene-age freshwater limestone of the Claron Formation. Over large parts of the Markagunt Plateau, dissolution of the Claron limestone and subsequent collapse of the overlying basalt have produced a terrain characterized by sinkholes as much as 1,000
Authors
Lawrence E. Spangler
Assessment of nonpoint source chemical loading potential to watersheds containing uranium waste dumps and human health hazards associated with uranium exploration and mining, Red, White, and Fry Canyons, southeastern Utah, 2007
During May, June, and July 2007, 58 solid-phase samples were collected from abandoned uranium mine waste dumps, background sites, and adjacent streambeds in Red, White, and Fry Canyons in southeastern Utah. The objectives of this sampling program were to (1) assess the nonpoint-source chemical loading potential to ephemeral and perennial drainage basins from uranium waste dumps and (2) assess pote
Authors
Kimberly R. Beisner, Thomas M. Marston, David L. Naftz, Terry Snyder, Michael L. Freeman
Streamflow characteristics and benthic invertebrate assemblages in streams across the western United States
Hydrographic characteristics of streamflow, such as high-flow pulses, base flow (background discharge between floods), extreme low flows, and floods, significantly influence aquatic organisms. Streamflow can be described in terms of magnitude, timing, duration, frequency, and variation (hydrologic regime). These characteristics have broad effects on ecosystem productivity, habitat structure, and u
Authors
Anne M.D. Brasher, Chris P. Konrad, Jason T. May, C. Scott Edmiston, Rebecca N. Close