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Publications

The following list of California Water Science Center publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists.

Filter Total Items: 1734

Quantifying relations between altered hydrology and fish community responses for streams in Minnesota

Altered hydrology is a stressor on aquatic life for several streams in Minnesota, but quantitative relations between specific aspects of streamflow alteration and biological responses have not been developed on a statewide scale in Minnesota. Best subsets regression analysis was used to develop linear regression models that quantify relations among five categories of hydrologic explanatory metric
Authors
Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid, Gregory D. Johnson, Aliesha L. Krall, Kara Fitzpatrick, Sara B. Levin

Addressing stakeholder science needs for integrated drought science in the Colorado River Basin

Stakeholders need scientific data, analysis, and predictions of how drought the will impact the Colorado River Basin in a format that is continuously updated, intuitive, and easily accessible. The Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Pilot Project was formed to demonstrate the effectiveness of addressing complex problems through stakeholder involvement an
Authors
Anne C. Tillery, Sally House, Rebecca J. Frus, Sharon L. Qi, Daniel Jones, William J. Andrews

Can coastal habitats rise to the challenge? Resilience of estuarine habitats, carbon accumulation, and economic value to sea-level rise in a Puget Sound estuary

Sea-level rise (SLR) and obstructions to sediment delivery pose challenges to the persistence of estuarine habitats and the ecosystem services they provide. Restoration actions and sediment management strategies may help mitigate such challenges by encouraging the vertical accretion of sediment in and horizontal migration of tidal forests and marshes. We used a process-based soil accretion model (
Authors
Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch, Kristin B. Byrd, Melanie J. Davis, Anthony J. Good, Judith Z. Drexler, James T. Morris, Isa Woo, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Eric E. Grossman, Glynnis Nakai, Katrina L. Poppe, John M. Rybczyk

Geologic controls on groundwater salinity reversal in North Coles Levee Oil Field, southern San Joaquin Valley, California, USA

This paper documents a reversal in the groundwater salinity depth gradient in the North Coles Levee Oil Field in the San Joaquin Valley, California. Salinity, measured in mg/L, was mapped with water quality data from groundwater and oil and gas wells and salinity estimated from oil and gas well borehole geophysical logs using Archie's equation. The resulting three-dimensional salinity volume shows
Authors
Michael D Flowers, David H. Shimabukuro, Michael J. Stephens, John G. Warden, Janice M. Gillespie, Will Chang

Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Sacramento Metropolitan Domestic-Supply Aquifer study unit, 2017—California GAMA Priority Basin Project

Groundwater quality in the Sacramento Metropolitan Domestic-Supply Aquifer study unit (SacMetro-DSA) was studied from August to November 2017 as part of the second phase of the Priority Basin Project of the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The study unit is in parts of Amador, Placer, Sacramento, and Sutter Counties, and the extent of the study unit was defi
Authors
George L. Bennett V

Underwater videographic observations of domesticated Delta smelt in field enclosures

The delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) is a small, euryhaline fish species endemic to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta; it is protected under the U.S. and California Endangered Species Acts, and because of declines in population abundance, the delta smelt may be vulnerable to extinction. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is conducting studies to test the viability of using dom
Authors
Ethan Enos, Oliver Patton, Frederick V. Feyrer

Exposure to crop production alters cecal prokaryotic microbiota, inflates virulome and resistome in wild prairie grouse

Chemically intensive crop production depletes wildlife food resources, hinders animal development, health, survival, and reproduction, and it suppresses wildlife immune systems, facilitating emergence of infectious diseases with excessive mortality rates. Gut microbiota is crucial for wildlife's response to environmental stressors. Its composition and functionality are sensitive to diet changes an
Authors
Serguei Vyacheslavovich Drovetski, Brian K. Schmidt, Jonas Ethan Lai, Michael S. Gross, Michelle Hladik, Kenan Oguz Matterson, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier

Integrated hydrologic model development and postprocessing for GSFLOW using pyGSFLOW

pyGSFLOW is a python package designed to create new GSFLOW integrated hydrologic models, read existing models, edit model input data, run GSFLOW models, process output, and visualize model data.
Authors
Joshua Larsen, Ayman H. Alzraiee, Richard G. Niswonger

Introduction to the Delta Smelt flow alteration white papers

The management of the quantity and timing of freshwater flow into and through the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) is a perennial source of controversy in California. It is well known that freshwater outflow is a major environmental driver in estuarine ecosystems, including the SFE. However, the estuary is also the hub of California’s water distribution system, which supplies water to over 25 million C
Authors
Larry R. Brown

Dynamic abiotic habitat

The factors affecting an organism can be divided into two general classes, abiotic and biotic. Abiotic factors include features of the physical and chemical environment, such as climate, water movement, and many aspects of water quality. Biotic factors refer to those involving living organisms and their interactions, such as the organisms and processes in a food web. We also distinguish between dy
Authors
Larry R. Brown, Steven B. Slater, Michael L. MacWilliams

Occurrence of water and thermogenic gas from oil-bearing formations in groundwater near the Orcutt Oil Field, California, USA

Study regionSanta Barbara County, California, USA.Study focusTo analyze a wide array of newly collected chemical, isotopic, dissolved gas, and age dating tracers in conjunction with historical data from groundwater and oil wells to determine if water and/or thermogenic gas from oil-bearing formations have mixed with groundwater in the Orcutt Oil Field and surrounding area.New hydrological insights
Authors
Robert Anders, Matthew K. Landon, Peter B. McMahon, Justin T. Kulongoski, Andrew Hunt, Tracy Davis

Pesticide exposure of wild bees and honey bees foraging from field border flowers in intensively managed agriculture areas

Bees are critical for food crop pollination, yet their populations are declining as agricultural practices intensify. Pollinator-attractive field border plantings (e.g. hedgerows and forb strips) can increase bee diversity and abundance in agricultural areas, however recent studies suggest these plants may contain pesticides. Pesticide exposure for wild bees in agricultural areas remains largely u
Authors
Laura T. Ward, Michelle Hladik, Aidee Guzman, Sara Winsemius, Ariana Bautista, Claire Kremen, Nicholas Mills