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
Characterization of hydrology and sediment transport following drought and wildfire in Cache Creek, California
The worst drought in California in over 1,200 years occurred between 2012-2017 (Griffin, 2014), depleting surface water and groundwater supply and drying out the soils past wilting point. In the summer of 2015, the Jerusalem and Rocky fires burned roughly 40,000 acres within the Cache Creek watershed. To fully characterize the post-fire effects in the Cache Creek watershed, an hourly model of stre
Authors
Michelle A. Stern, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint
Refining the Baseline Sediment Budget for the Klamath River, California
Four dams in the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project (KHP) in Oregon and California (Figure 1) are currently scheduled to be removed over a period of a few weeks or months, beginning in January 2021. The Klamath dam removal will be the largest in the world by almost all measures, and is an unprecedented opportunity to advance science of river responses to such events. The KHP contains approximatel
Authors
Chauncey W. Anderson, Scott A. Wright, Liam N. Schenk, Katherine Skalak, Jennifer A. Curtis, Amy E. East, Adam Benthem
Hydrocarbons in upland groundwater, Marcellus Shale Region, Northeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New York, USA
Water samples from 50 domestic wells located <1 km (proximal) and >1 km (distal) from shale-gas wells in upland areas of the Marcellus Shale region were analyzed for chemical, isotopic, and groundwater-age tracers. Uplands were targeted because natural mixing with brine and hydrocarbons from deep formations is less common in those areas compared to valleys. CH4-isotope, predrill CH4-concentration,
Authors
Peter B. McMahon, Bruce D. Lindsey, Matthew D. Conlon, Andrew G. Hunt, Kenneth Belitz, Bryant Jurgens, Brian A. Varela
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, National Water Quality Program, California Water Science Center, Central Energy Resources Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, New England Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center
Hydraulic, geochemical, and thermal monitoring of an aquifer system in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, Mono County, California, 2015–17
Since 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey has been working in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, Mono County, Ormat Technologies, Inc., and the Mammoth Community Water District to design and implement a groundwater-monitoring program for the proposed Casa Diablo IV Geothermal Power Project in Long Valley Caldera, California, to characterize baseline groundwater-level, water-temperature,
Authors
James F. Howle, William C. Evans, Devin L. Galloway, Paul A. Hsieh, Shaul Hurwitz, Gregory A. Smith, Joseph Nawikas
Estimating domestic well locations and populations served in the contiguous U.S. for years 2000 and 2010
Domestic wells provide drinking water supply for approximately 40 million people in the United States. Knowing the location of these wells, and the populations they serve, is important for identifying heavily used aquifers, locations susceptible to contamination, and populations potentially impacted by poor-quality groundwater. The 1990 census was the last nationally consistent survey of a home’s
Authors
Tyler D. Johnson, Kenneth Belitz, Melissa Lombard
Evaluation of land subsidence and ground failures at Bicycle Basin, Fort Irwin National Training Center, California, 1992–2017
Groundwater has been pumped in the Bicycle Basin at Fort Irwin National Training Center since the 1960s, and the amount pumped has generally increased since the 1990s. After a large crack (approximately 0.5-kilometer long) formed at the surface of Bicycle Lake playa during 2005–06 in the area used as an aircraft runway, a monitoring study was initiated by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation
Authors
Jill N. Densmore, Kevin M. Ellett, Michelle Sneed, Justin T. Brandt, James F. Howle, Andrew Y. Morita, Rodrigo Borela, Antonio Bobet, Drew C. Thayer
Using a GIS to populate 3D geocellular geologic models
No abstract available
Authors
Donald S. Sweetkind, Geoffrey Cromwell
Groundwater quality in shallow aquifers in the western Mojave Desert, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information. One GAMA
Authors
Krishangi D. Groover, Dara A. Goldrath
Dam effects on bedload transport on the upper Santa Ana River, California, and implications for native fish habitat
Dams disrupt the flow of water and sediment and thus have the potential to affect the downstream geomorphic characteristics of a river. Though there are some well‐known and common geomorphic responses to dams, such as bed armouring, the response downstream from any particular dam is dependent on local conditions. Herein, we investigate the response of the upper Santa Ana River in southern Californ
Authors
Scott A. Wright, J Toby Minear
Turbidity current observations in a large reservoir following a major wildfire
Turbidity currents are generated when denser river water plunges and flows along the bottom of a lake, reservoir, or ocean. The plunging and downstream movement are driven by density differences due to temperature and/or suspended sediment, and currents have been observed to move slowly over long distances. This study presents observations of multiple turbidity currents in a large reservoir in Cal
Authors
Scott A. Wright, Mathieu D. Marineau
The importance of groundwater flow to the formation of modern thrombolitic microbialites
Modern microbialites are often located within groundwater discharge zones, yet the role of groundwater in microbialite accretion has yet to be resolved. To understand relationships between groundwater, microbialites, and associated microbial communities, we quantified and characterized groundwater flow and chemistry in active thrombolitic microbialites in Lake Clifton, Western Australia, and compa
Authors
John G. Warden, Lee Coshell, Michael R. Rosen, Daniel O. Breecker, Katinka X. Ruthrof, Christopher R. Omelon
Salinity yield modeling of the Upper Colorado River Basin using 30-meter resolution soil maps and random forests
Salinity loading in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) costs local economies upwards of $300 million US dollars annually. Salinity source models have generally included coarse spatial data to represent non‐agriculture sources. We developed new predictive soil property and cover maps at 30 m resolution to improve source representation in salinity modeling. Salinity loading erosion risk indices w
Authors
Travis Nauman, Christopher P. Ely, Matthew Miller, Michael Duniway