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: 1737
Estimation of annual agricultural pesticide use for counties of the conterminous United States, 1992-2009
A method was developed to calculate annual county level pesticide use for selected herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides applied to agricultural crops grown in the conterminous United States from 1992 through 2009. Pesticide-use data compiled by proprietary surveys of farm operations located within Crop Reporting Districts were used in conjunction with annual harvested-crop acreage reported by
Authors
Gail P. Thelin, Wesley W. Stone
County-level estimates of nitrogen and phosphorus from animal manure for the conterminous United States, 2002
County-level nitrogen and phosphorus inputs from animal manure for the conterminous United States for 2002 were estimated from animal populations from the 2002 Census of Agriculture by using methods described in U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5012. These estimates of nitrogen and phosphorus from animal manure were compiled in support of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Na
Authors
David K. Mueller, Jo Ann M. Gronberg
Methods, quality assurance, and data for assessing atmospheric deposition of pesticides in the Central Valley of California
The U.S. Geological Survey monitored atmospheric deposition of pesticides in the Central Valley of California during two studies in 2001 and 2002–04. The 2001 study sampled wet deposition (rain) and storm-drain runoff in the Modesto, California, area during the orchard dormant-spray season to examine the contribution of pesticide concentrations to storm runoff from rainfall. In the 2002–04 study,
Authors
Celia Zamora, Michael S. Majewski, William T. Foreman
A compilation of U.S. Geological Survey pesticide concentration data for water and sediment in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta region: 1990–2010
Beginning around 2000, abundance indices of four pelagic fishes (delta smelt, striped bass, longfin smelt, and threadfin shad) within the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta began to decline sharply (Sommer and others, 2007). These declines collectively became known as the pelagic organism decline (POD). No single cause has been linked to this decline, and current theories suggest t
Authors
James L. Orlando
Groundwater quality in the San Francisco Bay groundwater basins, 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 of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information. Selected groun
Authors
Mary C. Parsons, Justin T. Kulongoski, Kenneth Belitz
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the San Francisco Bay groundwater basins, 2007—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Groundwater quality in the approximately 620-square-mile (1,600-square-kilometer) San Francisco Bay study unit was investigated as part of the Priority Basin Project of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The study unit is located in the Southern Coast Ranges of California, in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties. The GAMA Priority
Authors
Mary C. Parsons, Justin T. Kulongoski, Kenneth Belitz
California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project--shallow aquifer assessment
The California State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) GAMA Program is a comprehensive assessment of statewide groundwater quality in California. From 2004 to 2012, the GAMA Program’s Priority Basin Project focused on assessing groundwater resources used for public drinking-water supplies. More than 2,000 public-supply wells were sampled by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for this effort. Star
Authors
Groundwater-quality data in the Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau study unit, 2010-Results from the California GAMA Program
Groundwater quality in the 39,000-square-kilometer Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau (CAMP) study unit was investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from July through October 2010, as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program’s Priority Basin Project (PBP). The GAMA PBP was developed in response to the Cali
Authors
Jennifer L. Shelton, Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz
Introduction to the special issue on ‘Frontiers in gas geochemistry’
The study of the geochemistry of gases pervades the Earth and Environmental Sciences. This is due in no small measure to the well-established thermodynamic properties of gases which allow their application to a variety of processes occurring over a wide spectrum of natural conditions. In this respect, both major and associated minor gases have been proven useful: indeed, the trace gases have been
Authors
David R. Hilton, Tobias P. Fischer, Justin T. Kulongoski
Uncertainty in assessing the impacts of global change with coupled dynamic species distribution and population models
Concern over rapid global changes and the potential for interactions among multiple threats are prompting scientists to combine multiple modelling approaches to understand impacts on biodiversity. A relatively recent development is the combination of species distribution models, land‐use change predictions, and dynamic population models to predict the relative and combined impacts of climate chang
Authors
Erin Conlisk, Alexandra D. Syphard, Janet Franklin, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Helen Regan
Raman spectroscopy of efflorescent sulfate salts from Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site, California
The Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site near Redding, California, is a massive sulfide ore deposit that was mined for iron, silver, gold, copper, zinc, and pyrite intermittently for nearly 100 years. As a result, both water and air reached the sulfide deposits deep within the mountain, producing acid mine drainage consisting of sulfuric acid and heavy metals from the ore. Particularly, the drainage
Authors
Pablo Sobron, Charles N. Alpers
Suspended-sediment flux and retention in a backwater tidal slough complex near the landward boundary of an estuary
Backwater tidal sloughs are commonly found at the landward boundary of estuaries. The Cache Slough complex is a backwater tidal region within the Upper Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta that includes two features that are relevant for resource managers: (1) relatively high abundance of the endangered fish, delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), which prefers turbid water and (2) a recently flooded sha
Authors
Tara L. Morgan-King, David H. Schoellhamer