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
234U/238U and δ87Sr in peat as tracers of paleosalinity in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, USA
The purpose of this study was to determine the history of paleosalinity over the past 6000+ years in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Delta), which is the innermost part of the San Francisco Estuary. We used a combination of Sr and U concentrations, d87Sr values, and 234U/238U activity ratios (AR) in peat as proxies for tracking paleosalinity. Peat cores were collected in marshes on Browns Is
Authors
Judith Z. Drexler, James B. Paces, Charles N. Alpers, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Leonid A. Neymark, Thomas D. Bullen, Howard E. Taylor
Contaminants in stream sediments from seven United States metropolitan areas: part I: distribution in relation to urbanization
Organic contaminants and trace elements were measured in bed sediments collected from streams in seven metropolitan study areas across the United States to assess concentrations in relation to urbanization. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, the pyrethroid insecticide bifenthrin, and several trace elements were significantly related to urbanizat
Authors
Lisa H. Nowell, Patrick W. Moran, Robert J. Gilliom, Daniel L. Calhoun, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Nile E. Kemble, Kathryn Kuivila, Patrick J. Phillips
Identifying when tagged fishes have been consumed by piscivorous predators: application of multivariate mixture models to movement parameters of telemetered fishes
Background
Consumption of telemetered fishes by piscivores is problematic for telemetry studies because tag detections from the piscivore could introduce bias into the analysis of telemetry data. We illustrate the use of multivariate mixture models to estimate group membership (smolt or predator) of telemetered juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), juvenile steelhead trout (O. mykis
Authors
Jason G. Romine, Russell W. Perry, Samuel V. Johnston, Christopher W. Fitzer, Stephen W. Pagliughi, Aaron R. Blake
Analysis and simulation of regional subsidence accompanying groundwater abstraction and compaction of susceptible aquifer systems in the USA
Regional aquifer-system compaction and land subsidence accompanying groundwater abstraction in susceptible aquifer systems in the USA is a challenge for managing groundwater resources and mitigating associated hazards. Developments in the assessment of regional subsidence provide more information to constrain analyses and simulation of aquifer-system compaction. Current popular approaches to simul
Authors
Devin L. Galloway, Michelle Sneed
Broad timescale forcing and geomorphic mediation of tidal marsh flow and temperature dynamics
Tidal marsh functions are driven by interactions between tides, landscape morphology, and emergent vegetation. Less often considered are the diurnal pattern of tide extremes and seasonal variation of solar insolation in the mix of tidal marsh driver interactions. This work demonstrates how high-frequency hydroperiod and water temperature variability emerges from disparate timescale interactions be
Authors
Christopher Enwright, Steven Culberson, Jon R. Burau
Knowledge, transparency, and refutability in groundwater models, an example from the Death Valley regional groundwater flow system
This work demonstrates how available knowledge can be used to build more transparent and refutable computer models of groundwater systems. The Death Valley regional groundwater flow system, which surrounds a proposed site for a high level nuclear waste repository of the United States of America, and the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), where nuclear weapons were tested, is used to explore mod
Authors
Mary C. Hill, Claudia C. Faunt, Wayne Belcher, Donald S. Sweetkind, Claire R. Tiedeman, Dmitri Kavetski
Integrated hydrologic modeling of a transboundary aquifer system —Lower Rio Grande
For more than 30 years the agreements developed for the aquifer systems of the lower Rio Grande and related river compacts of the Rio Grande River have evolved into a complex setting of transboundary conjunctive use. The conjunctive use now includes many facets of water rights, water use, and emerging demands between the states of New Mexico and Texas, the United States and Mexico, and various wat
Authors
Randall T. Hanson, Wolfgang Schmid, Jacob E. Knight, Thomas Maddock
Mercury dynamics in a San Francisco estuary tidal wetland: assessing dynamics using in situ measurements
We used high-resolution in situ measurements of turbidity and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) to quantitatively estimate the tidally driven exchange of mercury (Hg) between the waters of the San Francisco estuary and Browns Island, a tidal wetland. Turbidity and FDOM—representative of particle-associated and filter-passing Hg, respectively—together predicted 94 % of the observed variab
Authors
Brian A. Bergamaschi, Jacob A. Fleck, Bryan D. Downing, Emmanuel Boss, Brian A. Pellerin, Neil K. Ganju, David H. Schoellhamer, Amy A. Byington, Wesley A. Heim, Mark Stephenson, Roger Fujii
Groundwater depletion and sustainability of irrigation in the US High Plains and Central Valley
Aquifer overexploitation could significantly impact crop production in the United States because 60% of irrigation relies on groundwater. Groundwater depletion in the irrigated High Plains and California Central Valley accounts for ∼50% of groundwater depletion in the United States since 1900. A newly developed High Plains recharge map shows that high recharge in the northern High Plains results i
Authors
Bridget R. Scanlon, Claudia C. Faunt, Laurent Longuevergne, Robert C. Reedy, William M. Alley, Virginia L. McGuire, Peter B. McMahon
Using a non-physical behavioural barrier to alter migration routing of juvenile Chinook salmon in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta
Anthropogenic alterations to river systems, such as irrigation and hydroelectric development, can negatively affect fish populations by reducing survival when fish are routed through potentially dangerous locations. Non-physical barriers using behavioural stimuli are one means of guiding fish away from such locations without obstructing water flow. In the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, we eva
Authors
R.W. Perry, J.G. Romine, N.S. Adams, A.R. Blake, J.R. Burau, S.V. Johnston, T.L. Liedtke
Evaluation of volatile organic compound (VOC) blank data and application of study reporting levels to groundwater data collected for the California GAMA Priority Basin Project, May 2004 through September 2010
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were analyzed in quality-control samples collected for the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project. From May 2004 through September 2010, a total of 2,026 groundwater samples, 211 field blanks, and 109 source-solution blanks were collected and analyzed for concentrations of 85 VOCs. Results from analyses of th
Authors
Miranda S. Fram, Lisa D. Olsen, Kenneth Belitz
Understanding pesticides in California's Delta
The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) is the hub of California’s water system and also an important habitat for imperiled fish and wildlife. Aquatic organisms are exposed to mixtures of pesticides that flow through the maze of Delta water channels from sources including agricultural, landscape, and urban pest-control applications. While we do not know all of the effects pesticides have on
Authors
Kathryn Kuivila, James L. Orlando