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Surface Water Quality

California's rivers and streams are a priceless resource. To understand the value of water quality, and to more effectively manage and protect the state's water resources, it's critical that we know the current status of water-quality conditions, and how and why those conditions have been changing over time. At the California Water Science Center, measuring the quality of surface water is one of the chief aims of its hydrological monitoring efforts.

Filter Total Items: 74

Understanding Influences on Habitat Quality for Delta Smelt and Other Imperiled Fish Populations

USGS scientists work to provide information needed to evaluate the efficacy of ongoing U.S. Burueau of Reclamation water management efforts in Bay-Delta.
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Understanding Influences on Habitat Quality for Delta Smelt and Other Imperiled Fish Populations

USGS scientists work to provide information needed to evaluate the efficacy of ongoing U.S. Burueau of Reclamation water management efforts in Bay-Delta.
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Iron Mountain: An Extraordinary and Extreme Environment

At its peak production, Iron Mountain ranked as the tenth largest copper production site in the world, sixth in the U.S. and first in California. During its operation, from 1879 - 1963, ten different mines throughout the site's 4,400 acres were the source of not just copper, but also silver, iron, gold, zinc and pyrite (iron sulfide). A century of active mining at Iron Mountain took an...
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Iron Mountain: An Extraordinary and Extreme Environment

At its peak production, Iron Mountain ranked as the tenth largest copper production site in the world, sixth in the U.S. and first in California. During its operation, from 1879 - 1963, ten different mines throughout the site's 4,400 acres were the source of not just copper, but also silver, iron, gold, zinc and pyrite (iron sulfide). A century of active mining at Iron Mountain took an...
Learn More