Publications
New York Water Science Center publications
►To fine-tune a search for USGS publications, try the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 683
Historical water-quality data from the Harlem River, New York
Data specific to the Harlem River, New York, have been summarized and are presented in this report. The data illustrate improvements in the quality of water for the past 65 years and emphasize the importance of a continuous water-quality record for establishing trends in environmental conditions. Although there is a paucity of sediment-quality data, the New York City Department of Environmental Pr
Authors
Shawn C. Fisher
The Northeast Stream Quality Assessment
In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) is assessing stream quality in the northeastern United States. The goal of the Northeast Stream Quality Assessment (NESQA) is to assess the quality of streams in the region by characterizing multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life and evaluating the relation between these stressors and bi
Authors
Peter C. Van Metre, Karen Riva-Murray, James F. Coles
Toxicity of waters from the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern to the plankton species Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and Ceriodaphnia dubia
The lower Genesee River and Rochester Embayment of Lake Ontario are a designated Area of Concern (AOC) under the binational Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The “degradation of phytoplankton and zooplankton populations” or plankton Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) was classified as unknown and in need of further assessment in this AOC because water quality data suggested plankton communities co
Authors
Barry P. Baldigo, Brian T. Duffy, Alexander J. Smith, Scott D. George
Application of lime (CaCO3) to promote forest recovery from severe acidification increases potential for earthworm invasion
The application of lime (calcium carbonate) may be a cost-effective strategy to promote forest ecosystem recovery from acid impairment, under contemporary low levels of acidic deposition. However, liming acidified soils may create more suitable habitat for invasive earthworms that cause significant damage to forest floor communities and may disrupt ecosystem processes. We investigated the potentia
Authors
Caitlin Homan, Colin M Beirer, Timothy S McCay, Gregory B. Lawrence
Mercury in fish and macroinvertebrates from New York's streams and rivers: A compendium of data sources
The U.S. Geological Survey has compiled a list of existing data sets, from selected sources, containing mercury (Hg) concentration data in fish and macroinvertebrate samples that were collected from flowing waters of New York State from 1970 through 2014. Data sets selected for inclusion in this report were limited to those that contain fish and (or) macroinvertebrate data that were collected acro
Authors
Karen Riva-Murray, Douglas A. Burns
Response of periphyton fatty acid composition to supplemental flows in the upper Esopus Creek, Catskill Mountains, New York
Fatty acid analysis of periphyton is an emerging tool for assessing the condition of a stream ecosystem on the basis of its water quality. The study presented in this report was designed to test the hypothesis that periphyton communities have a fatty acid profile that can detect excessive turbidity and suspended sediment. The fatty acid composition of periphyton was assessed during two seasons ups
Authors
Scott D. George, Anne G. Ernst, Barry P. Baldigo, Dale C. Honeyfield
Streamflow
This indicator describes trends in the amount of water carried by streams across the United States, as well as the timing of runoff associated with snowmelt.
Authors
Michael McHale, Robert W. Dudley, Glenn A. Hodgkins
Investigating dynamic sources of pharmaceuticals: Demographic and seasonal use are more important than down-the-drain disposal in wastewater effluent in a University City setting
Pharmaceutical pollution in surface waters poses risks to human and ecosystem health. Wastewater treatment facilities are primary sources of pharmaceutical pollutants, but little is known about the factors that affect drugs entering the wastewater stream. This paper investigates the effects of student pharmaceutical use and disposal behaviors and an annual demographic shift on pharmaceutical pollu
Authors
Christine Vatovec, Patrick J. Phillips, Emily Van Wagoner, Tia-Marie Scott, Edward T. Furlong
Methods of soil resampling to monitor changes in the chemical concentrations of forest soils
Recent soils research has shown that important chemical soil characteristics can change in less than a decade, often the result of broad environmental changes. Repeated sampling to monitor these changes in forest soils is a relatively new practice that is not well documented in the literature and has only recently been broadly embraced by the scientific community. The objective of this protocol is
Authors
Gregory B. Lawrence, Ivan J. Fernandez, Paul W. Hazlett, Scott W. Bailey, Donald S. Ross, Thomas R. Villars, Angelica Quintana, Rock Ouimet, Michael McHale, Chris E. Johnson, Russell D. Briggs, Robert A. Colter, Jason Siemion, Olivia L. Bartlett, Olga Vargas, Michael R. Antidormi, Mary Margaret Koppers
Groundwater quality in the Lake Champlain and Susquehanna River basins, New York, 2014
In a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, groundwater samples were collected from 6 production wells and 7 domestic wells in the Lake Champlain Basin and from 11 production wells and 9 domestic wells in the Susquehanna River Basin in New York. All samples were collected from June through December 2014 to char
Authors
Tia-Marie Scott, Elizabeth A. Nystrom, James E. Reddy
Streamflow and estimated loads of phosphorus and dissolved and suspended solids from selected tributaries to Lake Ontario, New York, water years 2012–14
This report presents results of the evaluation and interpretation of hydrologic and water-quality data collected as part of a cooperative program between the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Streamflow, phosphorus, and solids dissolved and suspended in stream water were the focus of monitoring by the U.S. Geological Survey at 10 sites on 9 selected tributaries t
Authors
Brett A. Hayhurst, Benjamin N. Fisher, James E. Reddy
Watershed-scale changes in terrestrial nitrogen cycling during a period of decreased atmospheric nitrate and sulfur deposition
Recent reports suggest that decreases in atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition throughout Europe and North America may have resulted in declining nitrate export in surface waters in recent decades, yet it is unknown if and how terrestrial N cycling was affected. During a period of decreased atmospheric N deposition, we assessed changes in forest N cycling by evaluating trends in tree-ring δ15N value
Authors
Robert D. Sabo, Sara E. Scanga, Gregory B. Lawrence, David M. Nelson, Keith N. Eshleman, Gabriel A. Zabala, Alexandria A. Alinea, Charles D. Schirmer