Publications

Reliable estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods are essential for such things as the design of transportation and water-conveyance structures, Flood Insurance Studies, and flood-plain management. The flood-frequency estimates are particularly important in densely populated urban areas. A multistate approach was used to update methods for determining the magnitude and frequency of flood

Mercury is a ubiquitous global environmental toxicant responsible for most US fish advisories. Processes governing mercury concentrations in rivers and streams are not well understood, particularly at multiple spatial scales. We investigate how insights gained from reach-scale mercury data and model simulations can be applied at broader watershed scales using a spatially and temporally explicit wa

This compendium of papers describes results of hydrologic monitoring and hydrologic and environmental studies completed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Georgia during 2011–2013. The USGS addresses a wide variety of water issues in the State of Georgia working with local, State, and Federal partners. As the primary Federal science agency for water resource information, the USGS monitors the

The seaward-dipping sedimentary wedge that underlies the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain forms a complex groundwater system. This major source of water provides for public and domestic supply and serves as a vital source of freshwater for industrial and agricultural uses throughout the region. Population increases and land-use and climate changes, however, have led to competing demands for water.

The Everglades Depth Estimation Network is an integrated network of real-time water-level gaging stations, a ground-elevation model, and a water-surface elevation model designed to provide scientists, engineers, and water-resource managers with water-level and water-depth information (1991-2013) for the entire freshwater portion of the Greater Everglades. The U.S. Geological Survey Greater Ev

Groundwater from the surficial aquifer system and Upper Floridan aquifer in the Dougherty Plain and Marianna Lowlands in southwestern Georgia, northwestern Florida, and southeastern Alabama is affected by elevated nitrate concentrations as a result of the vulnerability of the aquifer, irrigation water-supply development, and intensive agricultural land use. The region relies primarily on groundwat

Seven amphitheater-shaped gullies at valley heads in the northern part of Fort Gordon, Georgia, were identified by personnel from Fort Gordon and the U.S. Geological Survey during a field investigation of environmental contamination near the cantonment area between 2008 and 2010. Between 2010 and 2012, the amphitheater-shaped gullies were photographed, topographic features were surveyed using a gl

Future shifts in climatic conditions may impact watershed mercury (Hg) dynamics and transport. An ensemble of watershed models was applied in the present study to simulate and evaluate the responses of hydrological and total Hg (THg) fluxes from the landscape to the watershed outlet and in-stream THg concentrations to contrasting climate change projections for a watershed in the southeastern coast

A regression-model based approach is a commonly used, efficient method for estimating streamwater constituent load when there is a relationship between streamwater constituent concentration and continuous variables such as streamwater discharge, season and time. A subsetting experiment using a 30-year dataset of daily suspended sediment observations from the Mississippi River at Thebes, Illinois,

This chapter provides an introduction and overview of the use of aquatic ecosystems as indicators of water quality. The monitoring of biological communities (fish, algae, and invertebrates) as a means of assessing water quality conditions is emphasized along with ecotoxicological studies and measures of ecosystem function. Issues related to the design, implementation, and analysis of monitoring pr

Sediments of the heavily used Potomac aquifer broadly contrast across major structural features of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Physiographic Province in eastern Virginia and adjacent parts of Maryland and North Carolina. Thicknesses and relative dominance of the highly interbedded fluvial sediments vary regionally. Vertical intervals in boreholes of coarse-grained sediment commonly targeted for com

A hydrologic model of the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin (ACFB) has been developed as part of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center effort to provide integrated science that helps resource managers understand the effect of climate change on a range of ecosystem responses. The hydrologic model was developed as part of the Southeast Regiona