Publications
This list of Upper Midwest Water Science Center publications spans from 1899 to present. It includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. To access the full, searchable catalog of USGS publications, please visit the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 2247
Can data from disparate long-term fish monitoring programs be used to increase our understanding of regional and continental trends in large river assemblages?
Understanding trends in the diverse resources provided by large rivers will help balance tradeoffs among stakeholders and inform strategies to mitigate the effects of landscape scale stressors such as climate change and invasive species. Absent a cohesive coordinated effort to assess trends in important large river resources, a logical starting point is to assess our ability to draw inferences fro
Authors
Timothy D. Counihan, Ian R. Waite, Andrew F. Casper, David L. Ward, Jennifer S. Sauer, Elise R. Irwin, Colin G. Chapman, Brian Ickes, Craig P. Paukert, John J. Kosovich, Jennifer M. Bayer
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research Program, Cooperative Research Units, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, Species Management Research Program, Oregon Water Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Western Fisheries Research Center, Columbia River Research Laboratory (CRRL)
Permafrost stores a globally significant amount of mercury
Changing climate in northern regions is causing permafrost to thaw with major implications for the global mercury (Hg) cycle. We estimated Hg in permafrost regions based on in situ measurements of sediment total mercury (STHg), soil organic carbon (SOC), and the Hg to carbon ratio (RHgC) combined with maps of soil carbon. We measured a median STHg of 43 ± 30 ng Hg g soil−1 and a median RHgC of 1.6
Authors
Paul F. Schuster, Kevin Schaefer, George R. Aiken, Ronald C. Antweiler, John F. DeWild, Joshua D. Gryziec, Alessio Gusmeroli, Gustaf Hugelius, Elchin E. Jafarov, David P. Krabbenhoft, Lin Liu, Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Cuicui Mu, David A. Roth, Tim Schaefer, Robert G. Striegl, Kimberly P. Wickland, Tingjun Zhang
A surrogate regression approach for computing continuous loads for the tributary nutrient and sediment monitoring program on the Great Lakes
Water quality (WQ) in many Great Lake tributaries has been degraded (increased nutrient and sediment concentrations) due to changes in their watersheds, resulting in downstream eutrophication. As part of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, specific goals were established for loading of specific constituents (e.g., phosphorus). In 2010, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was launched to id
Authors
Dale M. Robertson, Laura E. Hubbard, David L. Lorenz, Daniel J. Sullivan
A tool for efficient, model-independent management optimization under uncertainty
To fill a need for risk-based environmental management optimization, we have developed PESTPP-OPT, a model-independent tool for resource management optimization under uncertainty. PESTPP-OPT solves a sequential linear programming (SLP) problem and also implements (optional) efficient, “on-the-fly” (without user intervention) first-order, second-moment (FOSM) uncertainty techniques to estimate mode
Authors
Jeremy T. White, Michael N. Fienen, Paul M. Barlow, Dave E. Welter
Stream mercury export in response to contemporary timber harvesting methods (Pacific Coastal Mountains, Oregon, USA)
Land-use activities can alter hydrological and biogeochemical processes that can affect the fate, transformation, and transport of mercury (Hg). Previous studies in boreal forests have shown that forestry operations can have profound, but variable effects on Hg export and methylmercury (MeHg) formation. The Pacific Northwest is an important timber producing region that receives large atmospheric
Authors
Chris S. Eckley, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Michael T. Tate, Brandon M Kowalski, Robert Danehy, Sherri L Johnson, David P. Krabbenhoft
Effects of water level and climate on the hydrodynamics and water quality of Anvil Lake, Wisconsin, a shallow seepage lake
Interannual differences in the water quality of Anvil Lake, Wisconsin, were examined to determine how water level and climate affect the hydrodynamics and trophic state of shallow lakes, and their importance compared to anthropogenic changes in the watershed. Anvil Lake is a relatively pristine seepage lake with hydrology dominated by precipitation, evaporation, and groundwater exchange enabling t
Authors
Dale M. Robertson, Paul F. Juckem, Eric D. Dantoin, Luke A. Winslow
Simulation of hydrodynamics, water quality, and lake sturgeon habitat volumes in Lake St. Croix, Wisconsin and Minnesota, 2013
Lake St. Croix is a naturally impounded, riverine lake that makes up the last 40 kilometers of the St. Croix River. Substantial land-use changes during the past 150 years, including increased agriculture and urban development, have reduced Lake St. Croix water-quality and increased nutrient loads delivered to Lake St. Croix. A recent (2012–13) total maximum daily load phosphorus-reduction plan set
Authors
Erik A. Smith, Richard L. Kiesling, Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid, Sarah M. Elliott, Suzanne Magdalene
Drain tiles and groundwater resources: Understanding the relations
Executive SummaryDrainage for agricultural production over the past 150 years has been an integral component of human-driven change to Minnesota’s rural landscapes.Benefits of drainageHistorically, poorly drained soils across much of the State would often remain saturated or flooded after spring snowmelt, preventing timely farm operations such as tilling and planting crops (Arneman, 1963). Install
Authors
Erik A. Smith, Timothy Gillette, Kristen Blann, Mary Coburn, Bryce Hoppie, Suzanne Rhees
Predicting geogenic arsenic in drinking water wells in glacial aquifers, north-central USA: Accounting for depth-dependent features
Chronic exposure to arsenic (As) via drinking groundwater is a human health concern worldwide. Probabilities of elevated geogenic As concentrations in groundwater were predicted in complex, glacial aquifers in Minnesota, north‐central USA, a region that commonly has elevated As concentrations in well water. Maps of elevated As hazard were created for depths typical of drinking water supply and wit
Authors
Melinda L. Erickson, Sarah M. Elliott, Catherine Christenson, Aliesha L. Krall
Geospatial data for developing nutrient SPARROW models for the Midcontinental region of Canada and the United States
Through the International Watersheds Initiative of the International Joint Commission (IJC), the SpatiallyReferenced Regressions on Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is being applied to the Great Lakes, Rainy River – Lake of the Woods and Red-Assiniboine basins. The objective of this binational application of the SPARROW model is to better understa
Authors
Ivana Vouk, Richard S. Burcher, Craig M. Johnston, R. Wayne Jenkinson, David A. Saad, John S. Gaiot, Glenn A. Benoy, Dale M. Robertson, Michael Laitta
Groundwater modeling
The state of the science and practice in groundwater modeling brings to mind highly sophisticated computer models that are running in parallel on many multi-processor machines. These models are expected to incorporate many different processes of both saturated and unsaturated groundwater flow and transport and possibly the media to which it connects, like surface waters and the atmosphere. We are
Authors
Henk M. Haitjema, Randall J. Hunt
An evaluation of the zooplankton community at the Sheboygan River Area of Concern and non-Area of Concern comparison sites in western Lake Michigan rivers and harbors in 2016
The Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) are considered to be the most severely degraded areas within the Great Lakes basin, as defined in the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and amendments. Among the 43 designated AOCs are four Lake Michigan AOCs in the State of Wisconsin. The smallest of these AOCs is the Sheboygan River AOC, which was designated as an AOC because of sediment contamination fr
Authors
Hayley T. Olds, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Daniel J. Burns, Amanda H. Bell