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
Water and sediment temperatures at mussel beds in the upper Mississippi River basin
Native freshwater mussels are in global decline and urgently need protection and conservation. Declines in the abundance and diversity of North American mussels have been attributed to human activities that cause pollution, waterquality degradation, and habitat destruction. Recent studies suggest that effects of climate change may also endanger native mussel assemblages, as many mussel species are
Authors
Teresa J. Newton, Jennifer Sauer, Byron Karns
Dynamics of fecal indicator bacteria, bacterial pathogen genes, and organic wastewater contaminants in the Little Calumet River: Portage Burns Waterway, Indiana
Little information exists on the co-occurrence of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), bacterial pathogens, and organic wastewater-associated chemicals (OWCs) within Great Lakes tributaries. Fifteen watershed sites and one beach site adjacent to the Little Calumet River–Portage Burns Waterway (LCRPBW) on Lake Michigan were tested on four dates for pH, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, chloride, c
Authors
Sheridan K. Haack, Joseph W. Duris
Methods and results of peak-flow frequency analyses for streamgages in and bordering Minnesota, through water year 2011
Peak-flow frequency analyses were completed for 409 streamgages in and bordering Minnesota having at least 10 systematic peak flows through water year 2011. Selected annual exceedance probabilities were determined by fitting a log-Pearson type III probability distribution to the recorded annual peak flows. A detailed explanation of the methods that were used to determine the annual exceedance prob
Authors
Erich W. Kessler, David L. Lorenz, Christopher A. Sanocki
Development of a numerical model to simulate groundwater flow in the shallow aquifer system of Assateague Island, Maryland and Virginia
A three-dimensional groundwater-flow model was developed for Assateague Island in eastern Maryland and Virginia to simulate both groundwater flow and solute (salt) transport to evaluate the groundwater system response to sea-level rise. The model was constructed using geologic and spatial information to represent the island geometry, boundaries, and physical properties and was calibrated using an
Authors
John P. Masterson, Michael N. Fienen, Dean B. Gesch, Carl S. Carlson
Organic waste compounds in streams: Occurrence and aquatic toxicity in different stream compartments, flow regimes, and land uses in southeast Wisconsin, 2006–9
An assessment of organic chemicals and aquatic toxicity in streams located near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, indicated high potential for adverse impacts on aquatic organisms that could be related to organic waste compounds (OWCs). OWCs used in agriculture, industry, and households make their way into surface waters through runoff, leaking septic-conveyance systems, regulated and unregulated discharges,
Authors
Austin K. Baldwin, Steven R. Corsi, Kevin D. Richards, Steven W. Geis, Christopher Magruder
Implications of flume slope on discharge estimates from 0.762-meter H flumes used in edge-of-field monitoring
The effects of longitudinal slope on the estimation of discharge in a 0.762-meter (m) (depth at flume entrance) H flume were tested under controlled conditions with slopes from −8 to +8 percent and discharges from 1.2 to 323 liters per second. Compared to the stage-discharge rating for a longitudinal flume slope of zero, computed discharges were negatively biased (maximum −31 percent) when the flu
Authors
Matthew J. Komiskey, Todd D. Stuntebeck, Amanda L. Cox, Dennis R. Frame
Groundwater and surface-water interactions near White Bear Lake, Minnesota, through 2011
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the White Bear Lake Conservation District, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and other State, county, municipal, and regional planning agencies, watershed organizations, and private organizations, conducted a study to characterize groundwater and surface-water interactions near White Bear Lake thro
Authors
Perry M. Jones, Jared J. Trost, Donald O. Rosenberry, P. Ryan Jackson, Jenifer A. Bode, Ryan M. O'Grady
Vulnerability of streams to legacy nitrate sources
The influence of hydrogeologic setting on the susceptibility of streams to legacy nitrate was examined at seven study sites having a wide range of base flow index (BFI) values. BFI is the ratio of base flow to total streamflow volume. The portion of annual stream nitrate loads from base flow was strongly correlated with BFI. Furthermore, dissolved oxygen concentrations in streambed pore water were
Authors
Anthony J. Tesoriero, John H. Duff, David A. Saad, Norman E. Spahr, David M. Wolock
Simulation of the shallow groundwater-flow system in the Forest County Potawatomi Community, Forest County, Wisconsin
The shallow groundwater system in the Forest County Potawatomi Comminity, Forest County, Wisconsin, was simulated by expanding and recalibrating a previously calibrated regional model. The existing model was updated using newly collected water-level measurements, inclusion of surface-water features beyond the previous near-field boundary, and refinements to surface-water features. The updated mode
Authors
Michael N. Fienen, David A. Saad, Paul F. Juckem
Partial least squares for efficient models of fecal indicator bacteria on Great Lakes beaches
At public beaches, it is now common to mitigate the impact of water-borne pathogens by posting a swimmer's advisory when the concentration of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) exceeds an action threshold. Since culturing the bacteria delays public notification when dangerous conditions exist, regression models are sometimes used to predict the FIB concentration based on readily-available environmenta
Authors
Wesley R. Brooks, Michael N. Fienen, Steven R. Corsi
Crowdsourcing to Acquire Hydrologic Data and Engage Citizen Scientists: CrowdHydrology
Spatially and temporally distributed measurements of processes, such as baseflow at the watershed scale, come at substantial equipment and personnel cost. Research presented here focuses on building a crowdsourced database of inexpensive distributed stream stage measurements. Signs on staff gauges encourage citizen scientists to voluntarily send hydrologic measurements (e.g., stream stage) via tex
Authors
Michael N. Fienen, Chris Lowry
Electron donor concentrations in sediments and sediment properties at the agricultural chemicals team research site near New Providence, Iowa, 2006-07
The concentrations of electron donors in aquifer sediments are important to the understanding of the fate and transport of redox-sensitive constituents in groundwater, such as nitrate. For a study by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program, 50 sediment samples were collected from below the water table from 11 boreholes at the U.S. Geological Survey Agricultural Chemica
Authors
Bijesh Maharjan, Scott F. Korom, Erik A. Smith