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
An extrapolation method for estimating loads from unmonitored areas using watershed model load ratios
It is important to routinely estimate loads from an entire watershed to describe current conditions and evaluate how watershed-wide management efforts have affected the nutrient and sediment export that affect downstream water quality. However, monitoring in most areas, including the Great Lakes watershed, consists of sampling at a limited number of sites that are only periodically used to estimat
Authors
Dale M. Robertson, David A. Saad, Greg F. Koltun
Stream corridor and upland sources of fluvial sediment and phosphorus from a mixed urban-agricultural tributary to the Great Lakes
Like many impaired Great Lakes tributaries, Apple Creek, Wisconsin (119 km2) has Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) targets for reducing suspended sediment and total phosphorus by 51.2 % and 64.2 %, respectively. From August 2017 - October 2018, a stream sediment budget and fingerprinting integrated study was conducted to quantify upland and stream corridor sources of suspended sediment and sediment-
Authors
James Blount, Leah Kammel, Faith Fitzpatrick
Evaluation of the Bushy Park Reservoir three-dimensional hydrodynamic and water-quality model, South Carolina, 2012–15
The Bushy Park Reservoir is a relatively shallow impoundment in southeastern South Carolina. The reservoir, located under a semi-tropical climate, is the principal water supply for the city of Charleston, South Carolina, and the surrounding areas including the Bushy Park Industrial Complex. Although there was an adequate supply of freshwater in the reservoir in 2022, water-quality concerns are pre
Authors
Erik A. Smith, Madhu Akasapu-Smith, Matthew D. Petkewich, Paul A. Conrads
Modflow-setup: Robust automation of groundwater model construction
In an age of both big data and increasing strain on water resources, sound management decisions often rely on numerical models. Numerical models provide a physics-based framework for assimilating and making sense of information that by itself only provides a limited description of the hydrologic system. Often, numerical models are the best option for quantifying even intuitively obvious connection
Authors
Andrew T. Leaf, Michael N. Fienen
Simulation of regional groundwater flow and groundwater/lake interactions in the Central Sands, Wisconsin
A multiscale, multiprocess modeling approach was applied to the Wisconsin Central Sands region in central Wisconsin to quantify the connections between the groundwater system, land use, and lake levels in three seepage lakes in Waushara County, Wisconsin: Long and Plainfield (The Plainfield Tunnel Channel Lakes), and Pleasant Lakes. A regional groundwater-flow model, the Newton Raphson formulation
Authors
Michael N. Fienen, Megan J. Haserodt, Andrew T. Leaf, Stephen M. Westenbroek
Water-surface profile maps for the Mississippi River near Prairie Island, Minnesota, 2019
Digital water-surface profile maps for a 14-mile reach of the Mississippi River near Prairie Island, Minnesota, from the confluence of the St. Croix River at Prescott, Wisconsin, to upstream from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lock and Dam No. 3 (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams number MN00595) in Welch, Minnesota, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in coope
Authors
Aliesha L. Krall, Julia G. Prokopec
A computer-aided approach for adapting stage-discharge ratings and characterizing uncertainties of streamflow data with discrete measurements
Relations between stage (water level) and discharge of streamflow through a natural channel are the result of time-varying processes, which are commonly described by time-varying stage-discharge ratings. Hydrographers with the U.S. Geological Survey successfully maintain the accuracy of streamflow data by manually applying time-tested approaches to adapt ratings to temporal changes in hydraulic co
Authors
David J. Holtschlag
Prioritizing pesticides of potential concern and identifying potential mixture effects in Great Lakes tributaries using passive samplers
To help meet the objectives of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative with regard to increasing knowledge about toxic substances, 223 pesticides and pesticide transformation products were monitored in 15 Great Lakes tributaries using polar organic chemical integrative samplers. A screening-level assessment of their potential for biological effects was conducted by computing toxicity quotients (TQs
Authors
Luke C. Loken, Steven R. Corsi, David Alvarez, Gerald T. Ankley, Austin K. Baldwin, Bradley D. Blackwell, Laura A. DeCicco, Michelle A. Nott, Samantha K. Oliver, Daniel L. Villeneuve
Flopy: The Python interface for MODFLOW
No abstract available.
Authors
Andrew T. Leaf, Michael N. Fienen
Loss of street tree canopy increases stormwater runoff
Urban forests have largely been overlooked for the role they play in reducing stormwater runoff volume by using hydrologic processes such as interception (rainfall intercepted by tree canopy), evapotranspiration (the transfer of water from vegetation into the atmosphere) and infiltration (percolation of rainwater into the Earth’s soil). Early research into the effects of trees on urban stormwater
Authors
William R. Selbig, Steven P. Loheide, William Shuster, Bryant C. Scharenbroch, Robert C. Coville, James Kruegler, William Avery, Ralph J. Haefner, David Nowak
In-reservoir physical processes modulate aqueous and biological methylmercury export from a seasonally anoxic reservoir
Anoxic conditions within reservoirs related to thermal stratification and oxygen depletion lead to methylmercury (MeHg) production, a key process governing the uptake of mercury in aquatic food webs. Once formed within a reservoir, the timing and magnitude of the biological uptake of MeHg and the relative importance of MeHg export in water versus biological compartments remain poorly understood. W
Authors
Austin K. Baldwin, Collin Eagles-Smith, James Willacker, Brett Poulin, David P. Krabbenhoft, Jesse Naymik, Michael T. Tate, Dain Bates, Nick Gastelecutto, Charles Hoovestol, Christopher F. Larsen, Alysa Muir Yoder, James A. Chandler, Ralph Myers
Simulation of heat flow in a synthetic watershed: Lags and dampening across multiple pathways under a climate-forcing scenario
Although there is widespread agreement that future climates tend toward warming, the response of aquatic ecosystems to that warming is not well understood. This work, a continuation of companion research, explores the role of distinct watershed pathways in lagging and dampening climate-change signals. It subjects a synthetic flow and transport model to a 30-year warming signal based on climate pro
Authors
Daniel T. Feinstein, Randall J. Hunt, Eric D. Morway