Publications
This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 18418
Integrated borehole, radar, and seismic velocity analysis reveals dynamic spatial variations within a firn aquifer in southeast Greenland
Perennial water storage in firn aquifers has been observed within the lower percolation zone of the southeast Greenland ice sheet. Spatially distributed seismic and radar observations, made ~50 km upstream of the Helheim Glacier terminus, reveal spatial variations of seismic velocity within a firn aquifer. From 1.65 to 1.8 km elevation, shear‐wave velocity (Vs) is 1,290 ± 180 m/s in the unsaturate
Authors
Siobhan Killingbeck, N. C. Schmerr, L. N. Montgomery, A. D. Booth, P. W. Livermore, J. Guandique, Olivia L. Miller, S. Burdick, R. R. Forster, L. S. Koenig, Anatoly Legchenko, S. R. M. Ligtenberg, C. Miege, D. K. Solomon, L. J. West
Influenza A viruses remain infectious for more than seven months in northern wetlands of North America
In this investigation, we used a combination of field- and laboratory-based approaches to assess if influenza A viruses (IAVs) shed by ducks could remain viable for extended periods in surface water within three wetland complexes of North America. In a field experiment, replicate filtered surface water samples inoculated with duck swabs were tested for IAVs upon collection and again after an overw
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey, Andrew B. Reeves, Judith Z. Drexler, Josh T. Ackerman, Susan E. W. De La Cruz, Andrew S. Lang, Christina Leyson, Paul T. Link, Diann Prosser, Gregory J. Robertson, Jordan Wight, Sungsu Youk, Erica Spackman, Mary Pantin-Jackwood, Rebecca L. Poulson, David E. Stallknecht
Rethinking a groundwater flow system using a multiple-tracer geochemical approach: A case study in Moab-Spanish Valley, Utah
The Glen Canyon Group Aquifer (GCGA) is the sole source of public water supply for the city of Moab, Utah, a domestic and international tourist destination. Population and tourism growth are likely to target the GCGA for future water resources, but our analysis indicates that additional withdrawals would likely be sourced from groundwater storage and not be sustained by recharge. A quantitative es
Authors
Philip M. Gardner, Nora C. Nelson, Victor M. Heilweil, John E. Solder, Douglas K. Solomon
Assessment of water quality and fecal contamination sources at Hook Pond, East Hampton, New York
SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Village of East Hampton, New York, conducted a 1-year study from August 2017 to August 2018 to provide data necessary to improve understanding of the sources of nutrients and pathogens to Hook Pond watershed to allow for possible mitigation or reduction of loads. Chronic eutrophication and recent concern over harmful cyanobacteria in Hook
Authors
Shawn C. Fisher, Brendan A. McCarthy, Christopher M. Kephart, Dale W. Griffin
Water Quality of groundwater used for public supply in principal aquifers of the western United States
Groundwater provides nearly half of the Nation’s drinking water. As the Nation’s population grows, the importance of (and need for) high-quality drinking-water supplies increases. As part of a national-scale effort to assess groundwater quality in principal aquifers (PAs) that supply most of the groundwater used for public supply, the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA
Authors
Celia Z. Rosecrans, MaryLynn Musgrove
Sacramento pikeminnow migration record
Sacramento Pikeminnow Ptychocheilus grandis is a potamodromous species endemic to mid- and low-elevation streams and rivers of Central and Northern California. Adults are known to undertake substantial migrations, typically associated with spawning, though few data exist on the extent of these migrations. Six Sacramento Pikeminnow implanted with passive integrated transponder tags in the Sacrament
Authors
Dennis A. Valentine, Matthew J. Young, Frederick V. Feyrer
Fates and fingerprints of sulfur and carbon following wildfire in economically important croplands of California, U.S.
Sulfur (S) is widely used in agriculture, yet little is known about its fates within upland watersheds, particularly in combination with disturbances like wildfire. Our study examined the effects of land use and wildfire on the biogeochemical “fingerprints,” or the quantity and chemical composition, of S and carbon (C). We conducted our research within the Napa River Watershed, California, U.S., w
Authors
Anna L. Hermes, Brian A. Ebel, Sheila F. Murphy, Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley
Detection and measurement of land subsidence and uplift using Global Positioning System surveys and interferometric synthetic aperture radar, Coachella Valley, California, 2010–17
Groundwater has been a major source of agricultural, recreational, municipal, and domestic supply in the Coachella Valley of California since the early 1920s. Pumping of groundwater resulted in groundwater-level declines as large as 50 feet (ft) or 15 meters (m) by the late 1940s. Because of concerns that the declines could cause land subsidence, the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) and the
Authors
Michelle Sneed, Justin T. Brandt
River channel response to dam removals on the lower Penobscot River, Maine, United States
Most geomorphology studies of dam removals have focused on sites with appreciable quantities of stored sediments. There is great interest in channel responses to sediment releases because of potential effects on aquatic and riparian habitats and human uses of these areas. Yet, behind many dams in the Northeast U.S. and other regions of the world only minor accumulations of sediment are present bec
Authors
Mathias J. Collins, Alice R. Kelley, Pamela J. Lombard
Groundwater quality in relation to drinking water health standards and hydrogeologic and geochemical characteristics for 47 domestic wells in Potter County, Pennsylvania, 2017
As part of a regional effort to characterize groundwater in rural areas of Pennsylvania, water samples from 47 domestic wells in Potter County were collected from May through September 2017. The sampled wells had depths ranging from 33 to 600 feet in sandstone, shale, or siltstone aquifers. Groundwater samples were analyzed for physicochemical properties that could be evaluated in relation to drin
Authors
Daniel G. Galeone, Charles A. Cravotta, Dennis W. Risser
Unifying advective and diffusive descriptions of bedform pumping in the benthic biolayer of streams
Many water quality and ecosystem functions performed by streams occur in the benthic biolayer, the biologically active upper (~5 cm) layer of the streambed. Solute transport through the benthic biolayer is facilitated by bedform pumping, a physical process in which dynamic and static pressure variations over the surface of stationary bedforms (e.g., ripples and dunes) drive flow across the sedimen
Authors
Stanley Grant, Ahmed Monofy, Fulvio Boano, Jesus Gomez-Velez, Ian Guymer, Judson Harvey, Marco Ghisalberti
Integrated hydro-terrestrial modeling: Development of a national capability
Water is one of our most important natural resources and is essential to our national economy and security. Multiple federal government agencies have mission elements that address national needs related to water. Each water-related agency champions a unique science and/or operational mission focused on advancing a portion of the nation’s ability to meet our water-related challenges, often in close
Authors
David P. Lesmes, Jessica Moerman, Tom Torgeson, Bob Vallario, Timothy D. Scheibe, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Harry L. Jenter, Ronald L. Bingner, Laura Condon, Brian Cosgrove, Carlos Del Castillo, Charles W Downer, John Eylander, Michael N. Fienen, Nels Frazier, David Gochis, Dave Goodrich, Judson Harvey, Joseph D. Hughes, David Hyndman, John M. Johnston, Forrest Melton, Glenn E. Moglen, David Moulton, Laura K. Lautz, Rajbir Parmar, Brenda Rashleigh, Patrick Reed, Katherine Skalak, Charuleka Varadharajan, Roland J. Viger, Nathalie Voisin, Mark Wahl