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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: 18419

Dye-tracing plan for verifying the Kansas River time-of-travel model

The Kansas River provides drinking water for multiple cities in northeastern Kansas and is used for recreational purposes. Thus, improving the scientific knowledge of streamflow velocities and traveltimes will greatly aid in water-treatment plans and response to critical events and threats to water supplies. Dye-tracer studies are usually done to enhance knowledge of transport characteristics, whi
Authors
Chantelle Davis, Bradley S. Lukasz, Madison R. May

Application of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) to simulate near-native streamflow in the Upper Rio Grande Basin

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) is widely used to simulate the effects of climate, topography, land cover, and soils on landscape-level hydrologic response and streamflow. This study developed, calibrated, and assessed a PRMS model that simulates near-native or naturalized streamflow conditions in the Upper Rio Grande Basin. A PRMS model framework of 1,021
Authors
Shaleene B. Chavarria, C. David Moeser, Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin

Basinwide hydroclimatic drought in the Colorado River basin

The Colorado River basin (CRB) supplies water to approximately 40 million people and is essential to hydropower generation, agriculture, and industry. In this study, a monthly water balance model is used to compute hydroclimatic water balance components (i.e., potential evapotranspiration, actual evapotranspiration, and runoff) for the period 1901–2014 across the entire CRB. The time series of mon
Authors
Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock, Connie A. Woodhouse, Gregory T. Pederson, Stephanie A. McAfee, Stephen Gray, Adam Csank

Assessment of restorative maintenance practices on the infiltration capacity of permeable pavement

Permeable pavement has the potential to be an effective tool in managing stormwater runoff through retention of sediment and other contaminants associated with urban development. The infiltration capacity of permeable pavement declines as more sediment is captured, thereby reducing its ability to treat runoff. Regular restorative maintenance practices can alleviate this issue and prolong the usefu
Authors
Mari Danz, William R. Selbig, Nicolas Buer

Regional hydrostratigraphic framework of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and vicinity, New Jersey, in the context of perfluoroalkyl substances contamination of groundwater and surface water

A study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force, to describe the regional hydrostratigraphy of shallow aquifers and confining units underlying Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL) and vicinity, New Jersey, in the context of contamination of groundwater and surface water by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) potentially originating from JBMDL
Authors
Alex R. Fiore

Nontuberculous mycobacterial disease and molybdenum in Colorado watersheds

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are environmental bacteria that may cause chronic lung disease. Environmental factors that favor NTM growth likely increase the risk of NTM exposure within specific environments. We aimed to identify water-quality constituents (Al, As, Cd, Ca, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, K, Se, Na, Zn, and pH) associated with NTM disease across Colorado watersheds. We conducted a
Authors
Ettie M Lipner, Joshua French, Carleton R. Bern, Katherine Walton-Day, David Knox, Michael Strong, D. Rebecca Prevots, James L Crooks

Methods of collection and quality assessment of arsenic data in well-water supplies in Maine, 2001–2 and 2006–7

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, assessed the chemical characteristics and the occurrence, distribution, and oxidation state of inorganic arsenic in drinking water from selected domestic well-water supplies in Maine in 2001–2 and 2006–7.The data collected provide support for
Authors
Charles W. Culbertson, James M. Caldwell, Luther Schalk, Deana Manassaram, Lorraine C. Backer, Andrew E. Smith

State of the network: Long-term, high-frequency flow and water quality data in the San Francisco Estuary, California

The USGS California Water Science Center is heavily involved in the measurement of flow and water quality parameters in the San Francisco Estuary, with support from many partner agencies. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR), through the Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) is one of those agencies. This article describes the resulting efforts and methodologies and provides examples

Authors
Paul A. Work, Maureen A. Downing-Kunz

Challenges in quantifying air-water carbon dioxide flux using estuarine water quality data: Case study for Chesapeake Bay

Estuaries play an uncertain but potentially important role in the global carbon cycle via CO2 outgassing. The uncertainty mainly stems from the paucity of studies that document the full spatial and temporal variability of estuarine surface water partial pressure of carbon dioxide ( pCO2). Here, we explore the potential of utilizing the abundance of pH data from historical water quality monitoring
Authors
Maria Herrmann, Raymond G. Najjar, Fei Da, Jaclyn R. Friedman, Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs, Sreece Goldberger, Alana Menendez, Elizabeth H. Shadwick, Edward G. Stets, Pierre St-Laurent

Landscape matters: Predicting the biogeochemical effects of permafrost thaw on aquatic networks with a state factor approach

Permafrost thaw has been widely observed to alter the biogeochemistry of recipient aquatic ecosystems. However, research from various regions has shown considerable variation in effect. In this paper, we propose a state factor approach to predict the release and transport of materials from permafrost through aquatic networks. Inspired by Hans Jenny's seminal description of soil‐forming factors, an
Authors
Suzanne E. Tank, Jorien E. Vonk, Michelle A. Walvoord, James W. McClelland, Isabelle Laurion, Benjamin W. Abbott

Riverbank stability assessment of lower Osage River during hydro-peak flow events: The lower Osage River case (Missouri, USA)

The fluctuation of water level downstream from dams due to hydropower flow releases can negatively affect riverbank stability. This research aims to investigate riverbank instability resulting from the outflow variation of hydropower plants, using Bagnell Dam and the lower Osage River (Missouri, USA) as the basis of analysis. The effects of the water releases from the Bagnell Dam were investigated
Authors
Wesam Mohammed-Ali, Cesar Mendoza, Robert R. Holmes

The influence of snow cover, air temperature, and groundwater flow on the active-layer thermal regime of Arctic hillslopes drained by water tracks

Permafrost in Arctic watersheds limits soil biological activity to a thin, seasonally thawed active layer that contributes water to streams. In many hillslopes, relatively wet drainage features called water tracks have distinct freeze-thaw patterns that affect groundwater flow and storage, and thus the export of heat and solutes to Arctic streams. This study uses groundwater flow and energy transp
Authors
Caitlin R Rushlow, Audrey H Sawyer, Clifford I. Voss, Sarah E Godsey