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
Zero or not? Causes and consequences of zero-flow stream gage readings
Streamflow observations can be used to understand, predict, and contextualize hydrologic, ecological, and biogeochemical processes and conditions in streams. Stream gages are point measurements along rivers where streamflow is measured, and are often used to infer upstream watershed‐scale processes. When stream gages read zero, this may indicate that the stream has dried at this location; however,
Authors
Margaret Zimmer, Kendra E. Kaiser, Joanna Blaszczak, Samuel Zipper, John C. Hammond, Ken M. Fritz, Katie H. Costigan, Jacob D. Hosen, Sarah E Godsey, George Allen, Stephanie K. Kampf, Ryan Burrow, Corey Krabbenhoft, Walter Dodds, Rebecca Hale, Julian D. Olden, Margaret Shanafield, Amanda DelVecchia, Adam S Ward, Meryl C. Mims, Thibault Datry, Michael A. Bogan, Kate Boersma, Michelle Busch, Nathan M. Jones, Amy Burgin, Daniel Allen
Groundwater chloride concentrations in domestic wells and proximity to roadways in Vermont, 2011–2018
The Vermont Department of Health and the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed the concentrations of chloride in groundwater samples collected from 4,319 domestic wells across Vermont between 2011 and 2018. Ninety of these wells were sampled twice and the remaining 4,229 were sampled once. This sample size represents approximately 4 percent of all wells in the State of Vermont. More than half of the wel
Authors
Joseph P. Levitt, Sille L. Larsen
The relation of geogenic contaminants to groundwater age, aquifer hydrologic position, water type, and redox conditions in Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers, eastern and south-central USA
Groundwater age distributions developed from carbon-14 (14C), tritium (3H), and helium-4 (4He) concentrations, along with aquifer hydrologic position, water type, and redox conditions, were compared to geogenic contaminants of concern (GCOC) from 252 public-supply wells in six Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain unconsolidated-sediment aquifers. Concentrations of one or more GCOCs in 168 (67%) wells
Authors
James R. Degnan, Bruce D. Lindsey, Joseph Patrick Levitt, Zoltan Szabo
Rio Grande transboundary integrated hydrologic model and water-availability analysis, New Mexico and Texas, United States, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico
Changes in population, agricultural development and practices (including shifts to more water-intensive crops), and climate variability are increasing demands on available water resources, particularly groundwater, in one of the most productive agricultural regions in the Southwest—the Rincon and Mesilla Valley parts of Rio Grande Valley, Doña Ana and Sierra Counties, New Mexico, and El Paso Count
Authors
Randall T. Hanson, Andre B. Ritchie, Scott E. Boyce, Amy E. Galanter, Ian A. Ferguson, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Wesley R. Henson
Hydrogeologic framework and simulation of predevelopment groundwater flow, eastern Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates
Groundwater in eastern Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates is an important resource that is widely used for irrigation and domestic supplies in rural areas. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi cooperated on an investigation to integrate existing hydrogeologic information and to answer questions about regional groundwater resources in Abu Dhabi by developing a numerica
Authors
Jack R. Eggleston, Thomas J. Mack, Jeffrey L. Imes, Wade Kress, Dennis W. Woodward, Daniel J. Bright
One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model: A MODFLOW based conjunctive-use simulation software
The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Modular Ground-Water Flow Model (MODFLOW-2005) is a computer program that simulates groundwater flow by using finite differences. The MODFLOW-2005 framework uses a modular design that allows for the easy development and incorporation of new features called processes and packages that work with or modify inputs to the groundwater-flow equation. A process solves a
Authors
Scott E. Boyce, Randall T. Hanson, Ian Ferguson, Wolfgang Schmid, Wesley R. Henson, Thomas Reimann, Steffen W. Mehl, Marisa M. Earll
Paired air-water annual temperature patterns reveal hydrogeological controls on stream thermal regimes at watershed to continental scales
Despite decades of research into air and stream temperature dynamics, paired air-water annual temperature signals have been underutilized to characterize watershed processes. Annual stream temperature dynamics are useful in classifying fundamental thermal regimes and can enhance process-based interpretation of stream temperature controls, including deep and shallow groundwater discharge, when pair
Authors
Zachary C. Johnson, Brittany G. Johnson, Martin A. Briggs, Warren Devine, Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt, D. Hare, T. Minkova
Low threshold for nitrogen concentration saturation in headwaters increases regional and coastal delivery
River corridors store, convey, and process nutrients from terrestrial and upstream sources, regulating delivery from headwaters to estuaries. A consequence of chronic excess nitrogen loading, as supported by theory and field studies in specific areas, is saturation of the biogeochemically-mediated nitrogen removal processes that weakens the capacity of the river corridor to remove nitrogen. Region
Authors
Noah Schmadel, Judson Harvey, Richard Alexander, Elizabeth W. Boyer, Gregory E. Schwarz, Jesus D. Gomez-Velez, Durelle Scott, Christopher Konrad
Effects of box culverts on stream habitat, channel morphology, and fish and macroinvertebrate communities at selected sites in South Carolina, 2016–18
Much attention has been placed on the role that under-roadway culverts may have in inhibiting upstream fish movement because of altered hydrology and unsuitable conditions for accessing or swimming through the culvert. Other culvert effects related to habitat alterations or disturbance to macroinvertebrate communities have received relatively little attention. Entities responsible for culverts or
Authors
Jeffrey W. Riley, Karen M. Beaulieu, Stephen J. Walsh, Celeste A. Journey
Hydrogeology and shallow groundwater quality in the tidal Anacostia River watershed, Washington, D.C.
Groundwater hydrology and geochemistry within the tidal Anacostia River watershed of Washington, D.C. are related to natural and human influences. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the District Department of Energy & Environment, began investigating the hydrogeology and groundwater quality of the watershed in 2002. Lithologic coring, groundwater-level and tidal monitoring, and water-
Authors
Scott W. Ator, Judith M. Denver, Cheryl A. Dieter
Geophysical surveys, hydrogeologic characterization, and groundwater flow model for the Truxton basin and Hualapai Plateau, northwestern Arizona
This is the third and final report in a series that describe the groundwater resources of the Hualapai Indian Reservation. These reports document the findings of a comprehensive groundwater study conducted on the reservation and adjacent areas from 2015 through 2018 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation. The first report described the hydrologic framework and
Groundwater quality in the Biscayne aquifer, Florida
Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water (Burow and Belitz, 2014). The Biscayne aquifer constitutes one of the important aquifers being evaluated.
Authors
James A. Kingsbury