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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: 18418

Floods in Indiana: technical manual for estimating their magnitude and frequency

This manual provides methods for estimating the magnitude and frequency of floods on unregulated and unurbanized streams in Indiana that drain at least 15 square miles (38.8 square kilometres). The methods provide the design engineer with a means of estimating flood frequencies without having to analyze the records at individual streamflow sites. The estimating equations in this manual are based o
Authors
L.G. Davis

Large rivers of the United States

Information on the flow of the 28 largest rivers in the United States is presented for the base periods 1931-60 and 1941-70. Drainage area, stream length, source, and mouth are included. Table 1 shows the average discharge at downstream gaging stations. Table 2 lists large rivers in order of average discharge at the mouth, based on the period 1941-70.
Authors
Kathleen T. Iseri, Walter Basil Langbein

Dissolved-solids discharge to the oceans from the conterminous United States

Dissolved-solids data from 54 river basins for 1966-69 were used to compute the amount of dissolved material contributed to the oceans from the conterminous United States. The computations show that about 264,000,000 tons are discharged annually. The Gulf of Mexico receives the largest load, about 183,000,000 tons, of which about 157,000,000 tons are contributed by the Mississippi River. The Atlan
Authors
Donald K. Leifeste

Extent and development of urban flood plains

A study of26 urbanized areas in the United States indicates that the amount of urban area in flood plains ranges from 2.4 percent for Spokane, Wash., to 81 percent for Monroe, La. The median value is 10.5 percent, and the weighted average is 16.2 percent. The amount of development on these flood plains also varies widely, from 11.3 percent for Lorain-Elyria, Ohio, to 97 percent for Great Falls, Mo
Authors
William Joseph Schneider, James E. Goddard

Water resources of the Lower Minnesota River Watershed, south-central Minnesota

The lower Minnesota River watershed, an area of 2,005 square miles, is fairly flat west of the Minnesota River, but rises to a hilly ridge along the east side of the watershed. Most of the area is covered by ground moraine cut deeply by the Minnesota River and less deeply by its tributaries. Surface drainage is toward the Minnesota River at the northeast corner of the watershed. The configuration
Authors
H.W. Anderson, D.F. Farrell, W.L. Broussard

Water resources of the Cannon River watershed, southeastern Minnesota

The 1,462 square miles of land surface in the Cannon River watershed varies considerably from areas of low hills and plains to areas dominated by streams deeply incised into bedrock. Much of the south-central part of the area consists of a till plain that ranges in altitude from 1,100 to 1,200 feet above mean sea level. This plain is bordered by end moraines that form ridges on the east, west, and
Authors
H. W. Anderson, D.F. Farrell, W.L. Broussard, P.E. Felsheim

Low-flow characteristics of Wisconsin streams at sewage-treatment plants

Low-flow characteristics of Wisconsin streams at 415 sewage -treatment plants are presented in this report. The low-flow characteristics presented are the annual minimum 7-day mean flow that occurs on the average of once in 2 years (Q7, 2) and the annual minimum 7 -day mean flow that occurs on the average of once in 10 years (Q7, 10). The low-flow characteristics at most sewage-treatment plants we
Authors
W. A. Gebert, B. K. Holmstrom

Land-surface subsidence in the area of Burnett, Scott, and Crystal Bays near Baytown, Texas

Removal of water, oil, and gas from the subsurface in Harris County has caused declines in fluid pressures, which in turn have resulted in subsidence of the land surface. Subsidence in the area of Burnett, Scott, and Crystal Bays near Baytown is becoming critical because much of the area is now subject to inundation by high tides. Production of oil and gas from the Goose Creek Field on the southea
Authors
R.K. Gabrysch, C.W. Bonnet

A method for estimating magnitude and frequency of floods in South Dakota

A general flood-frequency analysis has provided a method for estimating flood magnitudes and frequencies on South Dakota streams. Related flood data useful in planning and design also are included in the report.Two distinct hydrologic regions are delineated within the State. The divisional boundary for these regions is, in general, the western divide of the James River basin. For each region, the
Authors
Lawrence D. Becker