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
Chemically enhanced treatment wetland to improve water quality and mitigate land subsidence in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Cost and design considerations
Water quality impairment and land surface subsidence threaten the viability of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta), a critical component of California’s water conveyance system. Current day irrigation drainage through Delta island peat soils impacts drinking water treatment and is linked to mercury transport, potentially posing both ecological and public health concerns. Hybrid coagulation-tr
Authors
Philip A. M. Bachand, Tamara E. C. Kraus, William R. Horwath, Nathan R. Hatch, Sandra M. Bachand
Drought in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands: Impacts to water resources
No abstract available.
Authors
Stephen Anthony
The influence of sample matrix on the accuracy of nitrite N and O isotope ratio analyses with the azide method
RationaleThe isotope ratios of nitrogen (15N/14N) and oxygen (18O/16O) in nitrite (NO2−) can be measured by conversion of the nitrite into nitrous oxide (N2O) with azide, followed by mass spectrometric analysis of N2O by gas chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/IRMS). While applying this method to brackish samples, we noticed that the N and O isotope ratio measurements of NO2− are hi
Authors
Julie Granger, Danielle S. Boshers, John K. Böhlke, Dan Yu, Nengwang Chen, Craig R. Tobias
Developing a precision irrigation framework to facilitate smallholder dry-season farming in developing countries: A case study in northern Ghana
Changing climate has resulted in increasingly unreliable weather patterns with prolonged dry-seasons in some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Food production in these areas is under threat because the people depend mostly on rain-fed farming. Enabling dry-season farming, in light of the prolonged dry-seasons, is central to sustainable food production and poverty alleviation in these areas. Efficient w
Authors
Jeremy M Fontaine, Joseph Fentzke, Erasmus K Oware, Eric Doe, Samuel Guug, John W. Lane
Sequestration and transformation in chemically enhanced treatment wetlands: DOC, DBPPs and Nutrients
We examined the effectiveness of chemically enhanced treatment wetlands (CETWs), wetlands that received water treated with coagulants, to remove dissolved organic carbon (DOC), disinfection byproduct precursors (DBPPs), nutrients and metals from agricultural drain water. Wetlands consisted of controls with no coagulant addition, ferric sulfate dosed and polyaluminum chloride dosed treatments. CETW
Authors
Philip A. M. Bachand, Sandra M. Bachand, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Dylan Stern, Yan Ling Liang, William R. Horwath
Arsenic, antimony, mercury, and water temperature in streams near Stibnite mining area, central Idaho, 2011–17
Mineralization and historical mining of stibnite (antimony sulfide), tungsten, gold, silver, and mercury in the headwaters of the East Fork of the South Fork Salmon River (EFSFSR) near the former town of Stibnite in central Idaho resulted in water-quality impairments related to mercury, antimony, and arsenic. Additionally, mining-related disturbances and wildfires have resulted in a lack of ripari
Authors
Austin K. Baldwin, Alexandra B. Etheridge
Development and evaluation of a record extension technique for estimating discharge at selected stream sites in New Hampshire
Daily mean discharges are needed for rivers in New Hampshire for the management of instream flows. It is impractical, however, to continuously gage all streams in New Hampshire, and at many sites where information is needed, the discharge data required do not exist. For such sites, techniques for estimating discharge are available. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Hampshire
Authors
Scott A. Olson, Abraham J. Meyerhofer
Flood-inundation maps for a 23-mile reach of the Medina River at Bandera, Texas, 2018
In 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District and the Texas Water Development Board, studied floods through the period of record to create a library of flood-inundation maps for the Medina River at Bandera, Texas. Digital flood-inundation maps for a 23-mile reach of the Medina River at and near Bandera, from the confluen
Authors
Namjeong Choi, Frank Engel
Flood warning toolset for the Medina River in Bandera County, Texas
OverviewFloods are the most common natural disaster in the United States. The Medina River in Bandera County, Texas, is in the Edwards Plateau, where high-intensity rain rates and steep terrain frequently contribute to severe flash flooding capable of causing loss of life and property. For example, the July 5, 2002, flood claimed a total of 12 lives in the central Texas area. The estimated peak di
Authors
Frank Engel, Namjeong Choi
Measuring suspended sediment in sand-bedded rivers using down-looking acoustic doppler current profilers
The use of side-looking acoustic Doppler velocity meters (ADVMs) to estimate fluvial
suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC) has become more operational by the U.S. Geological Survey in recent years; however, direct transfer of these techniques to down-looking acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) currently is not widely feasible. Key assumptions in the sidelooking ADVM method related to sedi
Authors
Molly S. Wood, Ricardo N. Szupiany, Justin A. Boldt, Timothy D. Straub, Marian M. Domanski
Small ponds in headwater catchments are a dominant influence on regional nutrient and sediment budgets
Small ponds—farm ponds, detention ponds, or impoundments below 0.01 km2—serve important human needs throughout most large river basins. Yet the role of small ponds in regional nutrient and sediment budgets is essentially unknown, currently making it impossible to evaluate their management potential to achieve water quality objectives. Here we used new hydrography data sets and found that small pon
Authors
Noah Schmadel, Judson Harvey, Gregory E. Schwarz, Richard Alexander, Jesus D. Gomez-Velez, Durelle Scott, Scott W. Ator
Urban stormwater: An overlooked pathway of extensive mixed contaminants to surface and groundwaters in the United States
Increasing global reliance on stormwater control measures to reduce discharge to surface water, increase groundwater recharge, and minimize contaminant delivery to receiving waterbodies necessitates improved understanding of stormwater-contaminant profiles. A multi-agency study of organic and inorganic chemicals in urban stormwater from 50 runoff events at 21 sites across the United States demonst
Authors
Jason R. Masoner, Dana W. Kolpin, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Larry B. Barber, D.S. Burden, William T. Foreman, Kenneth J. Forshay, Edward Furlong, Justin F. Groves, Michelle Hladik, Matthew E. Hopton, Jeanne B. Jaeschke, Steffanie H. Keefe, David Krabbenhoft, Richard Lowrance, Kristin Romanok, David L. Rus, William R. Selbig, Brad Williams, Paul Bradley
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Science Synthesis, Analysis and Research Program, Contaminant Biology, Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, California Water Science Center, Central Midwest Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, Reston Biogeochemical Processes in Groundwater Laboratory