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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: 18420

Return flows from beaver ponds enhance floodplain-to-river metals exchange in alluvial mountain catchments

River to floodplain hydrologic connectivity is strongly enhanced by beaver- (Castor canadensis) engineered channel water diversions. The hydroecological impacts are wide ranging and generally positive, however, the hydrogeochemical characteristics of beaver-induced flowpaths have not been thoroughly examined. Using a suite of complementary ground- and drone-based heat tracing and remote sensing me
Authors
Martin Briggs, Cheng-Hui Wang, Frederick Day-Lewis, Kenneth H. Williams, Wenming Dong, John Lane

Groundwater quality in shallow aquifers in the western Mojave Desert, California

Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information. One GAMA
Authors
Krishangi D. Groover, Dara A. Goldrath

Application of a towed time-domain electromagnetic (tTEM) imaging system in Jamestown, North Dakota

Time-Domain Electromagnetic (EM) methods have been used for decades in support of groundwater investigations. A new towed Time-Domain EM system called “tTEM”, designed by Aarhus University, is being tested and evaluated under a collaborative research agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The tTEM system is rapid and efficient, providing high-resolution, nearly continuous profiles of su
Authors
Carole D. Johnson, Joshua Valder, Eric A. White, Pradip Kumar Maurya, David Hisz, John W. Lane

Remembering F. Peter Haeni - "What did we learn from this?"

Frederick Peter (‘Pete’) Haeni grew up on Long Island, New York, where he developed a lifelong love of the water —–a love that continued with his family in Deep River, Connecticut, and at their Eagle Island cottage in Maine. Pete was always at home on the water — whether sailing, motor boating, or collecting geophysical data. We remember Pete for a life well-lived and specifically for his contribu
Authors
Carole D. Johnson, John W. Lane

Use of a towed electromagnetic induction (tTem) system for shallow aquifer characterization – An example from the Mississippi Alluvial Plain

The Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) aquifer system is a vital resource that supports agriculture in one of the most productive regions of the country. The U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program (WAUSP) is conducting a multi-discipline investigation of the MAP aquifer system. The investigation is utilizing borehole, surface, and airborne geophysical methods to improve th
Authors
Eric A. White, Carole D. Johnson, Pradip Kumar Maurya, Wade Kress, David B. Kelly, John W. Lane

Characterizing groundwater/surface-water interaction using hydrograph-separation techniques and groundwater-level data throughout the Mississippi Delta, USA

The Mississippi Delta, located in northwest Mississippi, is an area dense with industrial-level agriculture sustained by groundwater-dependent irrigation supplied by the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial aquifer (alluvial aquifer). The Delta provides agricultural commodities across the United States and around the world. Observed declines in groundwater altitudes and streamflow contemporaneous wit
Authors
Courtney D. Killian, William H. Asquith, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Gardner C. Bent, Wade Kress, Paul M. Barlow, Darrel W. Schmitz

Toward explaining nitrogen and phosphorus trends in Chesapeake Bay tributaries, 1992-2012

Understanding trends in stream chemistry is critical to watershed management, and often complicated by multiple contaminant sources and landscape conditions changing over varying time scales. We adapted spatially-referenced regression (SPARROW) to infer causes of recent nutrient trends in Chesapeake Bay tributaries by relating observed fluxes during 1992, 2002, and 2012 to contemporary inputs and
Authors
Scott Ator, Ana M. Garcia, Gregory E. Schwarz, Joel Blomquist, Andrew Sekellick

Comparison of a simple hydrostatic and a data-intensive 3D numerical modeling method of simulating sea-level rise induced groundwater inundation for Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA

Groundwater inundation (GWI) is a particularly challenging consequence of sea-level rise (SLR), as it progressively inundates infrastructure located above and below the ground surface. Paths of flooding by GWI differ from other types of SLR flooding (i.e., wave overwash, storm-drain backflow) such that it is more difficult to mitigate, and thus requires a separate set of highly innovative adaptati
Authors
Shellie Habel, Charles H. Fletcher, Kolja Rotzoll, Aly I. El-Kadi, Delwyn S. Oki

Dam effects on bedload transport on the upper Santa Ana River, California, and implications for native fish habitat

Dams disrupt the flow of water and sediment and thus have the potential to affect the downstream geomorphic characteristics of a river. Though there are some well‐known and common geomorphic responses to dams, such as bed armouring, the response downstream from any particular dam is dependent on local conditions. Herein, we investigate the response of the upper Santa Ana River in southern Californ
Authors
Scott A. Wright, J Toby Minear

Turbidity current observations in a large reservoir following a major wildfire

Turbidity currents are generated when denser river water plunges and flows along the bottom of a lake, reservoir, or ocean. The plunging and downstream movement are driven by density differences due to temperature and/or suspended sediment, and currents have been observed to move slowly over long distances. This study presents observations of multiple turbidity currents in a large reservoir in Cal
Authors
Scott A. Wright, Mathieu D. Marineau

The importance of groundwater flow to the formation of modern thrombolitic microbialites

Modern microbialites are often located within groundwater discharge zones, yet the role of groundwater in microbialite accretion has yet to be resolved. To understand relationships between groundwater, microbialites, and associated microbial communities, we quantified and characterized groundwater flow and chemistry in active thrombolitic microbialites in Lake Clifton, Western Australia, and compa
Authors
John G. Warden, Lee Coshell, Michael R. Rosen, Daniel O. Breecker, Katinka X. Ruthrof, Christopher R. Omelon

Groundwater quality in the Delaware, Genesee, and St. Lawrence River Basins, New York, 2015

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, collected groundwater samples from 5 production wells and 5 domestic wells in the Delaware River Basin, 8 production wells and 7 domestic wells in the Genesee River Basin, and 1 municipal well, 7 production wells, and 13 domestic wells in the St. Lawrence River Basin in New York. All sample
Authors
Tia-Marie Scott, Elizabeth A. Nystrom, James E. Reddy