Publications

A 2.5-year data collection program was undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), to quantify and estimate base flow in small watersheds in western Pennsylvania where only periodic streamflow measurements had been obtained. Twelve streamgages with watershed areas of less than 10 square miles were established in wes

Energy production in the Williston Basin, located in the Prairie Pothole Region of central North America, has increased rapidly over the last several decades. Advances in recycling and disposal practices of saline wastewaters (brines) co-produced during energy production have reduced ecological risks, but spills still occur often and legacy practices of releasing brines into the environment caused

For the past 36 years, Bulletin 17B, published by the Interagency Committee on Water Data in 1982, has guided flood-frequency analyses in the United States. During this period, much has been learned about both hydrology and statistical methods. In keeping with the tradition of periodically updating the Bulletin 17B guidelines in light of advances in our understanding and methods, the Hydrologic Fr

Quantifying sediment flux within rivers is a challenge for many disciplines due, mainly, to difficulties inherent to traditional sediment sampling methods. These methods are operationally complex, high cost, and high risk. Additionally, the resulting data provide a low spatial and temporal resolution estimate of the total sediment flux, which has impeded advances in the understanding of the hydro‐

In the United States, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 was enacted to conserve species which are endangered or threatened throughout all or a portion of their range. The definition of ‘species’ includes subspecies and distinct population segments (DPSs). In freshwater fishes, use of DPS designations has largely been restricted to salmonid fishes (Salmonidae), although the DPS concept is in

Recent studies suggest that about 2 Pg of organic C is stored on floodplains worldwide. The present study indicates the Atchafalaya River, fifth largest river in the United States in terms of discharge, traps 30 mm/y of sediment on average within its floodplain, which is the highest average non‐episodic rate of fluvial deposition on the U.S. Coastal Plain. We installed sediment sampling stations a

An ethylene dibromide (EDB) plume extends approximately 5,880 feet northeast from the Bulk Fuels Facility on Kirtland Air Force Base. The leading edge of the EDB plume is about 3,700 feet upgradient from several water-supply wells. The water-supply wells are screened in the upper Santa Fe Group aquifer system. Within the upper Santa Fe Group, two primary clay-rich layers, the A1 and A2 units, sepa

Karst spring measurements assess biogeochemical processes occurring within groundwater contributing areas to springs (springsheds) but can only provide aggregated information. To better understand spatially distributed processes that comprise these aggregated measures, we investigated aquifer denitrification evidence in groundwater wells (n = 16) distributed throughout a springshed in the Upper Fl

In order to produce useful hydrologic and aquatic habitat data from the Landsat system, the U.S. Geological Survey has developed the “Dynamic Surface Water Extent” (DSWE) Landsat Science Product. DSWE will provide long-term, high-temporal resolution data on variations in inundation extent. The model used to generate DSWE is composed of five decision-rule based tests that do not require scene-based

Active floodplains can putatively store large amounts of organic carbon (SOC) in subsoils originating from catchment erosion processes with subsequent floodplain deposition. Our study focussed on the assessment of SOC pools associated with alluvial floodplain soils that are affected by human-induced changes in floodplain deposition and in situ SOC mineralisation due to land use change and drainage

No abstract available. 

During 2016, as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project (NAWQA), the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the Northeast Stream Quality Assessment (NESQA) to investigate stream quality in the northeastern United States. The goal of the NESQA was to assess the health of wadeable streams in the region by characterizing multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life and by