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
Groundwater contributions to excessive algal growth in the East Fork Carson River, Carson Valley, west-central Nevada, 2010 and 2012
Excessive algal growth and low dissolved oxygen concentrations were observed during low streamflow conditions during summer months along a 5,800-foot reach of the East Fork Carson River in Carson Valley, west-central Nevada. Algal growth from nutrient enrichment of a stream reduces aquatic diversity, threatens fish ecology and stream health, and can be a recreational nuisance. In response to conce
Authors
Nancy L. Alvarez, Randy A. Pahl, Michael R. Rosen
Ecohydrologic changes caused by hydrologic disconnection of ephemeral stream channels in Mojave National Preserve, California
Emplacement of highways and railroads has altered natural hydrologic systems by influencing surface-water flow paths and biotic communities in Mojave National Preserve. Infiltration experiments were conducted along active and abandoned channels to evaluate changes in hydrology and related effects on plant water availability and use. Simulated rainfall infiltration experiments with vegetation monit
Authors
Kimberlie Perkins, David M. Miller, Darren R. Sandquist, Miguel Macias, Aimee Roach
Effects of urban stormwater and iron‐enhanced sand filtration on Daphnia magna and Pimephales promelas
Urban stormwater is an important but incompletely characterized contributor to surface‐water toxicity. The present study used 5 bioassays of 2 model organisms (Daphnia magnaand fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas) to investigate stormwater toxicity and mitigation by full‐scale iron‐enhanced sand filters (IESFs). Stormwater samples were collected from major stormwater conveyances and full‐scale IES
Authors
Benjamin M. Westerhoff, David J. Fairbairn, Mark L. Ferrey, Adriana Matilla, Jordan Kunkel, Sarah M. Elliott, Richard L. Kiesling, Dustin Woodruff, Heiko L. Schoenfuss
Williston Basin groundwater availability, United States and Canada
The Williston Basin contains important oil and gas resources for the Nation. Freshwater supplies are limited in this semiarid area, and oil and gas development can require large volumes of freshwater. Groundwater is the primary source of water for many water users in the Williston Basin, so to better understand these resources, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed the groundwater availabilit
Authors
Joanna N. Thamke, Andrew J. Long, Kyle W. Davis
Groundwater availability of the Williston Basin, United States and Canada
Executive SummaryThe Williston Basin of the Northern Great Plains is a sedimentary basin—a geologic bowl-like structure filled with layered sedimentary rocks dating as far back as the Paleozoic age. The basin, which is nationally important for the production of energy resources, spans Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the United States, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada. The three u
Authors
Andrew J. Long, Joanna N. Thamke, Kyle W. Davis, Timothy T. Bartos
Groundwater salinity mapping using geophysical log analysis within the Fruitvale and Rosedale Ranch oil fields, Kern County, California, USA
A method is presented for deriving a volume model of groundwater total dissolved solids (TDS) from borehole geophysical and aqueous geochemical measurements. While previous TDS mapping techniques have proved useful in the hydrogeologic setting in which they were developed, they may yield poor results in settings with lithological heterogeneity, complex water chemistry, or limited data. Problems ar
Authors
Michael J. Stephens, David H. Shimabukuro, Janice M. Gillespie, Will Chang
Sediment Source Assessment Using Sediment Fingerprints
ProblemSediment is one of the most common causes of loss of stream-biologic integrity, whether in suspension in the water column, or as deposition on a stream or lake bottom. Fine-grained silts and clays are of particular concern because they can degrade habitat and often carry phosphorus and (or) other contaminants harmful to humans and aquatic life. Sediment-impaired water bodies, usually identi
Authors
Allen C. Gellis, Lillian E. Gorman Sanisaca, Matthew J. Cashman
Flood-inundation maps for the lower Pawcatuck River in Westerly, Rhode Island, and Stonington and North Stonington, Connecticut
A series of 11 digital flood-inundation maps was developed for a 5.5-mile reach of the lower Pawcatuck River in Westerly, Rhode Island, and Stonington and North Stonington, Connecticut, by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Town of Westerly, Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island Office of Housing and Community Development. The coverage of the maps extends from downstream from t
Authors
Gardner C. Bent, Pamela J. Lombard
Comparing public-supply and shallow aquifer groundwater quality in the North San Francisco Bay Aquifers, California
Groundwater quality in the North San Francisco Bay area Public-Supply and Shallow Aquifer Systems was investigated by the GAMA-PBP. The North San Francisco Bay Public-Supply Aquifer System study unit (NSF-PA) was sampled in 2004. The North San Francisco Bay Shallow Aquifer System study unit (NSF-SA) was sampled in 2012. The NSF-PA and NSF-SA largely coincide areally; however, they represent differ
Authors
George L. Bennett V
Water use in Washington, 2015
BackgroundWater use in the State of Washington has evolved during the past century from small withdrawals used for domestic and stock needs to the diverse needs of current public supply systems, domestic water users, irrigation projects, industrial plants, and aquaculture industries. Increasing demand for water makes the accountability of water use an important issue.A few State and local agencies
Authors
Elisabeth T. Fasser
Responses of unimpaired flows, storage, and managed flows to scenarios of climate change in the San Francisco Bay-Delta watershed
Projections of meteorology downscaled from global climate model runs were used to drive a model of unimpaired hydrology of the Sacramento/San Joaquin watershed, which in turn drove models of operational responses and managed flows. Twenty daily climate change scenarios for water years 1980–2099 were evaluated with the goal of producing inflow boundary conditions for a watershed sediment model and
Authors
Noah Knowles, Collin Cronkite-Ratcliff, David W Pierce, Daniel R. Cayan
Annual and approximately quarterly series peak streamflow derived from interpretations of indirect measurements for a crest-stage gage network in Texas through water year 2015
In 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), incooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation,began collecting annual and approximately quarterly seriespeak-streamflow data at streamflow-gaging stations in smalltomedium-sized watersheds in central and western Texasas part of a crest-stage gage (CSG) network, along withselected flood-hydrograph data at a subset of these stations.CSGs record
Authors
William H. Asquith, Glenn R. Harwell, Karl E. Winters