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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

Santa Barbara and Foothill groundwater basins Geohydrology and optimal water resources management—Developed using density dependent solute transport and optimization models

Groundwater has been a part of the city of Santa Barbara’s water-supply portfolio since the 1800s; however, since the 1960s, the majority of the city’s water has come from local surface water, and the remainder has come from groundwater, State Water Project, recycled water, increased water conservation, and as needed, seawater desalination. Although groundwater from the Santa Barbara and Foothill
Authors
Scott R. Paulinski, Tracy Nishikawa, Geoffrey Cromwell, Scott E. Boyce, Zachary P. Stanko

Using cluster analysis to compartmentalize a large managed wetland based on physical, biological, and climatic geospatial attributes

Hierarchical and partitional cluster analyses were used to compartmentalize Water Conservation Area 1, a managed wetland within the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Florida, USA, based on physical, biological, and climatic geospatial attributes. Single, complete, average, and Ward’s linkages were tested during the hierarchical cluster analyses, with average link
Authors
Ian Hahus, Kati Migliaccio, Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin, Geraldine Klarenberg, Rafael Muñoz-Carpena

Procedures for using the Horiba Scientific Aqualog® fluorometer to measure absorbance and fluorescence from dissolved organic matter

Advances in spectroscopic techniques have led to an increase in the use of optical measurements (absorbance and fluorescence) to assess dissolved organic matter composition and infer sources and processing. Although optical measurements are easy to make, they can be affected by many variables rendering them less comparable, including by inconsistencies in sample collection (for example, filter por
Authors
Angela M. Hansen, Jacob Fleck, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Bryan D. Downing, Travis von Dessonneck, Brian A. Bergamaschi

Geochemical characterization and modeling of regional groundwater contributing to the Verde River, Arizona between Mormon Pocket and the USGS Clarkdale gage

We use synoptic surveys of stream discharge, stable isotopes, and dissolved noble gases to identify the source of groundwater discharge to the Verde River in central Arizona. The Verde River more than doubles in discharge in Mormon Pocket over a 1.4 km distance that includes three discrete locations of visible spring input to the river and other diffuse groundwater inputs. A detailed study of th
Authors
Kimberly R. Beisner, W. Payton Gardner, Andrew G. Hunt

Water-quality conditions with an emphasis on cyanobacteria and associated toxins and taste-and-odor compounds in the Kansas River, Kansas, July 2012 through September 2016

Cyanobacteria cause a multitude of water-quality concerns, including the potential to produce toxins and taste-and-odor compounds that may cause substantial economic and public health concerns, and are of particular interest in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers that are used for drinking-water supply. Extensive cyanobacterial blooms typically do not develop in the Kansas River; however, reservoirs in
Authors
Jennifer L. Graham, Guy M. Foster, Thomas J. Williams, Matthew D. Mahoney, Madison R. May, Keith A. Loftin

Status of selenium in south San Francisco Bay—A basis for modeling potential guidelines to meet National tissue criteria for fish and a proposed wildlife criterion for birds

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed Aquatic Life and AquaticDependent Wildlife Criteria for Selenium (Se) in California’s San Francisco Bay and Delta (Bay-Delta) in June 2016. Here we apply the same modeling methodology—Ecosystem-Scale Selenium Modeling— to an assessment of conditions and documentation of food webs of south San Francisco Bay (South Bay) as an exploratory framew
Authors
Samuel N. Luoma, Theresa S. Presser

Methylmercury dynamics in Upper Sacramento Valley rice fields with low background soil mercury levels

Few studies have considered how methylmercury (MeHg, a toxic form of Hg produced in anaerobic soils) production in rice (Oryza sativa L.) fields can affect water quality, and little is known about MeHg dynamics in rice fields. Surface water MeHg and total Hg (THg) imports, exports, and storage were studied in two commercial rice fields in the Sacramento Valley, California, where soil THg was low (
Authors
K. Christy Tanner, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Jacob Fleck, Kenneth W. Tate, Bruce A. Linquist

Nutrient loads in the Lost River and Klamath River Basins, south-central Oregon and northern California, March 2012–March 2015

The U.S. Geological Survey and Bureau of Reclamation collected water-quality data from March 2012 to March 2015 at locations in the Lost River and Klamath River Basins, Oregon, in an effort to characterize water quality and compute a nutrient budget for the Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Reclamation Project. The study described in this report resulted in the following significant findings:Total pho
Authors
Liam N. Schenk, Marc A. Stewart, Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge

Characterization of peak streamflows and flood inundation of selected areas in southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana from the August and September 2017 flood resulting from Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas, on August 25, 2017, as a Category 4 hurricane with wind gusts exceeding 150 miles per hour. As Harvey moved inland, the forward motion of the storm slowed down and produced tremendous rainfall amounts over southeastern Texas, with 8-day rainfall amounts exceeding 60 inches in some locations, which is about 15 inches more than average annual amou
Authors
Kara M. Watson, Glenn R. Harwell, David S. Wallace, Toby L. Welborn, Victoria G. Stengel, Jeremy S. McDowell

Sensitivity of streamflow to climate change in California

Climate change is rapidly altering the global water cycle, exposing vulnerabilities in both social and environmental systems. However, uncertainty in future climate predictions makes it difficult to design and evaluate strategies for building climate resilience. In regions such as California, characterized by stressed water-supply systems, high natural climate variability, and substantial uncertai
Authors
Theodore E. W. Grantham, Daren Carlisle, Gregory J. McCabe, Jeanette K. Howard

Direct observations of hydrologic exchange occurring with less‐mobile porosity and the development of anoxic microzones in sandy lakebed sediments

Quantifying coupled mobile/less‐mobile porosity dynamics is critical to the prediction of biogeochemical storage, release, and transformation processes in the zone where groundwater and surface water exchange. The recent development of fine‐scale geoelectrical monitoring paired with pore‐water sampling in groundwater systems enables direct characterization of hydrologic exchange between more‐ and
Authors
Martin A. Briggs, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Farzaneh Mahmood Poor Dehkordy, Tyler B. Hampton, Jay P. Zarnetske, Courtney R. Scruggs, Kamini Singha, Judson W. Harvey, John W. Lane

Hydraulic tomography: 3D hydraulic conductivity and fracture network connectivity in a contaminated mudstone aquifer

No abstract available.
Authors
Warren Barrash, Claire R. Tiedeman, Colby Thrash, Jeremy Patterson, Carole D. Johnson