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
Estimates of nitrate loads and yields from groundwater to streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed based on land use and geology
The water quality of the Chesapeake Bay may be adversely affected by dissolved nitrate carried in groundwater discharge to streams. To estimate the concentrations, loads, and yields of nitrate from groundwater to streams for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, a regression model was developed based on measured nitrate concentrations from 156 small streams with watersheds less than 500 square miles (mi2
Authors
Silvia Terziotti, Paul D. Capel, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Jessica A. Hopple, Scott C. Kronholm
SWToolbox: A surface-water tool-box for statistical analysis of streamflow time series
This report is a user guide for the low-flow analysis methods provided with version 1.0 of the Surface Water Toolbox (SWToolbox) computer program. The software combines functionality from two software programs—U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) SWSTAT and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) DFLOW. Both of these programs have been used primarily for computation of critical low-flow statistics. Th
Authors
Julie E. Kiang, Kate Flynn, Tong Zhai, Paul Hummel, Gregory E. Granato
Human Bacteroides and total coliforms as indicators of recent combined sewer overflows and rain events in urban creeks
Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are a known source of human fecal pollution and human pathogens in urban water bodies, which may present a significant public health threat. To monitor human fecal contamination in water, bacterial fecal indicator organisms (FIOs) are traditionally used. However, because FIOs are not specific to human sources and do not correlate with human pathogens, alternative fe
Authors
Shannon McGinnis, Susan K. Spencer, Aaron Firnstahl, Joel P. Stokdyk, Mark A. Borchardt, David McCarthy, Heather Murphy
Metamodeling and mapping of nitrate flux in the unsaturated zone and groundwater, Wisconsin, USA
Nitrate contamination of groundwater in agricultural areas poses a major challenge to the sustainability of water resources. Aquifer vulnerability models are useful tools that can help resource managers identify areas of concern, but quantifying nitrogen (N) inputs in such models is challenging, especially at large spatial scales. We sought to improve regional nitrate (NO3−) input functions by cha
Authors
Bernard T. Nolan, Christopher T. Green, Paul F. Juckem, Lixia Liao, James E. Reddy
Comparability of river suspended-sediment sampling and laboratory analysis methods
Accurate measurements of suspended sediment, a leading water-quality impairment in many Minnesota rivers, are important for managing and protecting water resources; however, water-quality standards for suspended sediment in Minnesota are based on grab field sampling and total suspended solids (TSS) laboratory analysis methods that have underrepresented concentrations of suspended sediment in river
Authors
Joel T. Groten, Gregory D. Johnson
Groundwater-level analysis of selected wells in the Hoosic River Valley near Hoosick Falls, New York, for aquifer framework and properties
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, analyzed groundwater levels, drilling record logs, and field water-quality data from selected wells, and the surficial geology in the Hoosic River valley south of the village of Hoosick Falls, New York, to provide information about the framework and properties of a confined aquifer. The aqu
Authors
John H. Williams, Paul M. Heisig
Collection methods and quality assessment for Escherichia coli, water quality, and microbial source tracking data within Tumacácori National Historical Park and the upper Santa Cruz River, Arizona, 2015-16
Tumacácori National Historical Park protects the culturally important Mission, San José de Tumacácori, while also managing a portion of the ecologically diverse riparian corridor of the Santa Cruz River. This report describes the methods and quality assurance procedures used in the collection of water samples for the analysis of Escherichia coli (E. coli), microbial source tracking markers, suspen
Authors
Nicholas V. Paretti, Alissa L. Coes, Christopher M. Kephart, Justine P. Mayo
ModelArchiver—A program for facilitating the creation of groundwater model archives
ModelArchiver is a program designed to facilitate the creation of groundwater model archives that meet the requirements of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) policy (Office of Groundwater Technical Memorandum 2016.02, https://water.usgs.gov/admin/memo/GW/gw2016.02.pdf, https://water.usgs.gov/ogw/policy/gw-model/). ModelArchiver version 1.0 leads the user step-by-step through the process of creating
Authors
Richard B. Winston
Environmental risks and challenges associated with neonicotinoid insecticides
Neonicotinoid use has increased rapidly in recent years, with a global shift towards insecticide applications as seed coatings rather than aerial spraying. While the use of seed coatings can lessen the amount of overspray and drift, the near universal and prophylactic use of neonicotinoid seed coatings on major agricultural crops has led to widespread detections in the environment (pollen, soil, w
Authors
Michelle L. Hladik, Anson Main, Dave Goulson
Volcanic aquifers of Hawai‘i—Hydrogeology, water budgets, and conceptual models
Hawai‘i’s aquifers have limited capacity to store fresh groundwater because each island is small and surrounded by saltwater. Saltwater also underlies much of the fresh groundwater. Fresh groundwater resources are, therefore, particularly vulnerable to human activity, short-term climate cycles, and long-term climate change. Availability of fresh groundwater for human use is constrained by the degr
Authors
Scot K. Izuka, John A. Engott, Kolja Rotzoll, Maoya Bassiouni, Adam G. Johnson, Lisa D. Miller, Alan Mair
Ground ruptures attributed to groundwater overexploitation damaging Jocotepec city in Jalisco, Mexico: 2016 field excursion of IGCP-641
IGCP Project 641 (Mechanisms, Monitoring and Modeling Earth
Fissure generation and Fault activation due to subsurface Fluid
exploitation – M3EF3) held its second international workshop from
November 2 to 6, 2016, in Puerto Vallarta and included a two-day
field trip to Guadalajara and Jocotepec in the Mexican state of Jalisco
(Fig. 1a). M3EF3 is aimed at i) understanding the mechanisms that
cause t
Authors
Pietro Teatini, Dora Carreón-Freyre, Gil Ochoa-González, Shujun Ye, Devin L. Galloway, Martin Hernández-Marin
THRESH—Software for tracking rainfall thresholds for landslide and debris-flow occurrence, user manual
Precipitation thresholds are used in many areas to provide early warning of precipitation-induced landslides and debris flows, and the software distribution THRESH is designed for automated tracking of precipitation, including precipitation forecasts, relative to thresholds for landslide occurrence. This software is also useful for analyzing multiyear precipitation records to compare timing of thr
Authors
Rex L. Baum, Sarah J. Fischer, Jacob C. Vigil