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: 18422
Defining snow drought and why it matters
On 12 February, water resource managers at the Oroville Dam issued an evacuation warning that forced some 180,000 Californians to relocate to higher ground. The story of how conditions got to this point involves several factors, but two clearly stand out: the need to prevent water shortages during a record drought, followed by one of the wettest October–February periods in California history.The s
Authors
Adrian Harpold, Michael D. Dettinger, Seshadri Rajagopal
Trends in the quality of water in New Jersey streams, water years 1971–2011
In a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Delaware River Basin Commission, trend tests were conducted on selected water-quality characteristics measured at stations on streams in New Jersey during selected periods over water years 1971‒2011. Tests were conducted on 3 nutrients (total nitrogen, filtered nitra
Authors
R. Edward Hickman, Robert M. Hirsch
Water-quality sampling plan for evaluating the distribution of bigheaded carps in the Illinois Waterway
The two nonnative invasive bigheaded carp species (bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and silver carp H. molitrix) that were accidentally released in the 1970s have spread widely into the rivers and waterways of the Mississippi River Basin. First detected in the lower reaches of the Illinois Waterway (IWW, the combined Illinois River-Des Plaines River-Chicago Area Waterway System) in the 1990
Authors
James J. Duncker, Paul J. Terrio
Shifts in microbial community structure and function in surface waters impacted by unconventional oil and gas wastewater revealed by metagenomics
Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) production produces large quantities of wastewater with complex geochemistry and largely uncharacterized impacts on surface waters. In this study, we assessed shifts in microbial community structure and function in sediments and waters upstream and downstream from a UOG wastewater disposal facility. To do this, quantitative PCR for 16S rRNA and antibiotic resistanc
Authors
N.L. Fahrenfeld, Hannah Delos Reyes, Alessia Eramo, Denise M. Akob, Adam Mumford, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
Nonnative trout invasions combined with climate change threaten persistence of isolated cutthroat trout populations in the southern Rocky Mountains
Effective conservation of Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii lineages native to the Rocky Mountains will require estimating effects of multiple stressors and directing management toward the most important ones. Recent
analyses have focused on the direct and indirect effects of a changing climate on contemporary ranges, which are much reduced from historic ranges owing to past habitat loss and no
Authors
James Roberts, Kurt D. Fausch, Mevin Hooten, Douglas P. Peterson
Geochemistry and hydrology of perched groundwater springs: assessing elevated uranium concentrations at Pigeon Spring relative to nearby Pigeon Mine, Arizona (USA)
The processes that affect water chemistry as the water flows from recharge areas through breccia-pipe uranium deposits in the Grand Canyon region of the southwestern United States are not well understood. Pigeon Spring had elevated uranium in 1982 (44 μg/L), compared to other perched springs (2.7–18 μg/L), prior to mining operations at the nearby Pigeon Mine. Perched groundwater springs in an area
Authors
Kimberly R. Beisner, Nicholas V. Paretti, Fred D. Tillman, David L. Naftz, Donald J. Bills, Katherine Walton-Day, Tanya J. Gallegos
Adapting California’s ecosystems to a changing climate
Significant efforts are underway to translate improved understanding of how climate change is altering ecosystems into practical actions for sustaining ecosystem functions and benefits. We explore this transition in California, where adaptation and mitigation are advancing relatively rapidly, through four case studies that span large spatial domains and encompass diverse ecological systems, instit
Authors
Elizabeth Chornesky, David Ackerly, Paul Beier, Frank W. Davis, Lorraine E. Flint, Joshua J. Lawler, Peter B. Moyle, Max A. Moritz, Mary Scoonover, Kristin B. Byrd, Pelayo Alvarez, Nicole E. Heller, Elisabeth Micheli, Stuart Weiss
Hydrology and water quality in 13 watersheds in Gwinnett County, Georgia, 2001–15
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources, established a Long-Term Trend Monitoring (LTTM) program in 1996. The LTTM program is a comprehensive, long-term, water-quantity and water-quality monitoring program designed to document and analyze the hydrologic and water-quality conditions of selected watersheds in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Wate
Authors
Brent T. Aulenbach, John K. Joiner, Jaime A. Painter
Environmental signatures and effects of an oil and gas wastewater spill in the Williston Basin, North Dakota
Wastewaters from oil and gas development pose largely unknown risks to environmental resources. In January 2015, 11.4 M L (million liters) of wastewater (300 g/L TDS) from oil production in the Williston Basin was reported to have leaked from a pipeline, spilling into Blacktail Creek, North Dakota. Geochemical and biological samples were collected in February and June 2015 to identify geochemical
Authors
Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Katherine Skalak, D.B. Kent, Mark A. Engle, Adam J. Benthem, Adam Mumford, Karl B. Haase, Aïda M. Farag, David Harper, S. C. Nagel, Luke R. Iwanowicz, William H. Orem, Denise M. Akob, Jeanne B. Jaeschke, Joel M. Galloway, Matthias Kohler, Deborah L. Stoliker, Glenn D. Jolly
Hydrogeologic and geochemical characterization and evaluation of two arroyos for managed aquifer recharge by surface infiltration in the Pojoaque River Basin, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, 2014–15
In order to provide long-term storage of diverted surface water from the Rio Grande as part of the Aamodt water rights settlement, managed aquifer recharge by surface infiltration in Pojoaque River Basin arroyos was proposed as an option. The initial hydrogeologic and geochemical characterization of two arroyos located within the Pojoaque River Basin was performed in 2014 and 2015 in cooperation w
Authors
Andrew J. Robertson, Jeffrey Cordova, Andrew Teeple, Jason Payne, Rob Carruth
Record-high specific conductance and water temperature in San Francisco Bay during water year 2015
The San Francisco estuary is commonly defined to include San Francisco Bay (bay) and the adjacent Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta (delta). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has operated a high-frequency (15-minute sampling interval) water-quality monitoring network in San Francisco Bay since the late 1980s (Buchanan and others, 2014). This network includes 19 stations at which sustained measure
Authors
Paul A. Work, Maureen A. Downing-Kunz, Daniel N. Livsey
Characterization of streamflow, suspended sediment, and nutrients entering Galveston Bay from the Trinity River, Texas, May 2014–December 2015
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board and the Galveston Bay Estuary Program, collected streamflow and water-quality data at USGS streamflow-gaging stations in the lower Trinity River watershed from May 2014 to December 2015 to characterize and improve the current understanding of the quantity and quality of freshwater inflow entering Galveston Bay
Authors
Zulimar Lucena, Michael T. Lee