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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: 18422

Trends in methyl tert-butyl ether concentrations in private wells in southeast New Hampshire: 2005 to 2015

In southeast New Hampshire, where reformulated gasoline was used from the 1990s to 2007, methyl tert-butyl ether (MtBE) concentrations ≥0.2 μg/L were found in water from 26.7% of 195 domestic wells sampled in 2005. Ten years later in 2015, and eight years after MtBE was banned, 10.3% continue to have MtBE. Most wells (140 of 195) had no MtBE detections (concentrations <0.2 μg/L) in 2005 and 2015.
Authors
Sarah Flanagan, Joseph P. Levitt, Joseph D. Ayotte

Continuous monitoring of suspended sediment for reservoir management

No abstract available.
Authors
Kyle E. Juracek, Casey J. Lee, C.B. Gnau

Improving our understanding of hydraulic-electrical relations: A case study of the surficial aquifer in Emirate Abu Dhabi

Transmissivity is a bulk hydraulic property that can be correlated with bulk electrical properties of an aquifer. In aquifers that are electrically-resistive relative to adjacent layers in a horizontally stratified sequence, transmissivity has been shown to correlate with bulk transverse resistance. Conversely, in aquifers that are electrically-conductive relative to adjacent layers, transmissivit
Authors
Scott Ikard, Wade H. Kress

Hydrogeologic framework and characterization of the Truxton Aquifer on the Hualapai Reservation, Mohave County, Arizona

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, developed this study to determine an estimate of groundwater in storage in the Truxton aquifer on the Hualapai Reservation in northwestern Arizona. For this study, the Truxton aquifer is defined as the unconfined, saturated groundwater in the unconsolidated to semiconsolidated older and younger basin-fill deposits of the Tr
Authors
Donald J. Bills, Jamie P. Macy

Status of groundwater levels and storage volume in the Equus Beds aquifer near Wichita, Kansas, January 2016

The Equus Beds aquifer in south-central Kansas, which is part of the High Plains aquifer, serves as a source of water for municipal and agricultural users in the area. The city of Wichita has used the Equus Beds aquifer as one of its primary water sources since the 1940s. The aquifer in and around Wichita’s well field reached historically low water levels in 1993, prompting the city to adopt new w
Authors
Brian J. Klager

Challenges with secondary use of multi-source water-quality data in the United States

Combining water-quality data from multiple sources can help counterbalance diminishing resources for stream monitoring in the United States and lead to important regional and national insights that would not otherwise be possible. Individual monitoring organizations understand their own data very well, but issues can arise when their data are combined with data from other organizations that have u
Authors
Lori A. Sprague, Gretchen P. Oelsner, Denise M. Argue

The Outer Banks of North Carolina

The Outer Banks of North Carolina are excellent examples of the nearly 300 barrier islands rimming the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. These low, sandy islands are among the most dynamic natural landscapes occupied by man. Beach sands move offshore, onshore, and along the shore in the direction of the prevailing longshore currents. In this way, sandy coasts continuously adjust to di
Authors
Robert Dolan, Harry F. Lins, Jodi Jones Smith

Arsenite as an electron donor for anoxygenic photosynthesis: Description of three strains of Ectothiorhodospria from Mono Lake, California, and Big Soda Lake, Nevada

Three novel strains of photosynthetic bacteria from the family Ectothiorhodospiraceae were isolated from soda lakes of the Great Basin Desert, USA by employing arsenite (As(III)) as the sole electron donor in the enrichment/isolation process. Strain PHS-1 was previously isolated from a hot spring in Mono Lake, while strain MLW-1 was obtained from Mono Lake sediment, and strain BSL-9 was isolated f
Authors
Shelley McCann, Alison Boren, Jaime Hernandez-Maldonado, Brendon Stoneburner, Chad W Saltikov, John F. Stolz, Ronald S. Oremland

Continuous-flow centrifugation to collect suspended sediment for chemical analysis

Recent advances in suspended-sediment monitoring tools and surrogate technologies have greatly improved the ability to quantify suspended-sediment concentrations and to estimate daily, seasonal, and annual suspended-sediment fluxes from rivers to coastal waters. However, little is known about the chemical composition of suspended sediment, and how it may vary spatially between water bodies and tem
Authors
Kathleen E. Conn, Richard S. Dinicola, Robert W. Black, Stephen E. Cox, Richard W. Sheibley, James R. Foreman, Craig A. Senter, Norman T. Peterson

Evaluating external nutrient and suspended-sediment loads to Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, using surrogate regressions with real-time turbidity and acoustic backscatter data

Executive SummarySuspended-sediment and total phosphorus loads were computed for two sites in the Upper Klamath Basin on the Wood and Williamson Rivers, the two main tributaries to Upper Klamath Lake. High temporal resolution turbidity and acoustic backscatter data were used to develop surrogate regression models to compute instantaneous concentrations and loads on these rivers. Regression models
Authors
Liam N. Schenk, Chauncey W. Anderson, Paul Diaz, Marc A. Stewart

Ambient water quality in aquifers used for drinking-water supplies, Gem County, southwestern Idaho, 2015

In recent years, the rapid population growth in Gem County, Idaho, has been similar to other counties in southwestern Idaho, increasing about 54 percent from 1990 to 2015. Because the entire population of the study area depends on groundwater for drinking water supply (either from self-supplied domestic, community, or municipal-supply wells), this population growth, along with changes in land use
Authors
James R. Bartolino, Candice B. Hopkins

Suspended-sediment concentrations, bedload, particle sizes, surrogate measurements, and annual sediment loads for selected sites in the lower Minnesota River Basin, water years 2011 through 2016

Accurate measurements of fluvial sediment are important for assessing stream ecological health, calculating flood levels, computing sediment budgets, and managing and protecting water resources. Sediment-enriched rivers in Minnesota are a concern among Federal, State, and local governments because turbidity and sediment-laden waters are the leading impairments and affect more than 6,000 miles of r
Authors
Joel T. Groten, Christopher A. Ellison, Jon S. Hendrickson