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: 18418
Noble gas signatures constrain oil-field water as the carrier phase of hydrocarbons occurring in shallow aquifers in the San Joaquin Basin, USA
Noble gases record fluid interactions in multiphase subsurface environments through fractionation processes during fluid equilibration. Water in the presence of hydrocarbons at the subsurface acquires a distinct elemental signature due to the difference in solubility between these two fluids. We find the atmospheric noble gas signature in produced water is partially preserved after hydrocarbons pr
Authors
Ruta Karolyte, Peter H. Barry, Andrew Hunt, Justin T. Kulongoski, R. L. Tyne, Tracy Davis, Michael Wright, Peter B. McMahon, C. J. Ballentine
General water-quality conditions, long-term trends, and network analysis at selected sites within the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network in Missouri, water years 1993–2017
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, collects data pertaining to the surface-water resources of Missouri. Established in 1964, the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network (AWQMN) consisted of 69 sites in 2017. Two additional sites from the National Water-Quality Program are included with the AWQMN sites for the analyses in this report. The
Authors
Joseph M. Richards, Miya N. Barr
Uncertainty in remote sensing of streams using noncontact radars
Accounting for freshwater resources and monitoring floods are vital functions for societies throughout the world. Remote-sensing methods offer great prospects to expand stream monitoring in developing countries and to smaller, headwater streams that are largely ungauged worldwide. This study evaluates the potential to estimate discharge using eight radar units that have been installed over streams
Authors
Mushfiqur Rahman Khan, Jonathan J Gourley, Jorge Duarte, Humberto Vergara, Daniel Wasielewski, Pierre-Alain Ayral, John Fulton
Using an unmanned aerial vehicle water sampler to gather data in a pit-lake mining environment to assess closure and monitoring
Residual pit lakes from mining are often dangerous to sample for water quality. Thus, pit lakes may be rarely (or never) sampled. This study developed new technology in which water-sampling devices, mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), were used to sample three pit lakes in Nevada, USA, during 1 week in 2017. Water-quality datasets from two of the three pit lakes on public lands, Dexter an
Authors
Brian Straight, Devin Castendyk, Diane M. McKnight, Connor P. Newman, Pierre Filiatreault, Americo Pino
Using microbial source tracking to identify fecal contamination sources in an embayment in Hempstead Harbor on Long Island, New York
The U.S. Geological Survey worked collaboratively with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to assess the potential sources of fecal contamination entering Hempstead Harbor, an embayment on the northern shore of Nassau County, Long Island, New York. Water samples are routinely collected by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in the harbor and analyzed
Authors
Tristen N. Tagliaferri, Shawn C. Fisher, Christopher M. Kephart, Natalie Cheung, Ariel P. Reed, Robert J. Welk
From saline to freshwater: The diversity of western lakes in space and time
Beginning with the nineteenth-century territorial surveys, the lakes and lacustrine deposits in what is now the western United States were recognized for their economic value to the expanding nation. In the latter half of the twentieth century, these systems have been acknowledged as outstanding examples of depositional systems serving as models for energy exploration and environmental analysis, m
American and Sacramento Rivers, California, erodibility measurements and model
Executive Summary A previous report by the authors described sediment sampling and drilling by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) beside the American and Sacramento Rivers near Sacramento, California, in support of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project focused on regional flood control. The drilling was performed to define lithology, extract samples for laboratory testing, and perform borehole er
Authors
Paul A. Work, Daniel N. Livsey
The response of streams in the Adirondack region of New York to projected changes in sulfur and nitrogen deposition under changing climate
Modeling studies project that in the future surface waters in the northeast US will continue to recover from acidification over decades following reductions in atmospheric sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions. However, these studies generally assume stationary climatic conditions over the simulation period and ignore the linkages between soil and surface water recovery from acid deposition
Authors
Shuai Shao, Douglas A. Burns, Huizhong Shen, Yilin Chen, Armistead G Russell, Charles T. Driscoll
Integrating ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony reveals nonlinear drivers in lake organic matter processing
Lakes process both terrestrial and aquatic organic matter, and the relative contribution from each source is often measured via ecosystem metabolism and terrestrial resource use in the food web (i.e., consumer allochthony). Yet, ecosystem metabolism and consumer allochthony are rarely considered together, despite possible interactions and potential for them to respond to the same lake characterist
Authors
Meredith A. Holgerson, Rachel A. Hovel, Patrick T. Kelly, Lauren E Bortolotti, Jennifer A. Brentrup, Amber R Bellamy, Samantha K. Oliver, Alexander J Reisenger
Assessment of water-quality constituents monitored for total maximum daily loads in Johnson County, Kansas, January 2015 through December 2018
Stormwater discharges from municipalities are regulated by provisions in the Clean Water Act of 1972 to protect the Nation’s water resources from harmful pollutants. In 2014, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued new stormwater discharge permits for 17 municipalities in Johnson County, Kansas, in the northeastern part of the State. The county is largely suburban and has 20 municip
Authors
Brianna M. Leiker, Teresa J. Rasmussen, Patrick J. Eslick-Huff, Colin C. Painter
Evaluation of ELISA for the analysis of imidacloprid in biological matrices: Cross-reactivities, matrix interferences, and comparison to LC-MS/MS
Imidacloprid is among the most used pesticides worldwide and there are toxicity concerns for nontarget organisms. Accurate and sensitive methods are necessary to quantitate imidacloprid concentrations in biological matrices to better understand their fate and effects. Here we evaluated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for the analysis of imidacloprid in biological samples. Followin
Authors
Michael S. Gross, Emily Woodward, Michelle Hladik
Groundwater quality and age of secondary bedrock aquifers in the glaciated portion of eastern Nebraska, 2016–18
The Eastern Nebraska Water Resources Assessment (ENWRA) project was initiated in 2006 to assist water managers by developing a hydrogeologic framework and water budget for the glaciated portion of eastern Nebraska. Within the ENWRA area, the primary groundwater sources for municipal, domestic, and irrigation water needs are provided by withdrawals from alluvial, buried paleovalley, and the High Pl
Authors
Christopher M. Hobza, Amanda T. Flynn