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
Assessing cyanobacterial frequency and abundance at surface waters near drinking water intakes across the United States
This study presents the first large-scale assessment of cyanobacterial frequency and abundance of surface water near drinking water intakes across the United States. Public water systems serve drinking water to nearly 90% of the United States population. Cyanobacteria and their toxins may degrade the quality of finished drinking water and can lead to negative health consequences. Satellite imagery
Authors
Megan Coffer, Blake A. Schaeffer, Katherine Foreman, Alex Porteous, Keith Loftin, Richard Stumpf, Jeremy Werdell, Erin Urquhart, Ryan Albert, John Darling
Metal accumulation varies with life history, size, and development of larval amphibians
Amphibian larvae are commonly used as indicators of aquatic ecosystem health because they are susceptible to contaminants. However, there is limited information on how species characteristics and trophic position influence contaminant loads in larval amphibians. Importantly, there remains a need to understand whether grazers (frogs and toads [anurans]) and predators (salamanders) provide comparabl
Authors
Kelly L. Smalling, Emily Bea Oja, Danielle M. Cleveland, Jon D Davenport, Collin Eagles-Smith, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Patrick M. Kleeman, Brian J. Halstead, Kenzi M Stemp, Brian J. Tornabene, Zachary J Bunnell, Blake R. Hossack
Exploring the potential of electrospray-Orbitrap for stable isotope analysis using nitrate as a model
Widely used isotope ratio mass spectrometers have limited capabilities to measure metabolites, drugs, or small polyatomic ions without the loss of structural isotopic information. A new approach has recently been introduced that uses electrospray ionization Orbitrap to measure multidimensional isotope signatures of intact polar compounds. Using nitrate as a model compound, this study aims to estab
Authors
Andreas Hilkert, John K. Böhlke, Stanley J. Mroczkowski, Kyle L. Fort, Konstantin Aizikov, Xinchen T. Wang, Sebastian H. Kopf, Cajetan Neubauer
Water-level data for the Albuquerque Basin and adjacent areas, central New Mexico, period of record through September 30, 2020
The Albuquerque Basin, located in central New Mexico, is about 100 miles long and 25–40 miles wide. The basin is hydrologically defined as the extent of consolidated and unconsolidated deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age that encompasses the structural Rio Grande Rift between San Acacia to the south and Cochiti Lake to the north. A 20-percent population increase in the basin from 1990 to 2000
Authors
Elaiya R. Jurney, Meghan T. Bell
Reconstruction of an extreme flood hydrograph and morphodynamics of a meander bend in a high-peak discharge variability river (Powder River, USA)
Understanding of morphodynamic processes associated with large-scale floods has recently improved following significant advances of modern technologies. Nevertheless, a clear link between flood discharge and in-channel sedimentation processes remains to be resolved. The hydrological and geomorphological data available for the meandering Powder River (Montana, USA) since 1977 makes it a perfect lab
Authors
Massimiliano Ghinassi, John A. Moody
Identification of bacteria in groundwater used for domestic supply in the southeast San Joaquin Valley, California, 2014
Groundwater is an important source of drinking water in California. Water-borne diseases caused by microbial contamination are a growing concern. The MI test, a membrane filtration method for the chromogenic/fluorogenic detection of total coliforms and Escherichia coli, was used for samples collected January to April 2014 from 42 domestic wells in the southeastern San Joaquin Valley. The wells wer
Authors
Carmen A. Burton, Christine J. Lawrence
Survey of fish assemblages in the upper Neversink River and upper Rondout Creek, New York, 2017–19
Streams in the Catskill Mountains region of New York provide many important ecological and economic services, including recreational angling and serving as a drinking water supply to New York City. Many streams in this region were adversely affected by acid deposition during the late 20th century, impairing water quality and aquatic ecosystems. More recently, the level of acid deposition has decli
Authors
Dylan R. Winterhalter, Scott D. George, Barry P. Baldigo
Climate impacts on source contributions and evaporation to flow in the Snake River Basin using surface water isoscapes (δ2H and δ18O)
Rising global temperatures are expected to decrease the precipitation amount that falls as snow, causing greater risk of water scarcity, groundwater overdraft, and fire in areas that rely on mountain snowpack for their water supply. Streamflow in large river basins varies with the amount, timing, and type of precipitation, evapotranspiration, and drainage properties of watersheds; however, these c
Authors
Grace Windler, J. Renée Brooks, Henry M. Johnson, Randy Comeleo, Rob Coulombe, Gabriel J. Bowen
Sediment transport, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen responses to annual streambed drawdowns for downstream fish passage in a flood control reservoir
Sediment transport, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen were evaluated during six consecutive water years (2013–2018) of drawdowns of a flood control reservoir in the upper Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA. The drawdowns were conducted to allow volitional passage of endangered juvenile chinook salmon through the dam's regulating outlets by lowering the reservoir elevation to a point where the historical
Authors
Liam N. Schenk, Heather M. Bragg
Nutrient limitation of algae and macrophytes in streams: Integrating laboratory bioassays, field experiments, and field data
Successful eutrophication control strategies need to address the limiting nutrient. We conducted a battery of laboratory and in situ nutrient-limitation tests with waters collected from 9 streams in an agricultural region of the upper Snake River basin, Idaho, USA. Laboratory tests used the green alga Raphidocelis subcapitata, the macrophyte Lemna minor (duckweed) with native epiphytes, and in sit
Authors
Christopher A. Mebane, Andrew M. Ray, Amy M Marcarelli
Assessment of a conservative mixing model for the evaluation of constituent behavior below river confluences, Elqui River Basin, Chile
Fate and transport modeling of water-borne contaminants is a data demanding and costly endeavor, requiring considerable expes such, it becomes important to know when a complex modeling approach is required, and when a simpler approach is adequate. This is the main objective herein, where a conservative mixing model is used to characterize the transport of As, Cu, Fe, and SO4. The study area is div
Authors
Catalina Rossi, Jorge Oyarzún, Pablo Pasten, Robert L. Runkel, Jorge Núñez, Denisse Duhalde, Hugo Maturana, Eduardo Rojas, José L. Arumí, Daniela Castillo, Ricardo Oyarzún
Bathymetry of New York City’s East of Hudson reservoirs and controlled lakes, 2017 to 2019
New York City maintains an extensive system of reservoirs and aqueducts to provide drinking water to its residents, including 16 reservoirs and controlled lakes in Westchester and Putnam Counties in southern New York, east of the Hudson River (also called “East of Hudson reservoirs and controlled lakes”). These reservoirs were put into service from 1842 to 1915, and their capacities have likely ch
Authors
Elizabeth A. Nystrom, Courtney J. Huston, Robert J. Welk