Pennsylvania Waters - Summer 2024 - Issue 12
Drought, Flooding, Water Quality, and more! The drought condition web tool has been updated and a new web tool for Rapid Deployment Network site selection will help emergency response and mitigation planning for future floods. And news and publications about water quality monitoring and pollution mitigation methods, long-term groundwater trends, and other water resources info for Pennsylvania.
USGS Updates Pennsylvania Drought Condition Web Tool
USGS, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, updated the Pennsylvania Drought Condition Web Tool.
Complex hydrology and variability of nitrogen sources in a karst watershed
Streams draining karst areas with rapid groundwater transit times may respond relatively quickly to nitrogen reduction strategies, but the complex hydrologic network of interconnected sinkholes and springs is challenging for determining the placement and effectiveness of management practices. This study aims to inform nitrogen reduction strategies in a representative agricultural karst setting of
Testing New Water Quality Observation Methods In Philadelphia
Advances in water quality monitoring technology have made it possible to measure more variables than ever before.
Pennsylvania Flood Data for Rapid Deployment Network Site Selection
USGS is helping identify potential locations in Pennsylvania where additional or updated water-level data may be needed during or after major storm events.
Legacy sediment as a potential source of orthophosphate: Preliminary conceptual and geochemical models for the Susquehanna River, Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
Nutrient pollution from agriculture and urban areas plus acid mine drainage (AMD) from legacy coal mines are primary causes of water-quality impairment in the Susquehanna River, which is the predominant source of freshwater and nutrients entering the Chesapeake Bay. Recent increases in the delivery of dissolved orthophosphate (PO4) from the river to the bay may be linked to long-term increases in
Pesticides are likely impacting invertebrate life essential to our nation’s streams
A new nationwide study by USGS scientists provides additional scientific evidence that pesticides are likely negatively impacting aquatic invertebrate community health and therefore the health of our stream and river ecosystems.
Results of 2018–19 water-quality and hydraulic characterization of aquifer intervals using packer tests and preliminary geophysical-log correlations for selected boreholes at and near the former Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster, Bucks County, Pennsylva
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected data on the vertical distribution of hydraulic head, specific capacity, and water quality using aquifer-interval-isolation tests and other vertical profiling methods in 15 boreholes completed in fractured sedimentary bedrock in Northampton, Warminster, and Warwick Townships, Bucks County, Pennsylvania during 2018–19. This work was done, in cooperation wi
Your land, your water—Using research to guide conservation practices on local farms in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Agricultural lands are an important part of the economy and heritage of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and are a focus of conservation activities. Streams and rivers around farms provide communities with drinking water and recreational opportunities, but these local benefits can be impaired by elevated nutrient and sediment concentrations. Compared to inputs from the atmosphere, wastewater, and urba
Monitoring Change at the Lower Darby Creek Area Superfund Site
Partnering with the EPA, FAA, and the FWS, USGS scientists conducted the first of a series of small uncrewed aircraft system data collections documenting the changes in the Lower Darby Creek Area Superfund Site. This is a subset of a larger ongoing project led by the EPA to remediate contaminated areas and monitor changes throughout the Lower Darby Creek Area Superfund Site.
Evaluating water-quality trends in agricultural watersheds prioritized for management-practice implementation
Many agricultural watersheds rely on the voluntary use of management practices (MPs) to reduce nonpoint source nutrient and sediment loads; however, the water-quality effects of MPs are uncertain. We interpreted water-quality responses from as early as 1985 through 2020 in three agricultural Chesapeake Bay watersheds that were prioritized for MP implementation, namely, the Smith Creek (Virginia),
Environmental monitoring of groundwater, surface water, and soil at the Ammonium Perchlorate Rocket Motor Destruction Facility at the Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 2021
Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, built an Ammonium Perchlorate Rocket Motor Destruction (ARMD) Facility in 2016 to centralize rocket motor destruction and contain all waste during the destruction process. The U.S. Geological Survey has collected environmental samples from groundwater, surface water, and soils at ARMD since 2016.During 2021, samples were collected from four gro
Hydrologist Hilary Dozier measuring flow in Fishing Creek, PA
USGS Hydrologist Hilary Dozier (formerly Abraham) measuring stream discharge during sampling, to allow calculation of loads, in Fishing Creek, Logan Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania, just below the Logan Mills Covered Bridge (John Clune, USGS).
Estimation and comparison of 1-percent annual exceedance probability flood flows at Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance study flow locations across Pennsylvania
Flood-flow estimates were computed at over 5,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood insurance study (FIS) flow locations across Pennsylvania for the 1-percent annual exceedance probability flood event (1-percent AEP). Depending on a point of interest’s proximity to a streamgage, weighting techniques may be applied to obtain flood-flow estimates for ungaged flow locations using observ
Determination and prediction of micro scale rare earth element geochemical associations in mine drainage treatment wastes
Acid mine drainage (AMD) has been proposed as a novel source of rare earth elements (REE), a group of elements that includes critical metals for clean energy and modern technologies. REE are sequestered in the Fe–Al–Mn-rich precipitates produced during the treatment of AMD. These AMD solids are typically managed as waste but could be a REE source. Here, results from AMD solids characterization and
Flood Data Collection in Pennsylvania - Rapid Deployment Network
USGS is helping identify potential locations in Pennsylvania where additional or updated water-level data may be needed during or after major storm events. Pre-identification of these locations supports expedited decision-making for site selection, resulting in safer and more timely installation of flood monitoring instruments.
Thirty years of regional groundwater-quality trend studies in the United States: Major findings and lessons learned
Changes in groundwater quality have been evaluated for more than 2,200 wells in 25 Principal Aquifers in the United States based on repeated decadal sampling (once every 10 years) from 1988 to 2021. The purpose of this study is to identify contaminants with changing concentrations, the locations and magnitude of those changes, the factors driving those changes, the obstacles to interpreting the ch