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: 18470
Climate change and northern prairie wetlands: Simulations of long-term dynamics
A mathematical model (WETSIM 2.0) was used to simulate wetland hydrology and vegetation dynamics over a 32-yr period (1961–1992) in a North Dakota prairie wetland. A hydrology component of the model calculated changes in water storage based on precipitation, evapotranspiration, snowpack, surface runoff, and subsurface inflow. A spatially explicit vegetation component in the model calculated change
Authors
Karen A. Poiani, W. Carter Johnson, George A. Swanson, Thomas C. Winter
Occurrence and accumulation of pesticides and organic contaminants in river sediment, water and clam tissues from the San Joaquin River and tributaries, California
A study was conducted in 1992 to assess the effects of anthropogenic activities and land use on the water quality of the San Joaquin River and its major tributaries. This study focused on pesticides and organic contaminants, looking at distributions of contaminants in water, bed and suspended sediment, and the bivalve Corbicula fluminea. Results indicated that this river system is affected by agri
Authors
W. E. Pereira, Joseph L. Domagalski, F. D. Hostettler, L. R. Brown, J. B. Rapp
Effects of thermal vapor diffusion on seasonal dynamics of water in the unsaturated zone
The response of water in the unsaturated zone to seasonal changes of temperature (T) is determined analytically using the theory of nonisothermal water transport in porous media, and the solutions are tested against field observations of moisture potential and bomb fallout isotopic (36Cl and 3H) concentrations. Seasonally varying land surface temperatures and the resulting subsurface temperature g
Authors
Paul C.D. Milly
Ground-water development in Utah and effects on ground-water levels and chemical quality
Systematic ground-water development began in Utah shortly after settlement by Mormon pioneers in 1847. By 1939, about 230,000 acrefeet per year of ground water was being withdrawn from wells for irrigation, public supply, industrial use, and rural-domestic and stock supply. Withdrawals increased from about 600,000 to 700,000 acre-feet per year during 1963-67 to about 800,000 to 900,000 acre-feet p
Authors
Joseph S. Gates, David V. Allen
Ground-water conditions in Utah, spring of 1996
This is the thirty-third in a series of annual reports that describe ground-water conditions in Utah. Reports in this series, published cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources, provide data to enable interested parties to keep abreast of changing ground-water conditions.This report, like the others in the series, contain
Authors
J.I. Steiger, S.J. Gerner, J.D. Sory, Carole B. Burden, B.L. Loving, M.R. Danner, L. R. Herbert, H.K. Hadley, Michael Enright, B.A. Slaugh, R.L. Swenson, J.H. Howells, H.K. Christiansen, S.J. Brockner
Numerical simulation of solute transport in southwestern Salt Lake Valley, Utah
Contaminated ground water characterized by high concentrations of dissolved solids and dissolved sulfate, and in areas, by low pH and elevated concentrations of metals, is present near public-supply wells in the southwestern Salt Lake Valley. To provide State officials and water users with information concerning the potential movement of contaminated ground water to points of withdrawal in the are
Authors
P. M. Lambert
Hydrology and simulation of ground-water flow in Juab Valley, Juab County, Utah.
Plans to import water to Juab Valley, Utah, primarily for irrigation, are part of the Central Utah Project. A better understanding of the hydrology of the valley is needed to help manage the water resources and to develop conjunctive-use plans.The saturated unconsolidated basin-fill deposits form the ground-water system in Juab Valley. Recharge is by seepage from streams, unconsumed irrigation wat
Authors
Susan A. Thiros, Bernard J. Stolp, Heidi K. Hadley, Judy I. Steiger
Coastal hazards: hurricanes, tsunamis, coastal erosion
Oceans are the largest geographic feature on the surface of the Earth, covering approximately 70% of the planet's surface. As a result, oceans have a tremendous impact on the Earth, its climate, and its inhabitants. The coast or shoreline is the boundary between ocean environments and land habitats. By the year 2025, it is estimated that approximately two-thirds of the world's population will be l
Authors
Stephen Vandas, Lynne Mersfelder, Frank Farrar, Rigoberto Guardado France, Oscar Efraín González Yajimovich, Aurora R. Muñoz, María del C. Rivera
Ground water: the hidden resource
Ground water is water underground in saturated zones beneath the land surface. Contrary to popular belief, ground water does not form underground "rivers." It fills the pores and fractures in underground materials such as sand, gravel, and other rock. If ground water flows from rock materials or can be removed by pumping from the saturated rock materials In useful amounts, the rock materials are c
Authors
Stephen Vandas, Frank Farrar
Navigation: traveling the water highways!
NAVIGATION is travel or transportation over water. Many different kinds of boats and ships are used on rivers and oceans to move people and products from one place to another. Navigation was extremely important for foreign and domestic trade and travel in the early days of our country before cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes were invented. In those days, rivers were used as "roads" to connect in
Authors
Marion Fisher, Stephen Vandas, Frank Farrar
How do we treat our wastewater?
Water used in homes, schools, businesses, and industries must be cleaned or treated before it can be used again or returned to the environment. No matter where you live, in an urban or rural setting, the water you use does not just disappear: it is piped to a treatment system. The treatment of wastewater is important to keeping our water clean. This poster depicts what happens to
the water we all
Authors
Stephen Vandas, Carmelita White, Frank Farrar
Water: the resource that gets used & used & used for everything!
Water truly Is a resource that gets used and used for everything. The same Water can be utilized many times. This poster depicts 12 water uses which ere labeled in bold red letters, beginning with mining end ending with transportation. Withdrawals (water removed from the river or ground), distribution, and returns (water returned to the river or ground) are depicted by the blue arrows. The poster
Authors
Stephen Vandas, Frank Farrar, Orlando Ramos-Ginés