Publications

During 2017, as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the California Stream Quality Assessment to investigate the quality of streams in the Central California Foothills and Coastal Mountains ecoregion, United States. The goal of the California Stream Quality Assessment study was to assess the health of wadeable streams in the region by characte

Near-field remote sensing of surface velocity and river discharge (discharge) were measured using coherent, continuous wave Doppler and pulsed radars. Traditional streamgaging requires sensors be deployed in the water column; however, near-field remote sensing has the potential to transform streamgaging operations through non-contact methods in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other agencies

Streambed sediment is commonly analyzed to assess occurrence of hydrophobic pesticides and risks to aquatic communities. However, stream biofilms also have the potential to accumulate pesticides and may be consumed by aquatic organisms. To better characterize risks to aquatic life, the U.S. Geological Survey Regional Stream Quality Assessment measured 93 current-use and 3 legacy pesticides in bed

Quantifying suspended-sediment transport is critical for a variety of disciplines related to the management of water resources. However, the number of gauging stations and monitoring networks in most rivers around the world is insufficient to improve understanding of river dynamics and support water resource management decisions. This is mainly due to the high operational costs and intensive labor

The remote, inaccessible location of many rivers in Alaska creates a compelling need for remote sensing approaches to streamflow monitoring. Motivated by this objective, we evaluated the potential to infer flow velocities from optical image sequences acquired from a helicopter deployed above two large, sediment-laden rivers. Rather than artificial seeding, we used an ensemble correlation particle

Manganese (Mn) plays a critical role in river-water quality because Mn-oxides serve as sorption sites for contaminant metals. The aim of this study is to understand the seasonal cycling of Mn in an alpine streambed that experiences large spring snowmelt events and the potential responses to changes in snowmelt timing and magnitude. To address this goal, annual variations in river-water/groundwater

Global hydroclimatic conditions have been substantially altered over the past century by anthropogenic influences that arise from the warming global climate and from local/regional anthropogenic disturbances. Traditionally, studies have used coupling of multiple models to understand how land-surface water fluxes vary due to changes in global climatic patterns and local land-use changes. We argue t

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working with Federal, State, and local partners to monitor and evaluate perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the State’s groundwater and surface waters. PFAS are synthetic chemicals with widespread commercial and industrial use that can take a very long time to break down in the environment and may affect human health. The USGS in New York is

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working with Federal, State, and local partners to monitor and evaluate microplastics in our lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic, some-times so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. The USGS is taking an active role in monitoring and assessing our natural resources in New York and throughout the Nation.

Groundwater samples have been collected in California as part of statewide investigations of groundwater quality conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Priority Basin Project (PBP) since 2004. The GAMA-PBP is being conducted in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board to assess and monitor the quality of groun

IntroductionPassive groundwater sampling is defined as the collection of a water sample from a well without the use of purging by a pump or retrieval by a bailer (Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council [ITRC], 2006; American Society for Testing and Materials [ASTM], 2014). No purging means that advection of water is not involved in collecting the water sample from the well. Passive samplers

Nutrient enrichment has degraded many of the world’s estuaries by amplifying algal production, leading to hypoxia/anoxia, loss of vascular plants and fish/shellfish habitat, and expansion of harmful blooms (HABs). Policies to protect coastal waters from the effects of nutrient enrichment require information to determine if a water body is impaired by nutrients and if regulatory actions are require