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: 18424
Defining “atmospheric river”: How the Glossary of Meteorology helped resolve a debate
Since the term “atmospheric river” (AR) first appeared in modern scientific literature in the early 1990s, it has generated debate about the meaning of the concept. A common popular definition is something along the lines of a “river in the sky,” albeit as a river of water vapor rather than of liquid. This general concept has come into regular use in the western United States and in some other reg
Authors
F. Martin Ralph, Michael D. Dettinger, Mary M. Cairns, Thomas J. Galarneau, John Eylander
Groundwater flow and heat transport for systems undergoing freeze-thaw: Intercomparison of numerical simulators for 2D test cases
In high-elevation, boreal and arctic regions, hydrological processes and associated water bodies can be strongly influenced by the distribution of permafrost. Recent field and modeling studies indicate that a fully-coupled multidimensional thermo-hydraulic approach is required to accurately model the evolution of these permafrost-impacted landscapes and groundwater systems. However, the relatively
Authors
Christophe Grenier, Hauke Anbergen, Victor F. Bense, Quentin Chanzy, Ethan Coon, Nathaniel Collier, François Costard, Michel Ferry, Andrew Frampton, Jennifer M. Frederick, Julio Gonçalvès, Johann Holmén, Anne Jost, Samuel Kokh, Barret L. Kurylyk, Jeffrey M. McKenzie, John W. Molson, Emmanuel Mouche, Laurent Orgogozo, Romain Pannetier, Agnès Rivière, Nicolas Roux, Wolfram Rühaak, Johanna Scheidegger, Jan-Olof Selroos, René Therrien, Patrik Vidstrand, Clifford I. Voss
Factors affecting long-term trends in surface-water quality in the Gwynns Falls watershed, Baltimore City and County, Maryland, 1998–2016
Factors affecting water-quality trends in urban streams are not well understood, despite current regulatory requirements and considerable ongoing investments in gray and green infrastructure. To address this gap, long-term water-quality trends and factors affecting these trends were examined in the Gwynns Falls, Maryland, watershed during 1998–2016 in cooperation with Blue Water Baltimore. Data on
Authors
Emily Majcher, Ellen L. Woytowitz, Alexander J. Reisinger, Peter M. Groffman
A North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) of the Common Era
This study presents a synthesis of century-scale hydroclimate variations in North America for the Common Era (last 2000 years) using new age models of previously published multiple proxy-based paleoclimate data. This North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) examines regional hydroclimate patterns and related environmental indicators, including vegetation, lake water elevation, stream flow and
Authors
Jessica R. Rodysill, Lesleigh Anderson, Thomas M. Cronin, Miriam C. Jones, Robert S. Thompson, David B. Wahl, Debra A. Willard, Jason A. Addison, Jay R. Alder, Katherine H. Anderson, Lysanna Anderson, John A. Barron, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Steven W. Hostetler, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Nicole Khan, Julie N. Richey, Scott W. Starratt, Laura E. Strickland, Michael Toomey, Claire C. Treat, G. Lynn Wingard
By
Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Energy Resources Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2015 through September 2016) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in selected streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the upper Clark Fork Basin of western Montana. The sampling program was led by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to characterize aquatic resources in the Clark Fork Basin, with emphasis on trace elements ass
Authors
Kent A. Dodge, Michelle I. Hornberger, Matthew A. Turner
Risk factors associated with mortality of age-0 Smallmouth Bass in the Susquehanna River basin, Pennsylvania
Evidence of disease and mortalities of young of the year (age‐0) Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu has occurred during the late spring and summer in many parts of the Susquehanna River watershed since 2005. To better understand contributing factors, fish collected from multiple areas throughout the watershed as well as out‐of‐basin reference populations (Allegheny and Delaware River basins; exp
Authors
Heather L. Walsh, Vicki S. Blazer, Geoffrey Smith, Michael Lookenbill, David Alvarez, Kelly L. Smalling
Influence of governance structure on green stormwater infrastructure investment
Communities are faced with the challenge of meeting regulatory requirements mandating reductions in water pollution from stormwater and combined sewer overflows (CSO). Green stormwater infrastructure and gray stormwater infrastructure are two types of water management strategies communities can use to address water pollution. In this study, we used long-term control plans from 25 U.S. cities to sy
Authors
Kristina G. Hopkins, Nancy B. Grimm, Abigail M. York
Flood-inundation and flood-mitigation modeling of the West Branch Wapsinonoc Creek Watershed in West Branch, Iowa
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the city of West Branch and the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site of the National Park Service assessed flood-mitigation scenarios within the West Branch Wapsinonoc Creek watershed. The scenarios are intended to demonstrate several means of decreasing peak streamflows and improving the conveyance of overbank flows from the West Branch Wapsi
Authors
Charles V. Cigrand
The role of frozen soil in groundwater discharge predictions for warming alpine watersheds
Climate warming may alter the quantity and timing of groundwater discharge to streams in high alpine watersheds due to changes in the timing of the duration of seasonal freezing in the subsurface and snowmelt recharge. It is imperative to understand the effects of seasonal freezing and recharge on groundwater discharge to streams in warming alpine watersheds as streamflow originating from these wa
Authors
Sarah G. Evans, Shemin Ge, Clifford I. Voss, Noah P. Molotch
Groundwater quality in the Mokelumne, Cosumnes, and American River Watersheds, Sierra Nevada, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The GAMA Program’s Priority Basin Project assesses the quality of groundwater resources used for drinking water supply and increases public access to groundwater-quality information. In the Mokelu
Authors
Miranda S. Fram, Jennifer L. Shelton
Natural and man-made hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), in groundwater near a mapped plume, Hinkley, California—study progress as of May 2017, and a summative-scale approach to estimate background Cr(VI) concentrations
This report describes (1) work done between January 2015 and May 2017 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), background study and (2) the summative-scale approach to be used to estimate the extent of anthropogenic (man-made) Cr(VI) and background Cr(VI) concentrations near the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) natural gas compressor station in Hinkley, Cali
Authors
John A. Izbicki, Krishangi D. Groover
Model methodology for estimating pesticide concentration extremes based on sparse monitoring data
This report describes a new methodology for using sparse (weekly or less frequent observations) and potentially highly censored pesticide monitoring data to simulate daily pesticide concentrations and associated quantities used for acute and chronic exposure assessments, such as the annual maximum daily concentration. The new methodology is based on a statistical model that expresses log-transform
Authors
Aldo V. Vecchia