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: 18428
Spatial and temporal assessment of back-barrier erosion on Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, 2011–2013
Much research has been conducted to better understand erosion and accretion processes for the seaward zones of coastal barrier islands; however, at Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, the greater management concern is the effect that erosion is having on the resources of the island’s western shoreline, or the back barrier. Catastrophic slumping and regular rates of erosion greater than 1
Authors
Daniel L. Calhoun, Jeffrey W. Riley
Parameter regionalization of a monthly water balance model for the conterminous United States
A parameter regionalization scheme to transfer parameter values from gaged to ungaged areas for a monthly water balance model (MWBM) was developed and tested for the conterminous United States (CONUS). The Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test, a global-sensitivity algorithm, was implemented on a MWBM to generate parameter sensitivities on a set of 109 951 hydrologic response units (HRUs) across the
Authors
Andrew R. Bock, Lauren E. Hay, Gregory J. McCabe, Steven L. Markstrom, R. Dwight Atkinson
Low-flow frequency and flow duration of selected South Carolina streams in the Savannah and Salkehatchie River Basins through March 2014
An ongoing understanding of streamflow characteristics of the rivers and streams in South Carolina is important for the protection and preservation of the State’s water resources. Information concerning the low-flow characteristics of streams is especially important during critical flow periods, such as during the historic droughts that South Carolina has experienced in the past few decades.In 200
Authors
Toby D. Feaster, Wladmir B. Guimaraes
Investigation of total and hexavalent chromium in filtered and unfiltered groundwater samples at the Tucson International Airport Superfund Site
Potential health effects from hexavalent chromium in groundwater have recently become a concern to regulators at the Tucson International Airport Area Superfund site. In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey sampled 46 wells in the area to characterize the nature and extent of chromium in groundwater, to understand what proportion of total chromium is in the hexavalent state, and to determine if substa
Authors
Fred D. Tillman, R. Blaine McCleskey, Edyth Hermosillo
Screening for contaminants of emerging concern in Northern Colorado Plateau Network waters: 2015 surface-water data
In 2015, as part of an on-going screening program for contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8, surface waters at 18 locations in or near seven national park units within the Northern Colorado Plateau Network (NCPN) were sampled for pesticides and pesticide degradation products, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, hormon
Authors
R Weissinger, William A. Battaglin, Paul M. Bradley
Contrasting nitrogen fate in watersheds using agricultural and water quality information
Surplus nitrogen (N) estimates, principal component analysis (PCA), and end-member mixing analysis (EMMA) were used in a multisite comparison contrasting the fate of N in diverse agricultural watersheds. We applied PCA-EMMA in 10 watersheds located in Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Mississippi, and Washington ranging in size from 5 to 1254 km2 with four nested watersheds. Watershed Surplus N w
Authors
Hedeff I. Essaid, Nancy T. Baker, Kathleen A. McCarthy
Potential corrosivity of untreated groundwater in the United States
Corrosive groundwater, if untreated, can dissolve lead and other metals from pipes and other components in water distribution systems. Two indicators of potential corrosivity—the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) and the Potential to Promote Galvanic Corrosion (PPGC)—were used to identify which areas in the United States might be more susceptible to elevated concentrations of metals in household dr
Authors
Kenneth Belitz, Bryant C. Jurgens, Tyler D. Johnson
Phosphorus in sediment in the Kent Park Lake watershed, Johnson County, Iowa, 2014–15
Phosphorus data were collected from the Kent Park Lake watershed in Johnson County, Iowa, in 2014 and 2015 to obtain information to assist in the management of the water quality in the lake. Phosphorus concentrations were measured for sediment from several ponds in the watershed and sediment deposited in the lake. The first set of samples was collected in 2014 to understand phosphorus in several p
Authors
Stephen J. Kalkhoff
Mercury cycling in the Hells Canyon Complex of the Snake River, Idaho and Oregon
Introduction
The Hells Canyon Complex (HCC) is a hydroelectric project built and operated by the Idaho Power Company (IPC) that consists of three dams on the Snake River along the Oregon and Idaho border (fig. 1). The dams have resulted in the creation of Brownlee, Oxbow, and Hells Canyon Reservoirs, which have a combined storage capacity of more than 1.5 million acre-feet and span about 90 miles
Authors
Gregory M. Clark, Jesse Naymik, David P. Krabbenhoft, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, George R. Aiken, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Reed C. Harris, Ralph Myers
Sediment acoustic index method for computing continuous suspended-sediment concentrations
Suspended-sediment characteristics can be computed using acoustic indices derived from acoustic Doppler velocity meter (ADVM) backscatter data. The sediment acoustic index method applied in these types of studies can be used to more accurately and cost-effectively provide time-series estimates of suspended-sediment concentration and load, which is essential for informed solutions to many sediment-
Authors
Mark N. Landers, Timothy D. Straub, Molly S. Wood, Marian M. Domanski
High spatio-temporal resolution observations of crater-lake temperatures at Kawah Ijen volcano, East Java, Indonesia
The crater lake of Kawah Ijen volcano, East Java, Indonesia, has displayed large and rapid changes in temperature at point locations during periods of unrest, but measurement techniques employed to-date have not resolved how the lake’s thermal regime has evolved over both space and time. We applied a novel approach for mapping and monitoring variations in crater-lake apparent surface (“skin”) temp
Authors
Jennifer L. Lewicki, Corentin Caudron, Vincent van Hinsberg, George Hilley
Delta smelt: Life history and decline of a once abundant species in the San Francisco Estuary
This paper reviews what has been learned about Delta Smelt and its status since the publication of The State of Bay-Delta Science, 2008 (Healey et al. 2008). The Delta Smelt is endemic to the upper San Francisco Estuary. Much of its historic habitat is no longer available and remaining habitat is increasingly unable to sustain the population. As a listed species living in the central node of Calif
Authors
Peter B. Moyle, Larry R. Brown, John R Durand, James A. Hobbs