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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

Wastewater disposal from unconventional oil and gas development degrades stream quality at a West Virginia injection facility

The development of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) resources has rapidly increased in recent years; however, the environmental impacts and risks are poorly understood. A single well can generate millions of liters of wastewater, representing a mixture of formation brine and injected hydraulic fracturing fluids. One of the most common methods for wastewater disposal is underground injection; we ar
Authors
Denise M. Akob, Adam Mumford, William H. Orem, Mark A. Engle, Julia (Grace) Klinges, Douglas B. Kent, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli

Modern (1992–2011) and projected (2012–99) peak snowpack and May–July runoff for the Fort Peck Lake and Lake Sakakawea watersheds in the Upper Missouri River Basin

Mountain snowpack is an important contributor to runoff in the Upper Missouri River Basin; for example, high amounts of winter and spring precipitation in the mountains and plains in 2010–11 were associated with the peak runoff of record in 2011 in the Upper Missouri River Basin. To project trends in peak mountain snowpack and runoff in the upcoming decades, multiple linear regression models of pe
Authors
John F. Stamm, Dennis Todey, Barbara Mayes Bousted, Shawn Rossi, Parker A. Norton, Janet M. Carter

Comparison of geochemical data obtained using four brine sampling methods at the SECARB Phase III Anthropogenic Test CO2 injection site, Citronelle Oil Field, Alabama

The chemical composition of formation water and associated gases from the lower Cretaceous Paluxy Formation was determined using four different sampling methods at a characterization well in the Citronelle Oil Field, Alabama, as part of the Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB) Phase III Anthropogenic Test, which is an integrated carbon capture and storage project. In this s
Authors
Christopher Conaway, James J. Thordsen, Michael A. Manning, Paul J. Cook, Robert C. Trautz, Burt Thomas, Yousif K. Kharaka

Water resources of Washington Parish, Louisiana

Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Washington Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-resource management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on the availability, past and current use, use trends, and water quality fro
Authors
Vincent E. White, Lawrence B. Prakken

Estimation of daily mean streamflow for ungaged stream locations in the Delaware River Basin, water years 1960–2010

The ability to characterize baseline streamflow conditions, compare them with current conditions, and assess effects of human activities on streamflow is fundamental to water-management programs addressing water allocation, human-health issues, recreation needs, and establishment of ecological flow criteria. The U.S. Geological Survey, through the National Water Census, has developed the Delaware
Authors
Marla H. Stuckey

User’s guide for the Delaware River Basin Streamflow Estimator Tool (DRB-SET)

IntroductionThe Delaware River Basin Streamflow Estimator Tool (DRB-SET) is a tool for the simulation of streamflow at a daily time step for an ungaged stream location in the Delaware River Basin. DRB-SET was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and funded through WaterSMART as part of the National Water Census, a USGS research program on national water availability and use that develops
Authors
Marla H. Stuckey, James E. Ulrich

Discharge and nutrient transport between lakes in a hydrologically complex area of Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, 2010-2012

An acoustic Doppler velocity meter (ADVM) was deployed in the narrows between Namakan and Kabetogama Lakes in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, from November 3, 2010, through October 3, 2012. The ADVM can account for wind, seiche, and changing flow direction in hydrologically complex areas. The objectives were to (1) estimate discharge and document the direction of water flow, (2) assess whether
Authors
Victoria G. Christensen, Eric Wakeman, Ryan P. Maki

Monitoring the status of Gray Bats (Myotis grisescens in Virginia, 2009-2014, and potential impacts of White-nose Syndrome

Myotis grisescens (Gray Bat) is a federally endangered species distributed over the mid-South with a summer range that extends across the upper Tennessee River Basin, including southwest Virginia. Given the onset of White-nose Syndrome (WNS) in the Commonwealth in the winter of 2009, we initiated yearly surveys in late summer 2009 to monitor the status of known summer populations. Our objectives w
Authors
Karen E. Powers, Richard J. Reynolds, Wil Orndorff, Brenna A. Hyzy, Christopher S. Hobson, W. Mark Ford

Flood-Inundation Maps for Sugar Creek at Crawfordsville, Indiana

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 6.5-mile reach of Sugar Creek at Crawfordsville, Indiana, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/, depict estimates of the areal
Authors
Zachary W. Martin

Hydrogeology and water quality of the Floridan aquifer system and effect of Lower Floridan aquifer withdrawals on the Upper Floridan aquifer at Barbour Pointe Community, Chatham County, Georgia, 2013

Two test wells were completed at the Barbour Pointe community in western Chatham County, near Savannah, Georgia, in 2013 to investigate the potential of using the Lower Floridan aquifer as a source of municipal water supply. One well was completed in the Lower Floridan aquifer at a depth of 1,080 feet (ft) below land surface; the other well was completed in the Upper Floridan aquifer at a depth of
Authors
Gerard Gonthier, John S. Clarke

Groundwater quality from private domestic water-supply wells in the vicinity of petroleum production in southwestern Indiana

The U.S. Geological Survey provided technical support to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for site selection and sample collection and analysis in a 2012 investigation of groundwater quality from 29 private domestic water-supply wells in the vicinity of petroleum production in southwestern Indiana. Petroleum hydrocarbons, oil and grease, aromatic volatile organic compounds, met
Authors
Martin R. Risch, Cheryl A. Silcox

Development and use of mathematical models and software frameworks for integrated analysis of agricultural systems and associated water use impacts

The development of appropriate water management strategies requires, in part, a methodology for quantifying and evaluating the impact of water policy decisions on regional stakeholders. In this work, we describe the framework we are developing to enhance the body of resources available to policy makers, farmers, and other community members in their e orts to understand, quantify, and assess the of
Authors
K. R. Fowler, E.W. Jenkins, M. Parno, J.C. Chrispell, A. I. Colón, Randall T. Hanson