Publications

Monthly temperature and precipitation data for 923 United States Geological Survey 8-digit hydrologic units are used as inputs to a monthly water balance model to compute monthly actual evapotranspiration, soil moisture storage, and runoff across the western United States (U.S.) for the period 1900 through 2020. Time series of these water balance variables are examined to characterize and explain

In 2021, the reinstatement of the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) required federally funded projects to recognize potential increases in flood hazards over their service lives due to climate change or local anthropogenic perturbations. Recognizing that the state of the science had advanced since the implementation guidelines for this standard were published in 2015 (WRC, 2015, Appen

The Laser In-situ Scattering and Transmissometry–Stream-Lined 2 (LISST-SL2) is a second-generation isokinetic river sediment monitoring device that uses laser diffraction to measure suspended-sediment concentration and particle size between 1 and 500 microns in 36 log-spaced bins at a point in a river every second. We compare this latest laser diffraction instrument for suspended-sediment sampling

Surface roughness and grain size in river corridors are fundamental indicators of river hydraulics. In hydraulic models for coarse-grained rivers, the roughness parameter is often assumed to be related to a representative grain diameter. This paper documents a workflow for using aerial imagery and Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry to map surface roughness and digital grain size (DGS) on g

The lower reach of the Kootenai River in northern Idaho is dominated by large and actively migrating meander bends. Flow conditions, altered by both upstream flow reductions and by downstream backwater effects, are believed to be important geomorphological drivers throughout the reach. For example, Trout Creek Peninsula, located in an area of active meander migration, is undergoing continued bank

Process-based, large-scale (e.g., conterminous United States [CONUS]) hydrologic models have struggled to achieve reliable streamflow drought performance in arid regions and for low-flow periods. Deep learning has recently seen broad implementation in streamflow prediction and forecasting research projects throughout the world with performance often equaling or exceeding that of process-based mode

Sediment connectivity is a framework for transfer and storage of sediment among different geomorphic compartments across upland and channel network of the catchment sediment cascade. Sediment connectivity and dysconnectivity (i.e., source delivery and storage processes) are linked to the water cycle and hydrologic systems with the associated multiscale interactions with climate, soil, topography,

Waste constituents discharged to the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) pose risks to the water quality of the aquifer. To understand these risks, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the DOE, is conducting geochemical studies to better understand the hydrologic processes at the INL that affect the movement of groundw

Waste constituents discharged to the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) pose risks to the water quality of the aquifer. To understand these risks, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the DOE, used geochemical mass-balance modeling to identify three-dimensional hydrologic processes in that portion of the aquifer under

Prediction of short- (i.e., aquifer is near or at saturated conditions) and long-time (i.e., aquifer is not near or at saturated conditions) baseflow recession characteristics at ungauged stream locations is a current challenge that has been primarily addressed by empirical approaches that relate these characteristics to basin attributes. However, the performance of these models is often only fair

Phytoplankton are an important and limiting food source in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay in California. Decreasing phytoplankton biomass is one possible factor for the pelagic organism decline and the decline of the protected Hypomesus transpacificus (delta smelt). Bivalves Corbicula fluminea and Potamocorbula amurensis (hereafter C. fluminea and P. amurensis, respectively

Nature-based features, also called living shorelines, are increasingly applied in coastal protection and restoration. However, the processes and mechanisms (feedbacks and interactions) of wave attenuation, current velocity change, and sediment deposition and erosion along the living shoreline remain unclear, thus limiting the adaptive management of living shoreline restoration projects for coastal