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: 18468
Accuracy testing of steel and electric groundwater-level measuring tapes: Test method and in-service tape accuracy
The accuracy of groundwater-level tapes was investigated by developing a tape calibration method and device and testing the accuracy of a sample of groundwater-level tapes with the calibration method and device. The sample of tapes included in-service U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Center steel and electric groundwater-level tapes.
The tape calibration method developed during the stud
Authors
Janice M. Fulford, Christopher S. Clayton
Identifying trout refuges in the Indian and Hudson Rivers in northern New York through airborne thermal infrared remote sensing
The locations and sizes of potential cold-water refuges for trout were examined in 2005 along a 27-kilometer segment of the Indian and Hudson Rivers in northern New York to evaluate the extent of refuges, the effects of routine flow releases from an impoundment, and how these refuges and releases might influence trout survival in reaches that otherwise would be thermally stressed. This river segme
Authors
Anne G. Ernst, Barry P. Baldigo, Fred J. Calef, Douglas A. Freehafer, Robert L. Kremens
Installation of a groundwater monitoring-well network on the east side of the Uncompahgre River in the Lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, 2014
The east side of the Uncompahgre River Basin has been a known contributor of dissolved selenium to recipient streams. Discharge of groundwater containing dissolved selenium contributes to surface-water selenium concentrations and loads; however, the groundwater system on the east side of the Uncompahgre River Basin is not well characterized. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Colo
Authors
Judith C. Thomas
Water availability and subsidence in California's Central Valley
The Central Valley in California (USA) covers about 52,000 km2 and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. This agriculture relies heavily on surface-water diversions and groundwater pumpage to meet irrigation water demand. Because the valley is semi-arid and surface-water availability varies substantially, agriculture relies heavily on local groundwater. In the southern t
Authors
Claudia C. Faunt, Michelle Sneed, Jonathan A. Traum, Justin T. Brandt
Preliminary estimates of annual agricultural pesticide use for counties of the conterminous United States, 2013
Summary
This report provides preliminary estimates of annual agricultural use of 387 pesticide compounds in counties of the conterminous United States in 2013, compiled by means of methods described in Thelin and Stone (2013) and Baker and Stone (2015). U.S. Department of Agriculture county-level data for harvested-crop acreage were used in conjunction with proprietary Crop Reporting District-leve
Authors
Nancy T. Baker
Fish assemblages in the Upper Esopus Creek, NY: Current status, variability, and controlling factors
The Upper Esopus Creek receives water diversions from a neighboring basin through the Shandaken Tunnel (the portal) from the Schoharie Reservoir. Although the portal is closed during floods, mean flows and turbidity of portal waters are generally greater than in Esopus Creek above their confluence. These conditions could potentially affect local fish assemblages, yet such effects have not been ass
Authors
Barry P. Baldigo, Scott D. George, Walter T Keller
Documentation of a restart option for the U.S. Geological Survey coupled Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow (GSFLOW) model
A new option to write and read antecedent conditions (also referred to as initial conditions) has been developed for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Groundwater and Surface-Water Flow (GSFLOW) numerical, hydrologic simulation code. GSFLOW is an integration of the USGS Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) and USGS Modular Groundwater-Flow Model (MODFLOW), and provides three simulation mode
Authors
R. Steve Regan, Richard G. Niswonger, Steven L. Markstrom, Paul M. Barlow
Microbiological oxidation of antimony(III) with oxygen or nitrate by bacteria isolated from contaminated mine sediments
Bacterial oxidation of arsenite [As(III)] is a well-studied and important biogeochemical pathway that directly influences the mobility and toxicity of arsenic in the environment. In contrast, little is known about microbiological oxidation of the chemically similar anion antimonite [Sb(III)]. In this study, two bacterial strains, designated IDSBO-1 and IDSBO-4, which grow on tartrate compounds and
Authors
Lee R. Terry, Thomas R. Kulp, Heather A. Wiatrowski, Laurence G. Miller, Ronald S. Oremland
Landfill leachate as a mirror of today's disposable society: Pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern in final leachate from landfills in the conterminous United States
Final leachates (leachate after storage or treatment processes) from 22 landfills in 12 states were analyzed for 190 pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), which were detected in every sample, with the number of CECs ranging from 1 to 58 (median = 22). In total, 101 different CECs were detected in leachate samples, including 43 prescription pharmaceuticals, 22 industria
Authors
Jason R. Masoner, Dana W. Kolpin, Edward T. Furlong, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, James L. Gray
Groundwater recharge assessment at local and episodic scale in a soil mantled perched karst aquifer in southern Italy
Groundwater recharge assessment of karst aquifers, at various spatial and temporal scales, is a major scientific topic of current importance, since these aquifers play an essential role for both socio-economic development and fluvial ecosystems.
In this study, groundwater recharge was estimated at local and episodic scales in a representative perched karst aquifer in a region of southern Italy wit
Authors
V. Allocca, P. De Vita, F. Manna, John R. Nimmo
Groundwater-level and storage-volume changes in the Equus Beds aquifer near Wichita, Kansas, predevelopment through January 2015
Development of the Wichita well field began in the 1940s in the Equus Beds aquifer to provide the city of Wichita, Kansas, a new water-supply source. After development of the Wichita well field began, groundwater levels began to decline. Extensive development of irrigation wells that began in the 1970s also contributed to substantial groundwater-level declines. Groundwater-level declines likely en
Authors
Joshua A. Whisnant, Cristi V. Hansen, Patrick J. Eslick
Rates of As and trace-element mobilization caused by Fe reduction in mixed BTEX–ethanol experimental plumes
Biodegradation of organic matter, including petroleum-based fuels and biofuels, can create undesired secondary water-quality effects. Trace elements, especially arsenic (As), have strong adsorption affinities for Fe(III) (oxyhydr)-oxides and can be released to groundwater during Fe-reducing biodegradation. We investigated the mobilization of naturally occurring As, cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), and
Authors
Brady A. Ziegler, Jennifer T. McGuire, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli