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
Water-budgets and recharge-area simulations for the Spring Creek and Nittany Creek Basins and parts of the Spruce Creek Basin, Centre and Huntingdon Counties, Pennsylvania, Water Years 2000–06
This report describes the results of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with ClearWater Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to develop a hydrologic model to simulate a water budget and identify areas of greater than average recharge for the Spring Creek Basin in central Pennsylvania. The model was developed to help policy makers, natural resour
Authors
John W. Fulton, Dennis W. Risser, R. Steve Regan, John F. Walker, Randall J. Hunt, Richard G. Niswonger, Scott A. Hoffman, Steven L. Markstrom
A new temperature profiling probe for investigating groundwater-surface water interaction
Measuring vertically nested temperatures at the streambed interface poses practical challenges that are addressed here with a new discrete subsurface temperature profiling probe. We describe a new temperature probe and its application for heat as a tracer investigations to demonstrate the probe's utility. Accuracy and response time of temperature measurements made at 6 discrete depths in the probe
Authors
Ramon C. Naranjo, Robert Turcotte
Sensitivity of intermittent streams to climate variations in the USA
There is a great deal of interest in the literature on streamflow changes caused by climate change because of the potential negative effects on aquatic biota and water supplies. Most previous studies have primarily focused on perennial streams, and there have been only a few studies examining the effect of climate variability on intermittent streams. Our objectives in this study were to (1) identi
Authors
Ken Eng, David M. Wolock, Mike Dettinger
Peclet number as affected by molecular diffusion controls transient anomalous transport in alluvial aquifer-aquitard complexes
This study evaluates the role of the Peclet number as affected by molecular diffusion in transient anomalous transport, which is one of the major knowledge gaps in anomalous transport, by combining Monte Carlo simulations and stochastic model analysis. Two alluvial settings containing either short- or long-connected hydrofacies are generated and used as media for flow and transport modeling. Numer
Authors
Yong Zhang, Christopher T. Green, Geoffrey R. Tick
Natural recharge estimation and uncertainty analysis of an adjudicated groundwater basin using a regional-scale flow and subsidence model (Antelope Valley, California, USA)
Groundwater has provided 50–90 % of the total water supply in Antelope Valley, California (USA). The associated groundwater-level declines have led the Los Angeles County Superior Court of California to recently rule that the Antelope Valley groundwater basin is in overdraft, i.e., annual pumpage exceeds annual recharge. Natural recharge consists primarily of mountain-front recharge and is an impo
Authors
Adam J. Siade, Tracy Nishikawa, Peter Martin
Numerical simulation of groundwater flow, resource optimization, and potential effects of prolonged drought for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Tribal Jurisdictional Area, central Oklahoma
A hydrogeological study including two numerical groundwater-flow models was completed for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Tribal Jurisdictional Area of central Oklahoma. One numerical groundwater-flow model, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation model, encompassed the jurisdictional area and was based on the results of a regional-scale hydrogeological study and numerical groundwater flow model of the Centra
Authors
Derek W. Ryter, Christopher D. Kunkel, Steven M. Peterson, Jonathan P. Traylor
Hydrologic budget and conditions of Permian, Pennsylvanian, and Mississippian aquifers in the Appalachian Plateaus physiographic province
In response to challenges to groundwater availability posed by historic land-use practices, expanding development of hydrocarbon resources, and drought, the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater Resources Program began a regional assessment of the Appalachian Plateaus aquifers in 2013 that incorporated a hydrologic landscape approach to estimate all components of the hydrologic system: surface runoff
Authors
Kurt J. McCoy, Richard M. Yager, David L. Nelms, David E. Ladd, Jack Monti,, Mark D. Kozar
U.S. Geological Survey Noble Gas Laboratory’s standard operating procedures for the measurement of dissolved gas in water samples
This report addresses the standard operating procedures used by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Noble Gas Laboratory in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., for the measurement of dissolved gases (methane, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide) and noble gas isotopes (helium-3, helium-4, neon-20, neon-21, neon-22, argon-36, argon-38, argon-40, kryton-84, krypton-86, xenon-103, and xenon-132) dissolved in water.
Authors
Andrew G. Hunt
Simulation of groundwater flow and analysis of the effects of water-management options in the North Platte Natural Resources District, Nebraska
The North Platte Natural Resources District (NPNRD) has been actively collecting data and studying groundwater resources because of concerns about the future availability of the highly inter-connected surface-water and groundwater resources. This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Platte Natural Resources District, describes a groundwater-flow model of the
Authors
Steven M. Peterson, Amanda T. Flynn, Joseph Vrabel, Derek W. Ryter
Streamflow gains and losses in the Colorado River in northwestern Burnet and southeastern San Saba Counties, Texas
In October 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District, began an assessment to better understand if and where groundwater from the Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer is discharging to the Colorado River, and if and where Colorado River streamflow is recharging the Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer in the study area. Discharge measurements w
Authors
Christopher L. Braun, Scott D. Grzyb
Organic and inorganic composition and microbiology of produced waters from Pennsylvania shale gas wells
Hydraulically fractured shales are becoming an increasingly important source of natural gas production in the United States. This process has been known to create up to 420 gallons of produced water (PW) per day, but the volume varies depending on the formation, and the characteristics of individual hydraulic fracture. PW from hydraulic fracturing of shales are comprised of injected fracturing flu
Authors
Denise M. Akob, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Darren S. Dunlap, Elisabeth L. Rowan, Michelle M. Lorah
Normalization of stable isotope data for carbonate minerals: implementation of IUPAC guideline
Carbonate minerals provide a rich source of geochemical information because their δ13C and δ18O values provide information about surface and subsurface Earth processes. However, a significant problem is that the same δ18O value is not reported for the identical carbonate sample when analyzed in different isotope laboratories in spite of the fact that the International Union of Pure and Applied Che
Authors
Sang-Tae Kim, Tyler B. Coplen, Juske Horita