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
Median nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the New Jersey Highlands Region estimated using regression models and land-surface characteristics
Nitrate-concentration data are used in conjunction with land-use and land-cover data to estimate median nitrate concentrations in groundwater underlying the New Jersey (NJ) Highlands Region. Sources of data on nitrate in 19,670 groundwater samples are from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS) and the NJ Private Well Testing Act (PWTA).
In a study conducted by
Authors
Ronald J. Baker, Mary M. Chepiga, Stephen J. Cauller
Regional regression equations to estimate peak-flow frequency at sites in North Dakota using data through 2009
Annual peak-flow frequency data from 231 U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations in North Dakota and parts of Montana, South Dakota, and Minnesota, with 10 or more years of unregulated peak-flow record, were used to develop regional regression equations for exceedance probabilities of 0.5, 0.20, 0.10, 0.04, 0.02, 0.01, and 0.002 using generalized least-squares techniques. Updated peak-fl
Authors
Tara Williams-Sether
On the use of rhodamine WT for the characterization of stream hydrodynamics and transient storage
Recent advances in fluorometry have led to increased use of rhodamine WT as a tracer in streams and rivers. In light of this increased use, a review of the dye's behavior in freshwater systems is presented. Studies in the groundwater literature indicate that rhodamine WT is transported nonconservatively, with sorption removing substantial amounts of tracer mass. Column studies document a two-step
Authors
Robert L. Runkel
Modeling groundwater nitrate concentrations in private wells in Iowa
Contamination of drinking water by nitrate is a growing problem in many agricultural areas of the country. Ingested nitrate can lead to the endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds, potent carcinogens. We developed a predictive model for nitrate concentrations in private wells in Iowa. Using 34,084 measurements of nitrate in private wells, we trained and tested random forest models to predict l
Authors
David C. Wheeler, Bernard T. Nolan, Abigail R. Flory, Curt T. DellaValle, Mary H. Ward
A water-budget approach to estimating potential groundwater recharge from two domestic sewage disposal fields in eastern Bernalillo County, New Mexico, 2011-12
Eastern Bernalillo County, New Mexico, is a historically rural area that in recent years has experienced an increase in population and in the construction of new housing units, most of which are not connected to a centralized wastewater treatment system. Increasing water use has raised concerns about the effect of development on the available groundwater resources in the area. During 2011–12, the
Authors
Dianna M. Crilley, Jake W. Collison
Mixing effects on nitrogen and oxygen concentrations and the relationship to mean residence time in a hyporheic zone of a riffle-pool sequence
Flow paths and residence times in the hyporheic zone are known to influence biogeochemical processes such as nitrification and denitrification. The exchange across the sediment-water interface may involve mixing of surface water and groundwater through complex hyporheic flow paths that contribute to highly variable biogeochemically active zones. Despite the recognition of these patterns in the lit
Authors
Ramon C. Naranjo, Richard G. Niswonger, Clinton Davis
Multimodel analysis of anisotropic diffusive tracer-gas transport in a deep arid unsaturated zone
Gas transport in the unsaturated zone affects contaminant flux and remediation, interpretation of groundwater travel times from atmospheric tracers, and mass budgets of environmentally important gases. Although unsaturated zone transport of gases is commonly treated as dominated by diffusion, the characteristics of transport in deep layered sediments remain uncertain. In this study, we use a multi
Authors
Christopher T. Green, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Brian J. Andraski, Robert G. Striegl, David A. Stonestrom
Optimizing fish sampling for fish - mercury bioaccumulation factors
Fish Bioaccumulation Factors (BAFs; ratios of mercury (Hg) in fish (Hgfish) and water (Hgwater)) are used to develop Total Maximum Daily Load and water quality criteria for Hg-impaired waters. Both applications require representative Hgfish estimates and, thus, are sensitive to sampling and data-treatment methods. Data collected by fixed protocol from 11 streams in 5 states distributed across the
Authors
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Karen Riva-Murray, Christopher D. Knightes, Celeste A. Journey, Lia C. Chasar, Mark E. Brigham, Paul M. Bradley
Sediment and nutrient trapping as a result of a temporary Mississippi River floodplain restoration: The Morganza Spillway during the 2011 Mississippi River Flood
The 2011 Mississippi River Flood resulted in the opening of the Morganza Spillway for the second time since its construction in 1954 releasing 7.6 km3 of water through agricultural and forested lands in the Morganza Floodway and into the Atchafalaya River Basin. This volume, released over 54 days, represented 5.5% of the Mississippi River (M.R.) discharge and 14% of the total discharge through the
Authors
Daniel Kroes, Edward R. Schenk, Gregory Noe, Adam J. Benthem
Screening tool to evaluate the vulnerability of down-gradient receptors to groundwater contaminants from uncapped landfills
A screening tool for quantifying levels of concern for contaminants detected in monitoring wells on or near landfills to down-gradient receptors (streams, wetlands and residential lots) was developed and evaluated. The tool uses Quick Domenico Multi-scenario (QDM), a spreadsheet implementation of Domenico-based solute transport, to estimate concentrations of contaminants reaching receptors under s
Authors
Ronald J. Baker, Timothy J. Reilly, Anthony R. Lopez, Kristin M. Romanok, Edward W Wengrowski
Sources of high-chloride water and managed aquifer recharge in an alluvial aquifer in California, USA
As a result of pumping in excess of recharge, water levels in alluvial aquifers within the Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Subbasin, 130 km east of San Francisco (California, USA), declined below sea level in the early 1950s and have remained so to the present. Chloride concentrations in some wells increased during that time and exceeded the US Environmental Protection Agency’s secondary maximum c
Authors
David O'Leary, John A. Izbicki, Loren F. Metzger
Reducing fertilizer-nitrogen losses from rowcrop landscapes: Insights and implications from a spatially explicit watershed model
We present conceptual and quantitative models that predict changes in fertilizer-derived nitrogen delivery from rowcrop landscapes caused by agricultural conservation efforts implemented to reduce nutrient inputs and transport and increase nutrient retention in the landscape. To evaluate the relative importance of changes in the sources, transport, and sinks of fertilizer-derived nitrogen across a
Authors
Eileen McLellan, Keith Schilling, Dale M. Robertson