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
Velocity bias induced by flow patterns around ADCPs and associated deployment platforms
Velocity measurements near the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) are important for mapping surface currents, measuring velocity and discharge in shallow streams, and providing accurate estimates of discharge in the top unmeasured portion of the water column. Improvements to ADCP performance permit measurement of velocities much closer (5 cm) to the transducer than has been possible in the p
Authors
David S. Mueller
Changes in total phosphorus concentration in the Red River of the North Basin, 1970-2012
The Red River of the North drains much of eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota and flows north into Manitoba, Canada, ultimately into Lake Winnipeg; therefore, water quality is an International concern. With increased runoff in the past few decades, phosphorus flux (the amount of phosphorus transported by the river) has increased. This is a concern, especially with respect to Lake Winni
Authors
Karen R. Ryberg, F. Adnan Akyüz, Wei Lin
Decision support system for optimally managing water resources to meet multiple objectives in the Savannah River Basin
Managers of large river basins face conflicting demands for water resources such as wildlife habitat, water supply, wastewater assimilative capacity, flood control, hydroelectricity, and recreation. The Savannah River Basin, for example, has experienced three major droughts since 2000 that resulted in record low water levels in its reservoirs, impacting dependent economies for years. The Savannah
Authors
Edwin A. Roehl, Paul Conrads
Measuring storm tide and high-water marks caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York: Chapter 2
In response to Hurricane Sandy, personnel from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary network of storm-tide sensors from Virginia to Maine. During the storm, real-time water levels were available from tide gages and rapid-deployment gages (RDGs). After the storm, USGS scientists retrieved the storm-tide sensors and RDGs and surveyed high-water marks. These data demonstrate that the
Authors
Amy E. Simonson, Riley Behrens
Geomicrobial interactions with arsenic and antimony
Although arsenic and antimony are generally toxic to life, some microorganisms exist that can metabolize certain forms of these elements. Some can use arsenite or stibnite as potential or sole energy sources, whereas others can use aresenate and antimonite (as was discovered only recently) as terminal electron acceptors. Still other microbes can metabolize arsenic and antimony compounds to detoxif
Authors
Ronald S. Oremland
Suspended-sediment transport and storage: A demonstration of acoustic methods in the evaluation of reservoir management strategies for a small water-supply reservoir in western Colorado
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and local stakeholder groups are evaluating reservoir-management strategies within Paonia Reservoir. This small reservoir fills to capacity each spring and requires approximately half of the snowmelt-runoff volume from its sediment-laden source waters, Muddy Creek. The U.S. Geological Survey is currently conducting high-resolution (15-minute data-recording int
Authors
Cory A. Williams, Rodney J. Richards, Kent L. Collins
Nutrient attenuation in rivers and streams, Puget Sound Basin, Washington
Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are important for aquatic ecosystem health. Excessive amounts of nutrients, however, can make aquatic ecosystems harmful for biota because enhanced growth and decay cycles of aquatic algae can reduce dissolved oxygen in the water. In Puget Sound marine waters, low dissolved oxygen concentrations are observed in a number of marine nearshore areas, and nutri
Authors
Rich W. Sheibley, Christopher P. Konrad, Robert W. Black
Total dissolved gas and water temperature in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, water year 2014
Significant Findings
An analysis of total-dissolved-gas (TDG) and water-temperature data collected at eight fixed monitoring stations on the lower Columbia River in Oregon and Washington in water year 2014 indicated the following:
All 81 TDG sensor laboratory checks that were performed after field deployment were within plus or minus (±) 0.5-percent saturation of a primary standard.
After 3-4 wee
Authors
Heather M. Bragg, Matthew W. Johnston
Regional scale estimates of baseflow and factors influencing baseflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Study region
The study region encompasses the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), which provides water for 40 million people and is a vital part of the water supply in the western U.S.
Study focus
Groundwater and surface water can be considered a single water resource and thus it is important to understand groundwater contributions to streamflow, or baseflow, within a region. Previously, quantific
Authors
Christine Rumsey, Matthew P. Miller, David D. Susong, Fred D. Tillman, David W. Anning
Geologic and geomorphic controls on the occurrence of fens in the Oregon Cascades and implications for vulnerability and conservation
Montane fens are biologically diverse peat-forming wetlands that develop at points of groundwater discharge. To protect these ecosystems, it is critical to understand their locations on the landscape and the hydrogeologic systems that support them. The upper Deschutes Basin has a groundwater flow system that supports baseflow in many rivers, but little is known about the wetland types and groundwa
Authors
A. Aldous, Marshall W. Gannett, Mackenzie K. Keith, James E. O'Connor
Seismic data collection from water gun and industrial background sources in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal area, Illinois, 2011
The water gun is a tool adapted from deep marine geophysical surveys that is being evaluated for use as an acoustic fish deterrent to control the movement of invasive marine species. The water gun creates a seismic signal by using a compressed air discharge to move a piston rapidly within the water, resulting in an implosion. This energy pulse may be able to modify fish behavior or destroy marine
Authors
William S. Morrow, Phillip J. Carpenter, Ryan F. Adams
Physical characteristics and fish assemblage composition at site and mesohabitat scales over a range of streamflows in the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico, winter 2011-12, summer 2012
In winter 2011–12 and summer 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service New Mexico Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, evaluated the physical characteristics and fish assemblage composition of available mesohabitats over a range of streamflows at 15 sites on
Authors
Christopher L. Braun, Daniel K. Pearson, Michael D. Porter, J. Bruce Moring