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
Diel activity patterns of juvenile late fall-run Chinook salmon with implications for operation of a gated water diversion in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta
In the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California, tidal forces that reverse river flows increase the proportion of water and juvenile late fall-run Chinook salmon diverted into a network of channels that were constructed to support agriculture and human consumption. This area is known as the interior delta, and it has been associated with poor fish survival. Under the rationale that the fish
Authors
John M. Plumb, Noah S. Adams, Russell W. Perry, Christopher Holbrook, Jason G. Romine, Aaron R. Blake, Jon R. Burau
Understanding nutrients in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and implications for management and restoration: The Eastern Shore
The Eastern Shore includes only a small part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but contributes disproportionately large loads of the excess nitrogen and phosphorus that have contributed to ecological and economic degradation of the bay in recent decades. Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and a vital ecological and economic resource. The bay and its tributaries have been deg
Authors
Scott W. Ator, Judith M. Denver
A comparison of methods to predict historical daily streamflow time series in the southeastern United States
Effective and responsible management of water resources relies on a thorough understanding of the quantity and quality of available water. Streamgages cannot be installed at every location where streamflow information is needed. As part of its National Water Census, the U.S. Geological Survey is planning to provide streamflow predictions for ungaged locations. In order to predict streamflow at a u
Authors
William H. Farmer, Stacey A. Archfield, Thomas M. Over, Lauren E. Hay, Jacob H. LaFontaine, Julie E. Kiang
Water-quality trends for selected sites in the Boulder River and Tenmile Creek watersheds, Montana, based on data collected during water years 1997-2013
In the Boulder River and Tenmile Creek watersheds in southwestern Montana, there was intensive mining during a 40-year period after the discovery of gold in the early 1860s. Potential effects from the historic mining activities include acid-mine drainage and elevated concentrations of potentially toxic trace elements from mining remnants such as waste rock and tailing piles. In support of remediat
Authors
Steven K. Sando, Melanie L. Clark, Tom Cleasby, Elliott P. Barnhart
Water-quality characteristics in runoff for three discovery farms in North Dakota, 2008-12
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with North Dakota State University Agriculture Research Extension and in collaboration with North Dakota State Department of Health, North Dakota State Water Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and several agricultural producers, helped organize a Discovery Farms program in North Dakota in 2007. Discharge measurements and water-quality sampl
Authors
Rochelle A. Nustad, Kathleen M. Rowland, Ronald Wiederholt
A multipurpose camera system for monitoring Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i
We describe a low-cost, compact multipurpose camera system designed for field deployment at active volcanoes that can be used either as a webcam (transmitting images back to an observatory in real-time) or as a time-lapse camera system (storing images onto the camera system for periodic retrieval during field visits). The system also has the capability to acquire high-definition video. The camera
Authors
Matthew R. Patrick, Tim R. Orr, Lopaka Lee, Cyril J. Moniz
Mercury in Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis):bioaccumulation and trans-Pacific Ocean migration
Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) have the largest home range of any tuna species and are well known for the capacity to make transoceanic migrations. We report the measurement of mercury (Hg) concentrations in wild Pacific bluefin tuna (PBFT), the first reported with known size-of-fish and capture location. The results indicate juvenile PBFT that are recently arrived in the California Cur
Authors
John A. Colman, Jacob I. Nogueira, Oscar C. Pancorbo, Carol A. Batdorf, Barbara A. Block
Integrated climate and land use change scenarios for California rangeland ecosystem services: wildlife habitat, soil carbon, and water supply
Context
In addition to biodiversity conservation, California rangelands generate multiple ecosystem services including livestock production, drinking and irrigation water, and carbon sequestration. California rangeland ecosystems have experienced substantial conversion to residential land use and more intensive agriculture.
Objectives
To understand the potential impacts to rangeland ecosystem serv
Authors
Kristin B. Byrd, Lorraine E. Flint, Pelayo Alvarez, Frank Casey, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Christopher E. Soulard, Alan L. Flint, Terry L. Sohl
Workgroup for Hydraulic laboratory Testing and Verification of Hydroacoustic Instrumentation
An international workgroup was recently formed for hydraulic laboratory testing and verification of hydroacoustic instrumentation used for water velocity measurements. The activities of the workgroup have included one face to face meeting, conference calls and an inter-laboratory exchange of two acoustic meters among participating laboratories. Good agreement was found among four laboratories at h
Authors
Janice M. Fulford, Brandy N. Armstrong, Kirk G. Thibodeaux
Multiple regression and inverse moments improve the characterization of the spatial scaling behavior of daily streamflows in the Southeast United States
Understanding the spatial structure of daily streamflow is essential for managing freshwater resources, especially in poorly-gaged regions. Spatial scaling assumptions are common in flood frequency prediction (e.g., index-flood method) and the prediction of continuous streamflow at ungaged sites (e.g. drainage-area ratio), with simple scaling by drainage area being the most common assumption. In t
Authors
William H. Farmer, Thomas M. Over, Richard M. Vogel
Life history strategies of fish species and biodiversity in eastern USA streams
Predictive models have been used to determine fish species that occur less frequently than expected (decreasers) and those that occur more frequently than expected (increasers) in streams in the eastern U.S. Coupling life history traits with 51 decreaser and 38 increaser fish species provided the opportunity to examine potential mechanisms associated with predicted changes in fish species distribu
Authors
Michael R. Meador, Larry M. Brown
A new approach for continuous estimation of baseflow using discrete water quality data: Method description and comparison with baseflow estimates from two existing approaches
Understanding how watershed characteristics and climate influence the baseflow component of stream discharge is a topic of interest to both the scientific and water management communities. Therefore, the development of baseflow estimation methods is a topic of active research. Previous studies have demonstrated that graphical hydrograph separation (GHS) and conductivity mass balance (CMB) methods
Authors
Matthew P. Miller, Henry M. Johnson, David D. Susong, David M. Wolock