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
Suspended-sediment trapping in the tidal reach of an estuarine tributary channel
Evidence of decreasing sediment supply to estuaries and coastal oceans worldwide illustrates the need for accurate and updated estimates. In the San Francisco Estuary (Estuary), recent research suggests a decrease in supply from its largest tributaries, implying the increasing role of smaller, local tributaries in sediment supply to this estuary. Common techniques for estimating supply from tribut
Authors
Maureen A. Downing-Kunz, David H. Schoellhamer
The aging of America's reservoirs: In-reservoir and downstream physical changes and habitat implications
Reservoirs are important for various purposes including flood control, water supply, power generation, and recreation. The aging of America's reservoirs and progressive loss of water storage capacity resulting from ongoing sedimentation, coupled with increasing societal needs, will cause the social, economic, environmental, and political importance of reservoirs to continually increase. The short-
Authors
Kyle E. Juracek
Preliminary evaluation of an in vivo fluorometer to quantify algal periphyton biomass and community composition
The bbe-Moldaenke BenthoTorch (BT) is an in vivo fluorometer designed to quantify algal biomass and community composition in benthic environments. The BT quantifies total algal biomass via chlorophyll a (Chl-a) concentration and may differentiate among cyanobacteria, green algae, and diatoms based on pigment fluorescence. To evaluate how BT measurements of periphytic algal biomass (as Chl-a) compa
Authors
Theodore D. Harris, Jennifer L. Graham
Tectonic activity as a significant source of crustal tetrafluoromethane emissions to the atmosphere: observations in groundwaters along the San Andreas Fault
Tetrafluoromethane (CF4) concentrations were measured in 14 groundwater samples from the Cuyama Valley, Mil Potrero and Cuddy Valley aquifers along the Big Bend section of the San Andreas Fault System (SAFS) in California to assess whether tectonic activity in this region is a significant source of crustal CF4 to the atmosphere. Dissolved CF4 concentrations in all groundwater samples but one were
Authors
Daniel A. Deeds, Justin T. Kulongoski, Jens Muhle, Ray F. Weiss
Reducing nitrogen export from the corn belt to the Gulf of Mexico: agricultural strategies for remediating hypoxia
SPAtially Referenced Regression on Watershed models developed for the Upper Midwest were used to help evaluate the nitrogen-load reductions likely to be achieved by a variety of agricultural conservation practices in the Upper Mississippi-Ohio River Basin (UMORB) and to compare these reductions to the 45% nitrogen-load reduction proposed to remediate hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Our result
Authors
Eileen McLellan, Dale M. Robertson, Keith Schilling, Mark Tomer, Jill Kostel, Douglas G. Smith, Kevin King
Magmatic gas emissions at Holocene volcanic features near Mono Lake, California, and their relation to regional magmatism
Silicic lavas have erupted repeatedly in the Mono Basin over the past few thousand years, forming the massive domes and coulees of the Mono Craters chain and the smaller island vents in Mono Lake. We report here on the first systematic study of magmatic CO2 emissions from these features, conducted during 2007–2010. Most notably, a known locus of weak steam venting on the summit of North Coulee is
Authors
D. Bergfeld, William C. Evans, James F. Howle, Andrew G. Hunt
Geochemical conditions and the occurrence of selected trace elements in groundwater basins used for public drinking-water supply, Desert and Basin and Range hydrogeologic provinces, 2006-11: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
The geochemical conditions, occurrence of selected trace elements, and processes controlling the occurrence of selected trace elements in groundwater were investigated in groundwater basins of the Desert and Basin and Range (DBR) hydrogeologic provinces in southeastern California as part of the Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The GA
Authors
Michael T. Wright, Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz
Geomorphology and flood-plain vegetation of the Sprague and lower Sycan Rivers, Klamath Basin, Oregon
This study provides information on channel and flood-plain processes and historical trends to guide effective restoration and monitoring strategies for the Sprague River Basin, a primary tributary (via the lower Williamson River) of Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon. The study area covered the lower, alluvial segments of the Sprague River system, including the lower parts of the Sycan River, North Fork S
Authors
James E. O'Connor, Patricia F. McDowell, Pollyanna Lind, Christine G. Rasmussen, Mackenzie K. Keith
Data Collection and Simulation of Ecological Habitat and Recreational Habitat in the Shenandoah River, Virginia
This report presents updates to methods, describes additional data collected, documents modeling results, and discusses implications from an updated habitat-flow model that can be used to predict ecological habitat for fish and recreational habitat for canoeing on the main stem Shenandoah River in Virginia. Given a 76-percent increase in population predictions for 2040 over 1995 records, increased
Authors
Jennifer L. Krstolic
Chemical constituents in groundwater from multiple zones in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2009-13
From 2009 to 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Project office, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, collected water-quality samples from multiple water-bearing zones in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. Water samples were collected from 11 monitoring wells completed in about 250–750 feet of the upper part of the aquifer, and samples were a
Authors
Roy C. Bartholomay, Candice B. Hopkins, Neil V. Maimer
Assessment of surface water chloride and conductivity trends in areas of unconventional oil and gas development — Why existing national data sets cannot tell us what we would like to know
Heightened concern regarding the potential effects of unconventional oil and gas development on regional water quality has emerged, but the few studies on this topic are limited in geographic scope. Here we evaluate the potential utility of national and publicly available water-quality data sets for addressing questions regarding unconventional oil and gas development. We used existing U.S. Geolog
Authors
Zachary H. Bowen, Gretchen P. Oelsner, Brian S. Cade, Tanya J. Gallegos, Aïda M. Farag, David N. Mott, Christopher J. Potter, Peter J. Cinotto, Melanie L. Clark, William M. Kappel, Timothy M. Kresse, Cynthia P. Melcher, Suzanne S. Paschke, David D. Susong, Brian A. Varela
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Central Energy Resources Science Center, Colorado Water Science Center, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center, New Mexico Water Science Center, New York Water Science Center, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center, Utah Water Science Center, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
Arsenic cycling in hydrocarbon plumes: secondary effects of natural attenuation
Monitored natural attenuation is widely applied as a remediation strategy at hydrocarbon spill sites. Natural attenuation relies on biodegradation of hydrocarbons coupled with reduction of electron acceptors, including solid phase ferric iron (Fe(III)). Because arsenic (As) adsorbs to Fe-hydroxides, a potential secondary effect of natural attenuation of hydrocarbons coupled with Fe(III) reduction
Authors
Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Madeline E. Schreiber, Melinda L. Erickson, Brady A. Ziegler