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
Science to support the understanding of Ohio's water resources, 2014-15
Ohio’s water resources support a complex web of human activities and nature—clean and abundant water is needed for drinking, recreation, farming, and industry, as well as for fish and wildlife needs. Although rainfall in normal years can support these activities and needs, occasional floods and droughts can disrupt streamflow, groundwater, water availability, water quality, recreation, and aquatic
Authors
Kimberly Shaffer, Stephanie P. Kula
Stream-water and groundwater quality in and near the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Tribal Jurisdictional Area, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, 2012-13
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation needs to characterize their existing surface-water and groundwater resources in and near their tribal jurisdictional area to complete a water-resource management plan. Water resources in this area include surface water from the North Canadian and Little Rivers and groundwater from the terrace and alluvial aquifers and underlying bedrock aquifers. To assist in this eff
Authors
Carol Becker
Water quality and algal conditions in the North Umpqua River, Oregon, 1995-2007, and their response to Diamond Lake restoration
The Wild and Scenic North Umpqua River is one of the highest-quality waters in the State of Oregon, supporting runs of wild salmon, steelhead, and trout. For many years, blooms of potentially toxic blue-green algae in Diamond and Lemolo Lakes have threatened water quality, fisheries, and public health. The blooms consist primarily of Anabaena, a nitrogen (N)-fixing planktonic alga that appears to
Authors
Kurt D. Carpenter, Chauncey W. Anderson, Mikeal E. Jones
Flood-inundation maps and updated components for a flood-warning system or the City of Marietta, Ohio and selected communities along the Lower Muskingum River and Ohio River
Digital flood-inundation maps for lower reaches of the Muskingum River and a reach of the Ohio River in southeast Ohio were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and the City of Marietta, Ohio. To complete the inundation maps, Ohio River and lower Muskingum River bathymetry was updated and two streamgages, one on the Ohio Riv
Authors
Matthew T. Whitehead, Chad J. Ostheimer
Baseline well inventory and groundwater-quality data from a potential shale gas resource area in parts of Lee and Chatham Counties, North Carolina, October 2011-August 2012
Records were obtained for 305 wells and 1 spring in northwestern Lee and southeastern Chatham counties, North Carolina. Well depths ranged from 26 to 720 feet and yields ranged from 0.25 to 100 gallons per minute. A subset of 56 wells and 1 spring were sampled for baseline groundwaterquality constituents including the following: major ions; dissolved metals; nutrients; dissolved gases (including m
Authors
Melinda J. Chapman, Laura N. Gurley, Sharon A. Fitzgerald
Simulation of the Lower Walker River Basin hydrologic system, west-central Nevada, using PRMS and MODFLOW models
Walker Lake is a terminal lake in west-central Nevada with almost all outflow occurring through evaporation. Diversions from Walker River since the early 1900s have contributed to a substantial reduction in flow entering Walker Lake. As a result, the lake is receding, and salt concentrations have increased to a level in which Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi (Lahontan Cutthroat trout) are no longer p
Authors
Kip K. Allander, Richard G. Niswonger, Anne E. Jeton
An initial abstraction and constant loss model, and methods for estimating unit hydrographs, peak streamflows, and flood volumes for urban basins in Missouri
Streamflow data, basin characteristics, and rainfall data from 39 streamflow-gaging stations for urban areas in and adjacent to Missouri were used by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Metropolitan Sewer District of St. Louis to develop an initial abstraction and constant loss model (a time-distributed basin-loss model) and a gamma unit hydrograph (GUH) for urban areas in Missouri.
Authors
Richard J. Huizinga
Groundwater levels in the Denver Basin bedrock aquifers of Douglas County, Colorado, 2011-2013
More than 70 percent of the municipal water supply in the south Denver metropolitan area is provided by groundwater, and homeowners in rural areas depend solely on self-supplied groundwater for water supply. Increased groundwater withdrawal to meet the demand of the rapidly growing population is causing water levels to decline. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Rural Water Author
Authors
Rhett R. Everett
Selenium in the upper Blackfoot River watershed, southeastern Idaho, 2001-12
The upper Blackfoot River in southeastern Idaho receives runoff from 12 large phosphate mines. Waste shales that are removed to access the phosphate ore are highly enriched with selenium, resulting in elevated selenium in runoff from the mine waste dumps. In 2001, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began monitoring streamflow, selenium, and other w
Authors
Christopher A. Mebane, Greg Mladenka, Lynn Van Every, Marshall L. Williams, Mark A. Hardy, John R. Garbarino
Quality of surface water in Missouri, water year 2013
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2013 water year (October 1, 2012, through September 30, 2013), data were collected at 79 stations—73 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network s
Authors
Miya N. Barr, Rachel E. Schneider
Summary of estimated water use in the United States in 2010
About 355,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn for use in the United States during 2010, a decline of 13 percent from 2005 and a substantial change from the level of about 400,000 Mgal/d reported from 1985 to 2005. Withdrawals for 2010 were lower than withdrawals estimated for 1970. Fresh surface-water withdrawals (230,000 Mgal/d) were almost 15 percent less than in 2005, an
Authors
Nancy L. Barber
Estimated use of water in the United States in 2010
Water use in the United States in 2010 was estimated to be about 355 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d), which was 13 percent less than in 2005. The 2010 estimates put total withdrawals at the lowest level since before 1970. Freshwater withdrawals were 306 Bgal/d, or 86 percent of total withdrawals, and saline-water withdrawals were 48.3 Bgal/d, or 14 percent of total withdrawals. Fresh surface-wate
Authors
Molly A. Maupin, Joan F. Kenny, Susan S. Hutson, John K. Lovelace, Nancy L. Barber, Kristin S. Linsey