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: 18470
Water quality and sources of fecal coliform bacteria in the Meduxnekeag River, Houlton, Maine
In response to bacterial contamination in the Meduxnekeag River and the desire to manage the watershed to reduce contaminant sources, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians (HBMI) and the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative effort to establish a baseline of water-quality data that can be used in future studies and to indicate potential sources of nutrient and bacterial contamination. This stu
Authors
Charles W. Culbertson, Thomas G. Huntington, Donald M. Stoeckel, James M. Caldwell, Cara O'Donnell
Utilizing dimensional analysis with observed data to determine the significance of hydrodynamic solutions in coastal hydrology
In this paper, the authors present an analysis of the magnitude of the temporal and spatial acceleration (inertial) terms in the surface-water flow equations and determine the conditions under which these inertial terms have sufficient magnitude to be required in the computations. Data from two South Florida field sites are examined and the relative magnitudes of temporal acceleration, spatial acc
Authors
Eric D. Swain, Jeremy D. Decker, Joseph D. Hughes
Assessment of the quality of groundwater and the Little Wind River in the area of a former uranium processing facility on the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, 1987 through 2010
In 2010, the U.S Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Wind River Environmental Quality Commission (WREQC), began an assessment of the effectiveness of the existing monitoring network at the Riverton, Wyoming, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) site. The USGS used existing data supplied by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The study was to determine (1) seasonal variation
Authors
Anthony J. Ranalli, David L. Naftz
Sediment characteristics in the San Antonio River Basin downstream from San Antonio, Texas, and at a site on the Guadalupe River downstream from the San Antonio River Basin, 1966-2013
San Antonio and surrounding municipalities in Bexar County, Texas, are in a rapidly urbanizing region in the San Antonio River Basin. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio River Authority and the Texas Water Development Board, compiled historical sediment data collected between 1996 and 2004 and collected suspended-sediment and bedload samples over a range of hydrologic c
Authors
Cassi L. Crow, J. Ryan Banta, Stephen P. Opsahl
Field-scale sulfur hexafluoride tracer experiment to understand long distance gas transport in the deep unsaturated zone
A gas-tracer test in a deep arid unsaturated zone demonstrates that standard estimates of effective diffusivity from sediment properties allow a reasonable first-cut assessment of gas contaminant transport. Apparent anomalies in historic transport behavior at this and other waste disposal sites may result from factors other than nonreactive gas transport properties.
A natural gradient SF6 tracer e
Authors
Michelle Ann Walvoord, Brian J. Andraski, Christopher T. Green, David A. Stonestrom, Robert G. Striegl
Estimating suspended sediment in rivers using acoustic Doppler meters
Key Points
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2009) estimates that excessive sediment is the leading cause of water-quality impairment in water bodies in the United States. The cost of damages attributable to sediment is high, estimated at more than $20 billion annually (Osterkamp and others, 2004).
- Sediment monitoring is essential to informed solutions to sediment-related issues. How
Authors
Molly S. Wood
Simulation-optimization aids in resolving water conflict: Temecula Basin, Southern California
The productive agricultural areas of Pajaro Valley, California have exclusively relied on ground water from coastal aquifers in central Monterey Bay. As part of the Basin Management Plan (BMP), the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PVWMA) is developing additional local supplies to replace coastal pumpage, which is causing seawater intrusion. The BMP includes an aquifer storage and recovery (A
Authors
Randall T. Hanson, Claudia C. Faunt, Wolfgang Schmid, Jonathan Lear
Effect of light on biodegradation of Estrone, 17β-estradiol, and 17α-ethinylestradiol in stream sediment
Biodegradation of [A-ring 14C] Estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) to 14CO2 was investigated under light and dark conditions in microcosms containing epilithon or sediment collected from Boulder Creek, Colorado. Mineralization of the estrogen A-ring was observed in all sediment treatments, but not epilithon treatments. No difference in net mineralization between light
Authors
Paul M. Bradley, Jeffrey H. Writer
Assessment of endocrine-disrupting chemicals attenuation in a coastal plain stream prior to wastewater treatment plant closure
The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting a combined pre/post-closure assessment at a long-term wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) site at Fort Gordon near Augusta, Georgia. Here, we assess select endocrine-active chemicals and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure prior to closure of the WWTP. Substantial downstream transport and limited instream attenuation of endocrine-disrupting chemical
Authors
Paul M. Bradley, Celeste A. Journey
Status of groundwater quality in the Borrego Valley, Central Desert, and Low-Use Basins of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts study unit, 2008-2010: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Groundwater quality in the approximately 963-square-mile Borrego Valley, Central Desert, and Low-Use Basins of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts study unit was investigated as part of the Priority Basin Project of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The study unit is located in southern California in San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial Counties. The GAMA P
Authors
Mary C. Parsons, Tracy Connell Hancock, Justin T. Kulongoski, Kenneth Belitz
Groundwater quality in the Borrego Valley, Central Desert, and Low-Use Basins of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, California
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s untreated groundwater quality and increases public access to groundwater-quality information. Sele
Authors
Mary C. Parsons, Kenneth Belitz
Integrated synoptic surveys of the hydrodynamics and water-quality distributions in two Lake Michigan rivermouth mixing zones using an autonomous underwater vehicle and a manned boat
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Monitoring Network for U.S. Coastal Waters and Tributaries, launched a pilot project in 2010 to determine the value of integrated synoptic surveys of rivermouths using autonomous underwater vehicle technology in response to a call for rivermouth research, which includes study domains that envelop both the fluvial and lacustrine bo
Authors
P. Ryan Jackson, Paul C. Reneau