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
Statistics for stochastic modeling of volume reduction, hydrograph extension, and water-quality treatment by structural stormwater runoff best management practices (BMPs)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to indicate the risk for stormwater concentrations, flows, and loads to be above user-selected water-quality goals and the potential effectiveness of mitigation measures to reduce such risks. SELDM models the potential effect of mitig
Authors
Gregory E. Granato
Fathead minnow and bluegill sunfish life-stage responses to 17β-estradiol exposure in outdoor mesocosms
Developmental and reproductive effects of 17β-estradiol (E2) exposure on two generations of fathead minnows and one generation of bluegill sunfish were assessed. Fish were exposed to E2 for six continuous weeks in outdoor mesocosms simulating natural lake environments. First generation fish were exposed while sexually mature. Second generation fathead minnows were exposed either during early devel
Authors
Sarah M. Elliott, Richard L. Kiesling, Zachary G. Jorgenson, Daniel C. Rearick, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Kim T. Fredricks, Mark P. Gaikowski
Viruses as groundwater tracers: using ecohydrology to characterize short travel times in aquifers
Viruses are attractive tracers of short (
Authors
Randall J. Hunt, Mark A. Borchardt, Kenneth R. Bradbury
Simulation of groundwater flow and interaction of groundwater and surface water on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, Wisconsin
The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Indian Health Service are interested in improving the understanding of groundwater flow and groundwater/surface-water interaction on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation (Reservation) in southwest Vilas County and southeast Iron County, Wisconsin, with particular interest in an understanding of the potential for contamination of groundwater supply
Authors
Paul F. Juckem, Michael N. Fienen, Randall J. Hunt
Groundwater availability in the Crouch Branch and McQueen Branch aquifers, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, 1900-2012
Chesterfield County is located in the northeastern part of South Carolina along the southern border of North Carolina and is primarily underlain by unconsolidated sediments of Late Cretaceous age and younger of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Approximately 20 percent of Chesterfield County is in the Piedmont Physiographic Province, and this area of the county is not included in this study. These Atlan
Authors
Bruce G. Campbell, James Landmeyer
Groundwater-quality data in seven GAMA study units: results from initial sampling, 2004-2005, and resampling, 2007-2008, of wells: California GAMA Program Priority Basin Project
The Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program was developed in response to the Groundwater Quality Monitoring Act of 2001 and is being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). The GAMA-PBP began sampling, primarily public supply wells in May 2004. By the end
Authors
Robert H. Kent, Kenneth Belitz, Miranda S. Fram
Mercury in the soil of two contrasting watersheds in the eastern United States
Soil represents the largest store of mercury (Hg) in terrestrial ecosystems, and further study of the factors associated with soil Hg storage is needed to address concerns about the magnitude and persistence of global environmental Hg bioaccumulation. To address this need, we compared total Hg and methyl Hg concentrations and stores in the soil of different landscapes in two watersheds in differen
Authors
Douglas A. Burns, Laurel G. Woodruff, Paul M. Bradley, William F. Cannon
Linking aquifer spatial properties and non-Fickian transport in mobile-immobile like alluvial settings
Time-nonlocal transport models can describe non-Fickian diffusion observed in geological media, but the physical meaning of parameters can be ambiguous, and most applications are limited to curve-fitting. This study explores methods for predicting the parameters of a temporally tempered Lévy motion (TTLM) model for transient sub-diffusion in mobile–immobile like alluvial settings represented by hi
Authors
Yong Zhang, Christopher T. Green, Boris Baeumer
Decadal surface water quality trends under variable climate, land use, and hydrogeochemical setting in Iowa, USA
Understanding how nitrogen fluxes respond to changes in agriculture and climate is important for improving water quality. In the midwestern United States, expansion of corn cropping for ethanol production led to increasing N application rates in the 2000s during a period of extreme variability of annual precipitation. To examine the effects of these changes, surface water quality was analyzed in 1
Authors
Christopher T. Green, Barbara A. Bekins, Stephen J. Kalkhoff, Robert M. Hirsch, Lixia Liao, Kimberlee K. Barnes
Delineation of brine contamination in and near the East Poplar oil field, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, northeastern Montana, 2004-09
The extent of brine contamination in the shallow aquifers in and near the East Poplar oil field is as much as 17.9 square miles and appears to be present throughout the entire saturated zone in contaminated areas. The brine contamination affects 15–37 billion gallons of groundwater. Brine contamination in the shallow aquifers east of the Poplar River generally moves to the southwest toward the riv
Authors
Joanna N. Thamke, Bruce D. Smith
Featured collection introduction: contaminants of emerging concern II
This collection of 13 articles focuses on CECs, and each of the articles highlights a specific aspect of this broad topic. The articles were solicited from researchers who participated in the second summer specialty conference on this topic, organized by the American Water Resources Association. The title of the conference was “CECs in Water Resources II: Research, Engineering and Community Action
Authors
William A. Battaglin, Alan Kolok
Stream macroinvertebrate response models for bioassessment metrics: addressing the issue of spatial scale
We developed independent predictive disturbance models for a full regional data set and four individual ecoregions (Full Region vs. Individual Ecoregion models) to evaluate effects of spatial scale on the assessment of human landscape modification, on predicted response of stream biota, and the effect of other possible confounding factors, such as watershed size and elevation, on model performance
Authors
Ian R. White, Jonathan Kennen, Jason T. May, Larry R. Brown, Thomas F. Cuffney, Kimberly A. Jones, James L. Orlando