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
Challenges and opportunities in protecting the Obed Wild and Scenic River
No abstract available.
Authors
J. C. Hughes, J. R. Duncan, B. C. Harrold, William J. Wolfe, Rodney R. Knight
Comparison of mineral weathering and biomass nutrient uptake in two small forested watersheds underlain by quartzite bedrock, Catoctin Mountain, Maryland, USA
To quantify chemical weathering and biological uptake, mass-balance calculations were performed on two small forested watersheds located in the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province in north-central Maryland, USA. Both watersheds, Bear Branch (BB) and Fishing Creek Tributary (FCT), are underlain by relatively unreactive quartzite bedrock. Such unreactive bedrock and associated low chemical-weathering
Authors
Karen C. Rice, Jason R. Price
Response to L. Land comment on Bricker, Rice, Bricker (2014) From Headwaters to Coast: Influence of human activities on water quality of the Potomac River Estuary. Aquatic Geochemistry 20: 291-324
Overabundance of nutrients is considered one of the top challenges to most populated coastal water bodies, including Chesapeake Bay (Executive Order 13508). As scientists, one of our responsibilities is to contribute to the discussion and evaluation of management actions that have the potential to decrease pollution with concomitant improvement of water quality. Results of our science should infor
Authors
Suzanne B. Bricker, Karen C. Rice, III Bricker
Fate of nutrients in shallow groundwater receiving treated septage, Malibu, CA
Treated wastewater discharged from more than 400 onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) near the Civic Center area of Malibu, California, 40 km west of downtown Los Angeles, composes 28% of the recharge to a 3.4 km2 alluvial aquifer. On the basis of δ18O and δD data, the fraction of wastewater in some samples was >70%. Ammonium and nitrate concentrations in water from 15 water-table wells samp
Authors
John A. Izbicki
Groundwater conditions in Utah, spring of 2014
This is the fifty-first in a series of annual reports that describe groundwater conditions in Utah. Reports in this series, published cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights, and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality, provide data to enable interested parties to maintain awareness of changi
Authors
Carole B. Burden, Adam S. Birken, Steven J. Gerner, John P. Carricaburu, V. Noah Derrick, Paul Downhour, Lincoln Smith, Robert J. Eacret, Travis L. Gibson, Bradley A. Slaugh, Nickolas R. Whittier, James H. Howells, Howard K. Christiansen, Martel J. Fisher
Collaborative modelling and integrated decision support system analysis of a developed terminal lake basin
A terminal lake basin in west-central Nevada, Walker Lake, has undergone drastic change over the past 90 yrs due to upstream water use for agriculture. Decreased inflows to the lake have resulted in 100 km2 decrease in lake surface area and a total loss of fisheries due to salinization. The ecologic health of Walker Lake is of great concern as the lake is a stopover point on the Pacific route for
Authors
Richard G. Niswonger, Kip K. Allander, Anne E. Jeton
Experimental manipulation of TN:TP ratiossuppress cyanobacterial biovolume and microcystinconcentration in large-scale in situ mesocosms
A global dataset was compiled to examine relations between the total nitrogen to total phosphorus ratio (TN:TP) and microcystin concentration in lakes and reservoirs. Microcystin concentration decreased as TN:TP ratios increased, suggesting that manipulation of the TN:TP ratio may reduce microcystin concentrations. This relationship was experimentally tested by adding ammonium nitrate to increase
Authors
Theodore D. Harris, Frank M. Wilhelm, Jennifer L. Graham, Keith A. Loftin
Estimating the magnitude and frequency of floods for urban and small, rural streams in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina
Reliable estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods are essential for such things as the design of transportation and water-conveyance structures, Flood Insurance Studies, and flood-plain management. The flood-frequency estimates are particularly important in densely populated urban areas. A multistate approach was used to update methods for determining the magnitude and frequency of flood
Authors
Toby D. Feaster, Anthony J. Gotvald, J. Curtis Weaver
A new method of snowmelt sampling for water stable isotopes
We modified a passive capillary sampler (PCS) to collect snowmelt water for isotopic analysis. Past applications of PCSs have been to sample soil water, but the novel aspect of this study was the placement of the PCSs at the ground-snowpack interface to collect snowmelt. We deployed arrays of PCSs at 11 sites in ten partner countries on five continents representing a range of climate and snow cove
Authors
D. Penna, M. Ahmad, S. J. Birks, L. Bouchaou, M. Brencic, S. Butt, L. Holko, G. Jeelani, D. E. Martinez, G. Melikadze, J. B. Shanley, S. A. Sokratov, T. Stadnyk, A. Sugimoto, P. Vreca
Ancient fish and recent invaders: white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus diet response to invasive-species-mediated changes in a benthic prey assemblage
Invasive organisms can have significant impacts on native species, and the San Francisco Estuary (SFE), California, USA, is one of the world's most invaded estuaries. Decline of native white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus abundance in the SFE has been acknowledged, but underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Invasion by the overbite clam Potamocorbula amurensis has drastically altered the S
Authors
Steven C Zeug, Annie Brodsky, Nina Kogut, A. Robin Stewart, Joe Merz
Experimental additions of aluminum sulfate and ammonium nitrate to in situ mesocosms to reduce cyanobacterial biovolume and microcystin concentration
Recent studies suggest that nitrogen additions to increase the total nitrogen:total phosphorus (TN:TP) ratio may reduce cyanobacterial biovolume and microcystin concentration in reservoirs. In systems where TP is >100 μg/L, however, nitrogen additions to increase the TN:TP ratio could cause ammonia, nitrate, or nitrite toxicity to terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Reducing phosphorus via aluminum
Authors
Ted D. Harris, Frank M. Wilhelm, Jennifer L. Graham, Keith A. Loftin
Metal stable isotopes in weathering and hydrology
This chapter highlights some of the major developments in the understanding of the causes of metal stable isotope compositional variability in and isotope fractionation between natural materials and provides numerous examples of how that understanding is providing new insights into weathering and hydrology. At this stage, our knowledge of causes of stable isotope compositional variability among na
Authors
Thomas D. Bullen