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: 18422
Integrated hydrologic model development and postprocessing for GSFLOW using pyGSFLOW
pyGSFLOW is a python package designed to create new GSFLOW integrated hydrologic models, read existing models, edit model input data, run GSFLOW models, process output, and visualize model data.
Authors
Joshua Larsen, Ayman H. Alzraiee, Richard G. Niswonger
Methanogenic archaea in subsurface coal seams are biogeographically distinct: An analysis of metagenomically-derived mcrA sequences
The production of methane as an end-product of organic matter degradation in the absence of other terminal electron acceptors is common, and has often been studied in environments such as animal guts, soils, and wetlands due to its potency as a greenhouse gas. To date however, the study of the biogeographic distribution of methanogens across coal seam environments has been minimal. Here, we show t
Authors
Bronwyn C Campbell, Paul Greenfield, Se Gong, Elliott Barnhart, David J. Midgley, Ian T. Paulsen, Simon C. George
Extreme rainstorms drive exceptional organic carbon export from forested humid-tropical rivers in Puerto Rico
Extreme rainfall events in the humid-tropical Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico export the bulk of suspended sediment and particulate organic carbon. Using 25 years of river carbon and suspended sediment data, which targeted hurricanes and other large rainstorms, we estimated biogenic particulate organic carbon yields of 65 ± 16 tC km−2 yr−1 for the Icacos and 17.7 ± 5.1 tC km−2 yr−1 for the Mameyes
Authors
Kasey E. Clark, Robert Stallard, Sheila F. Murphy, Martha A. Scholl, Grizelle González, Alain F. Plante, William H. McDowell
Development of continuous bathymetry and two-dimensional hydraulic models for the Willamette River, Oregon
The Willamette River is home to at least 69 species of fish, 33 of which are native, including Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). These fish need suitable hydraulic conditions, such as water depth and velocity, to fulfill various stages of their life. Hydraulic conditions are driven by interactions between channel morphology and streamflow, which through
Authors
James S. White, J. Rose Wallick
Introduction to the Delta Smelt flow alteration white papers
The management of the quantity and timing of freshwater flow into and through the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) is a perennial source of controversy in California. It is well known that freshwater outflow is a major environmental driver in estuarine ecosystems, including the SFE. However, the estuary is also the hub of California’s water distribution system, which supplies water to over 25 million C
Authors
Larry R. Brown
Dynamic abiotic habitat
The factors affecting an organism can be divided into two general classes, abiotic and biotic. Abiotic factors include features of the physical and chemical environment, such as climate, water movement, and many aspects of water quality. Biotic factors refer to those involving living organisms and their interactions, such as the organisms and processes in a food web. We also distinguish between dy
Authors
Larry R. Brown, Steven B. Slater, Michael L. MacWilliams
Conceptual models of groundwater flow in the Grand Canyon region, Arizona
The conceptual models of groundwater flow outlined herein synthesize what is known and hypothesized about the groundwater-flow systems that discharge to the Grand Canyon of Arizona. These models interpret the hydrogeologic characteristics and hydrologic dynamics of the physical systems into a framework for understanding key aspects of the physical systems as they relate to groundwater flow and con
Authors
Jacob E. Knight, Peter W. Huntoon
Using microbial source tracking to identify fecal contamination sources in Lake Montauk on Long Island, New York
The U.S. Geological Survey worked in cooperation with the Concerned Citizens of Montauk and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to assess the potential sources of fecal contamination entering Lake Montauk, an artificial embayment on the tip of the southern fork of Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. Water samples are routinely collected by the New York State Department o
Authors
Tristen N. Tagliaferri, Shawn C. Fisher, Christopher M. Kephart, Natalie Cheung, Ariel P. Reed, Robert J. Welk
Ecological consequences of neonicotinoid mixtures in streams
Neonicotinoid mixtures are common in streams worldwide, but corresponding ecological responses are poorly understood. We combined experimental and observational studies to narrow this knowledge gap. The mesocosm experiment determined that concentrations of the neonicotinoids imidacloprid and clothianidin (range of exposures, 0 to 11.9 μg/liter) above the hazard concentration for 5% of species (0.0
Authors
Travis S. Schmidt, Janet L. Miller, Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre, Lisa H. Nowell, Mark W. Sandstrom, Daren Carlisle, Patrick W. Moran, Paul M. Bradley
Surface-water-quality data to support implementation of revised freshwater aluminum water-quality criteria in Massachusetts, 2018–19
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, performed a study to inform the development of the department’s guidelines for the collection and use of water-chemistry data to support calculation of site-dependent aluminum criteria values. The U.S. Geological Survey collected and analyzed discrete water-quality samples at four wastewater-t
Authors
David S. Armstrong, Jennifer G. Savoie, Leslie A. DeSimone, Kaitlin L. Laabs, Richard O. Carey
Lack of evidence for indirect effects from stonefly predators on primary production under future climate warming scenarios
Consumptive and non-consumptive interactions of predators and prey can have strong direct and indirect effects on primary producers, such as stream algae. Increasing water temperatures may alter these interactions and thus influence productivity in streams. For each of 3 temperature treatments (‘ambient’, +2°C and +4°C), we measured the amount of algal biomass removed by grazing mayflies from 91 m
Authors
Scott G. Morton, Travis S. Schmidt, N. LeRoy Poff
Groundwater resources of the Harney Basin, southeastern Oregon
Groundwater development has increased substantially in southeastern Oregon’s Harney Basin since 2010, mainly for the purpose of large-scale irrigation. Concurrently, some areas of the basin experienced groundwater-level declines of more than 100 feet, and some shallow wells have gone dry. The Oregon Water Resources Department has limited new groundwater development in the basin until an improved u
Authors
Stephen B. Gingerich, Henry M. Johnson, Darrick E. Boschmann, Gerald H. Grondin, C. Amanda Garcia