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
Hydrogeologic characterization of the Yucaipa groundwater subbasin
IntroductionWater management in the Santa Ana River watershed in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties in southern California (fig. A1) is complex with various water purveyors navigating geographic, geologic, hydrologic, and political challenges to provide a reliable water supply to stakeholders. As the population has increased throughout southern California, so has the demand for water. The Yucai
Authors
Geoffrey Cromwell, John A. Engott, Ayman H. Alzraiee, Christina Stamos-Pfeiffer, Gregory Mendez, Meghan C. Dick, Sandra Bond
In situ enhancement and isotopic labeling of biogenic coalbed methane
Subsurface microbial (biogenic) methane production is an important part of the global carbon cycle that has resulted in natural gas accumulations in many coal beds worldwide. Laboratory studies suggest that complex carbon-containing nutrients (e.g., yeast or algae extract) can stimulate methane production, yet the effectiveness of these nutrients within coal beds is unknown. Here, we use downhole
Authors
Elliott Barnhart, Leslie F. Ruppert, Randy Heibert, Heidi J. Smith, Hannah Schweitzer, Arthur Clark, Edwin Weeks, William H. Orem, Matthew S. Varonka, George A. Platt, Jenna L. Shelton, Katherine J Davis, Robert Hyatt, Jennifer C. McIntosh, Kilian Ashley, Shuhei Ono, Anna M. Martini, Keith Hackley, Robin Gerlach, Lee Spangler, Adrienne Phillips, Mark Barry, Alfred B. Cunningham, Matthew W. Fields
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in groundwater used as a source of drinking water in the eastern United States
In 2019, 254 samples were collected from five aquifer systems to evaluate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) occurrence in groundwater used as a source of drinking water in the eastern United States. The samples were analyzed for 24 PFAS, major ions, nutrients, trace elements, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pharmaceuticals, and tritium. Fourteen of the 24
Authors
Peter B. McMahon, Andrea K. Tokranov, Laura M. Bexfield, Bruce D. Lindsey, Tyler D. Johnson, Melissa Lombard, Elise Watson
The Hawai'i groundwater recharge tool
This article discusses the design and implementation of the Hawai’i Groundwater
Recharge Tool, an application for providing data and analyses of the impacts
of land-cover modifications and changes in precipitation on groundwater-recharge
rates for the island of O’ahu. This application uses simulation data based on a set of
29 land-cover types and 2 precipitation conditions to provide users with re
Authors
Jared H. McLean, Sean B. Cleveland, Kolja Rotzoll, Scot K. Izuka, Jason Leigh, Gwen A. Jacobs, Ryan Theriot
The role of hydraulic and geomorphic complexity in predicting invasive carp spawning potential: St. Croix River, Minnesota and Wisconsin, United States
Since they were first introduced to the United States more than 50 years ago, invasive carp have rapidly colonized rivers of the Mississippi River Basin, with detrimental effects on native aquatic species. Their continued range expansion, and potential for subsequent invasion of the Great Lakes, has led to increased concern for the susceptibility of as-yet uncompromised lotic and lentic systems in
Authors
Alan Kasprak, P. Ryan Jackson, Evan M. Lindroth, J. William Lund, Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid
The occurrence of large floods in the United States in the modern hydroclimate regime: Seasonality, trends, and large-scale climate associations
Many studies investigate river floods by analyzing annual maximum series that record the largest flow of each year, including many within-bank events inconsequential for human communities. Fewer focus on larger floods, especially at the continental scale. Using 473 streamgages across the conterminous United States with near-natural flow from 1966 to 2015, we characterized the seasonality, occurren
Authors
Mathias Collins, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Stacey A. Archfield, Robert M. Hirsch
Quantifying streamflow depletion from groundwater pumping: A practical review of past and emerging approaches for water management
Groundwater pumping can cause reductions in streamflow (“streamflow depletion”) that must be quantified for conjunctive management of groundwater and surface water resources. However, streamflow depletion cannot be measured directly and is challenging to estimate because pumping impacts are masked by streamflow variability due to other factors. Here, we conduct a management-focused review of analy
Authors
Samuel Zipper, William H. Farmer, Andrea E. Brookfield, Hoori Ajami, Howard W. Reeves, Chloe Wardropper, John C. Hammond, Tom Gleeson, Jillian M. Deines
Predicting flood damage probability across the conterminous United States
Floods are the leading cause of natural disaster damages in the United States, with billions of dollars incurred every year in the form of government payouts, property damages, and agricultural losses. The Federal Emergency Management Agency oversees the delineation of floodplains to mitigate damages, but disparities exist between locations designated as high risk and where flood damages occur due
Authors
Elyssa Collins, Georgina M. Sanchez, Adam Terando, Charles C. Stillwell, Helena Mitasova, Antonia Sebastian, Ross K. Meentemeyer
Simulation of groundwater and surface-water resources of the San Antonio Creek Valley watershed, Santa Barbara County, California
In the San Antonio Creek Valley watershed (SACVW), western Santa Barbara County, California, groundwater is the primary source of water for agricultural irrigation, the town of Los Alamos, and supplemental water to Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB). Groundwater pumpage has increased since the 1970s as non-irrigated agricultural land has been converted to irrigated land and as local pumping for mu
Authors
Linda R. Woolfenden, John A. Engott, Joshua Larsen, Geoffrey Cromwell
Where groundwater seeps: Evaluating modeled groundwater discharge patterns with thermal infrared surveys at the river-network scale
Predicting baseflow dynamics, protecting aquatic habitat, and managing legacy contaminants requires explicit characterization and prediction of groundwater discharge patterns throughout river networks. Using handheld thermal infrared (TIR) cameras, we surveyed 47 km of stream length across the Farmington River watershed (1,570 km2; CT and MA, USA), mapping locations of bank and waterline groundwat
Authors
Janet R. Barclay, Martin A. Briggs, Eric Moore, J. Jeffrey Starn, Ann E.H. Hanson, Ashley Helton
Hydrogeologic characterization of the San Antonio Creek Valley watershed, Santa Barbara County, California
The San Antonio Creek Valley watershed (SACVW) is located in western Santa Barbara County, about 15 miles south of Santa Maria and 55 miles north of Santa Barbara, California. The SACVW is about 135 square miles and encompasses the San Antonio Creek Valley groundwater basin; the SACVW is separated from adjacent groundwater basins by the Casmalia and Solomon Hills to the north, and the Purisima Hil
Authors
Geoffrey Cromwell, Donald S. Sweetkind, Jill N. Densmore, John A. Engott, Whitney A. Seymour, Joshua Larsen, Christopher P. Ely, Christina L. Stamos, Claudia C. Faunt
Hydrologic and geochemical characterization of the Petaluma River watershed, Sonoma County, California
Executive SummaryThe objectives of the study are to (1) develop an updated assessment of the hydrogeology and geochemistry of the Petaluma valley watershed (PVW) and (2) develop an integrated hydrologic model for the PVW. The purpose of this report is to describe the conceptual model of the hydrologic, hydrogeologic, and water-quality characteristics of the PVW and a numerical groundwater-flow mod
Authors
Jonathan A. Traum, Nicholas F. Teague, Donald S. Sweetkind, Tracy Nishikawa