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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

A conterminous USA-scale map of relative tidal marsh elevation

Tidal wetlands provide myriad ecosystem services across local to global scales. With their uncertain vulnerability or resilience to rising sea levels, there is a need for mapping flooding drivers and vulnerability proxies for these ecosystems at a national scale. However, tidal wetlands in the conterminous USA are diverse with differing elevation gradients, and tidal amplitudes, making broad geogr
Authors
James R. Holmquist, Lisamarie Windham-Myers

Condition of macroinvertebrate communities in the Buffalo River Area of Concern following sediment remediation

The lower 10 km of the Buffalo River, a tributary to Lake Erie, was designated as an Area of Concern (AOC) in 1987 through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement because sediment contamination and habitat alteration from past industrialization caused several Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs). Extensive remediation efforts conducted between 2011 and 2015 removed approximately 688,100 cubic meters
Authors
Scott D. George, Brian T. Duffy, Barry P. Baldigo, Damianos Skaros, Alexander J. Smith

Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island, water year 2019

As part of a long-term cooperative program to monitor water quality within the Scituate Reservoir drainage area, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Providence Water Supply Board collected streamflow and water-quality data at the Scituate Reservoir and tributaries. Streamflow and concentrations of chloride and sodium estimated from records of specific conductance were used to calcul
Authors
Kirk P. Smith

Thermal heterogeneity and cold-water anomalies within the lower Yakima River, Yakima and Benton Counties, Washington

Warm water temperatures in the lower Yakima River in central Washington are key limitations to the restoration of Pacific salmon (Onchorhynchus spp.) populations within the Yakima River Basin. Identification of the location and magnitude of cold-water anomalies, which are cooler than ambient river temperatures during summer months, and the processes that create and maintain them is needed to infor
Authors
Andrew S. Gendaszek, Marcella Appel

Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir drainage area, Rhode Island, water year 2018

As part of a long-term cooperative program to monitor water quality within the Scituate Reservoir drainage area, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Providence Water Supply Board collected streamflow and water-quality data at the Scituate Reservoir and tributaries. Streamflow and concentrations of chloride and sodium estimated from records of specific conductance were used to calcul
Authors
Kirk P. Smith

Testing the potential of streamflow data to predict spring migration of an ungulate herds

In mountainous and high latitude regions, migratory animals exploit green waves of emerging vegetation coinciding with rising daily mean temperatures initiating snowmelt across the landscape. Snowmelt also causes rivers and streams draining these regions to swell, a process referred to as to as the ‘spring pulse.’ Networks of streamgages measuring streamflow in these regions often have long-term a
Authors
Jason S. Alexander, Marissa L. Murr, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller

Enhanced bioremediation of RDX and co-contaminants perchlorate and nitrate using an anaerobic dehalogenating consortium in a fractured rock aquifer

The potential neurotoxic and carcinogenic effects of the explosives compound RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) on human health requires groundwater remediation strategies to meet low cleanup goals. Bioremediation of RDX is feasible through biostimulation of native microbes with an organic carbon donor but may be less efficient, or not occur at all, in the presence of the common co-cont
Authors
Michelle Lorah, Eric Vogler, Fredrick E. Gebhardt, Duane Graves, Jennifer Grabowski

Hydrology of the Yucaipa groundwater subbasin: Characterization and integrated numerical model, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California

Executive SummaryWater management in the Santa Ana River watershed in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties in southern California is a complex task 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 Yuc

Geomorphic responses of fluvial systems to climate change: A habitat perspective

Fluvial systems provide a variety of habitats that support thousands of species including many that are threatened or endangered. Moreover, these habitats, which range from aquatic and riparian to floodplain, are important for the variety of ecosystem services they provide. In addition to water temperature and streamflow change, geomorphic change is important and warrants consideration as one of t
Authors
Kyle E. Juracek, Faith A. Fitzpatrick

A model-independent tool for evolutionary constrained multi-objective optimization under uncertainty

An open-source tool has been developed to facilitate constrained single- and multi-objective optimization under uncertainty (CMOU) analyses. The tool uses the well-known PEST interface protocols to communicate with the underlying forward simulation, making it non-intrusive. The tool contains a built-in parallel run manager to make use of heterogeneous and distributed computing resources. Several p
Authors
Jeremy White, Matthew Knowling, Michael N. Fienen, Adam Siade, Otis Rea, Guillermo Martinez

Geology and hydrogeology of the Yucaipa groundwater subbasin, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California

The Yucaipa groundwater subbasin (referred to in this report as the Yucaipa subbasin) is located about 75 miles (mi) east of of Los Angeles and about 12 mi southeast of the City of San Bernardino. In the Yucaipa subbasin, as in much of southern California, limited annual rainfall and large water demands can strain existing water supplies; therefore, understanding local surface water and groundwate
Authors
Geoffrey Cromwell, Jonathan C. Matti