Publications

In response to a directive from Congress to the U.S. Geological Survey to 'prepare a report describing the scope and magnitude of the efforts needed to provide periodic assessments of the status and trends in the availability and use of freshwater resources,' of the United States, a program is proposed to develop and report on indicators of the status and trends in storage volume, flow rates, and

Many rural areas in southeastern Pennsylvania, including the Big Elk Creek Basin, are undergoing a rapid population increase. New development and an expanding population increase consumptive water use, increase surface runoff, and have the potential to reduce ground-water recharge. The Big Elk Creek Basin is between the Delaware and Susquehanna River Basins and drains directly to the Chesapeake Ba

Some fish in the Donna Canal contain PCBs at levels that might pose a risk to human health if the fish are eaten. Early attempts to locate the source of PCBs in the canal were unsuccessful. An innovative method of sampling and analyzing suspended sediment helped scientists detect PCBs in suspended sediment and narrowed the probable PCB source area(s) from the entire 11-kilometer canal to a 600-met

A regression equation that is used nationwide to predict traveltime in streams during periods of low and moderate flow was developed by H.E. Jobson in 1996. Because none of the data used in the development of the equation were from streams in Pennsylvania, velocities for low and moderate flows predicted by the equation were compared to velocities measured during time-of-travel studies on the Susqu

The U.S. Geological Survey conducted an integrated geophysical and hydraulic investigation at the Norden Systems, Inc. site in Norwalk, Connecticut, where chlorinated solvents have contaminated a fractured-rock aquifer. Borehole, borehole-to-borehole, surface-geophysical, and hydraulic methods were used to characterize the site bedrock lithology and structure, fractures, and transmissive zone hydr

Ground water is the sole source of public water supply for Clifton Park, a growing suburban community north of Albany, New York. Increasing water demand, coupled with concerns over ground-water quantity and quality, led the Clifton Park Water Authority in 1995 to initiate a cooperative study with the U.S. Geological Survey to update and refine the understanding of ground-water resources in the are

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected and compiled hydrogeologic and water quality data from September 1998 through September 1999 to describe the hydrogeologic setting and to assess the quality of the water in the artesian aquifer under the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation and the adjacent Tokeland Peninsula area of Pacific County, Washington. Hydrogeologic data include descriptions of 38

Manhasset Neck, a peninsula on the northern shore of Long Island, N.Y., is underlain by unconsolidated deposits that form a sequence of aquifers and confning units. Ground water at several public-supply wells has been affected by the intrusion of saltwater from the surrounding embayments (Manhasset Bay, Long Island Sound, Hempstead Harbor). Twenty-two boreholes were drilled during 1992-96 for the

Historical ice-out dates for 29 lakes in New England were compiled and are presented in this report. The length of record for the lakes ranges from 64 to 163 years, with an average of 108 years. Many lakes in New England had their latest recorded ice-out date in 1888. Ice-out dates for lakes are an important hydrologic data series for climate researchers and other interested parties.

An environmental database was developed to store water-quality data collected during the 1999 U.S. Geological Survey investigation of the occurrence and distribution of dioxins, furans, and PCBs in the riverbed sediment and fish tissue in the Penobscot River in Maine. The database can be used to store a wide range of detailed information and to perform complex queries on the data it contains. The

This report presents the instructions required to use the Scour Critical Bridge Indicator (SCBI) Code and Scour Assessment Rating (SAR) calculator developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the U.S. Geological Survey to identify Pennsylvania bridges with excessive scour conditions or a high potential for scour. Use of the calculator will enable PennDOT bridge personne

Water managers are concerned about the increase of ground-water withdrawals from high-capacity wells completed in the uppermost confined aquifers in southern Wadena County. The hydrogeologic units of primary interest in the study area are the surficial aquifer, the uppermost confining units, and the uppermost confined aquifers. The surficial aquifer underlies all but portions of the eastern, weste