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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: 18470

Numerical Simulation of Ground-Water Withdrawals in the Southern Lihue Basin, Kauai, Hawaii

Numerical simulations indicate that ground-water withdrawals from the Hanamaulu and Puhi areas of the southern Lihue Basin will result in a decline in water levels and reductions in base flows of streams near proposed new water-supply wells. Most of the changes will be attained within 10 to 20 years of the start of pumping. Except for areas such as Puhi and Kilohana, the freshwater lens in most in
Authors
Scot K. Izuka, Delwyn S. Oki

Ecological effects on streams from forest fertilization: Literature review and conceptual framework for future study in the western Cascades

Fertilization of forests with urea-nitrogen has been studied numerous times for its effects on water quality. Stream nitrogen concentrations following fertilization are typically elevated during winter, including peaks in the tens-of-thousands of parts per billion range, with summer concentrations often returning to background or near-background levels. Despite these increases, water-quality crite
Authors
Chauncey W. Anderson

Chemistry of selected high-elevation lakes in seven national parks in the western United States

A chemical survey of 69 high-altitude lakes in seven national parks in the western United States was conducted during the fallof 1999; the lakes were previously sampled during the fall of 1985, as part of the Western Lake Survey. Lakes in parks in the Sierra/southern Cascades (Lassen Volcanic, Yosemite, Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks) and in the southern RockyMountains (Rocky Mountain Nationa
Authors
David W. Clow, Robert G. Striegl, Leora Nanus, M. Alisa Mast, Donald H. Campbell, David P. Krabbenhoft

Use of natural 35S to trace sulphate cycling in small lakes, Flattops Wilderness Area, Colorado, U.S.A.

Measurements of the cosmogenically-produced 35S, a radioisotope of sulphur (t1/2 = 87 days), are reported for the Ned Wilson Lake watershed in Colorado. The watershed contains two small lakes and a flowing spring presumed to be representative of local ground water. The watershed is located in the Flattops Wilderness Area and the waters in the system have low alkalinity, making them sensitive to in
Authors
Robert L. Michel, John T. Turk, Donald H. Campbell, M. Alisa Mast

Cautions and suggestions for geochemical sampling in fractured rock

Collecting water samples for geochemical analyses in open bedrock boreholes or in discrete intervals of boreholes intersected by multiple fractures is likely to yield ambiguous results for ground water chemistry because of the variability in the transmissivity, storativity, and hydraulic head of fractures intersecting the borehole. Interpreting chemical analyses of water samples collected in bedro
Authors
Allen M. Shapiro

U.S. drinking water challenges in the twenty-first century

The access of almost all 270 million U.S. residents to reliable, safe drinking water distinguishes the United States in the twentieth century from that of the nineteenth century. The United States is a relatively water-abundant country with moderate population growth; nonetheless, current trends are sufficient to strain water resources over time, especially on a regional basis. We have examined th
Authors
Ronnie B. Levin, Paul R. Epstein, Tim E. Ford, Winston Harrington, Erik R. Olson, Eric G. Reichard

Conceptual hydrogeologic framework of the shallow aquifer system at Virginia Beach, Virginia

The hydrogeologic framework of the shallow aquifer system at Virginia Beach was revised to provide a better understanding of the distribution of fresh ground water, its potential use, and its susceptibility to contamination. The revised conceptual framework is based primarily on analyses of continuous cores and downhole geophysical logs collected at 7 sites to depths of approximately 200 ft.The sh
Authors
Barry S. Smith, George E. Harlow

Exposure of delta smelt to dissolved pesticides in 2000

Delta smelt abundance in San Francisco Estuary has been declining since 1983. The exposure of delta smelt to toxic pesticides during larval and juvenile life stages may be one possible factor of this decline (Bennett and Moyle 1996; Moyle and others 1996). Although pesticides have been detected in the Delta (MacCoy and others 1995; Kuivila and others 1999), minimal data on pesticide concentrations
Authors
Kathryn Kuivila, G. Edward Moon

Stormflow-hydrograph separation based on isotopes: the thrill is gone--what's next?

Beginning in the 1970s, the promise of a new method for separatingstormflow hydrographs using18O,2H, and3Hprovedanirresistibletemptation, and was a vast improvement over graphical separationand solute tracer methods that were prevalent at the time. Eventu-ally, hydrologists realized that this new method entailed a plethoraof assumptions about temporal and spatial homogeneity of isotopiccomposition
Authors
Douglas A. Burns

Plasticity in vertical migration by native and exotic estuarine fishes in a dynamic low‐salinity zone

We investigated the degree of flexibility in retention strategies of young fishes in the low‐salinity zone (LSZ) of the San Francisco Estuary during years of highly variable river flow. We conducted depth‐stratified sampling over three full tidal cycles in each year from 1994 to 1996. In 1994, exotic striped bass (Morone saxatilis), native longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys), and exotic yellow
Authors
William A. Bennett, Wim J. Kimmerer, Jon R. Burau

The occurrence of Mesenchytraeus (Enchytraeidae: Oligochaeta) in riffle habitats of north-west American rivers, with description of a new species

Mesenchytraeus species are widespread and often abundant in rivers of northwest USA where they are associated with cobble-gravel beds in fast-running water and particularly with riffle habitats. Mesenchyraeus rhithralis n. sp. was the most frequent and was often the dominant macroinvertebrate. The species is characterized by the presence of primary septal glands at 3/4–5/6, short, stout vasa defer
Authors
Brenda Healy, Steven V. Fend
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