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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

Occurrence and load of selected herbicides and metabolites in the lower Mississippi River

Analyses of water samples collected from the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during 1991–1997 indicate that hundreds of metric tons of herbicides and herbicide metabolites are being discharged annually to the Gulf of Mexico. Atrazine, metolachlor, and the ethane-sulfonic acid metabolite of alachlor (alachlor ESA) were the most frequently detected herbicides and, in general, were prese
Authors
Gregory M. Clark, Donald A. Goolsby

Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory-Determination of whole-water recoverable arsenic, boron, and vanadium using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

Analysis of in-bottle digestate by using the inductively coupled plasma?mass spectrometric (ICP?MS) method has been expanded to include arsenic, boron, and vanadium. Whole-water samples are digested by using either the hydrochloric acid in-bottle digestion procedure or the nitric acid in-bottle digestion procedure. When the hydrochloric acid in-bottle digestion procedure is used, chloride
Authors
John R. Garbarino

The Amazon reveals its secrets--partly

The role of the tropics in global climate change during glacial cycles is hotly debated in paleoclimate cycles today. Records from South America have not provided a clear picture of tropical climate change. In his Perspective, Betancourt highlights the study by Maslin and Burns, who have deduced the outflow of the Amazon over the past 14,000 years. This may serve as a proxy that integrates hydrolo
Authors
Julio L. Betancourt

Public water-supply use in Kansas, 1987–97

Annual State reporting requirements yield data on public water-supply use in Kansas. data is essential for responsible and effective use of the information by various State agencies. This fact sheet describes water-use data evaluation, illustrates variations in public-supply water use from 1987 through 1997, and documents improvements in water conservation efforts among Kansas public water supplie
Authors
Joan F. Kenny

Trends in surface-water quality during implementation of best-management practices in Mill Creek and Muddy Run Basins, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Analyses of water samples collected over a 5-year period (1993-98) in the Mill Creek and Muddy Run Basins during implementation of agricultural best-management practices (BMP’s) indicate statistically significant trends in the concentrations of several nutrient species and in nonfilterable residue (suspended solids). The strongest trends identified were those indicated by a more than 50- percent d
Authors
Edward H. Koerkle

Using OTIS to model solute transport in streams and rivers

Solute transport in streams and rivers is governed by a suite of hydrologic and geochemical processes. Knowledge of these processes is needed when assessing the fate of contaminants that are released into surface waters. The study of solute fate and transport often is aided by solute transport models that mathematically describe the underlying processes. This fact sheet describes a model that cons
Authors
Robert L. Runkel

Analysis of 20th century rainfall and streamflow to characterize drought and water resources in Puerto Rico

During the period from 1990 to 1997, annual rainfall accumulation averaged 87% of normal at the 12 stations with the longest period of record in Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island with a 1999 population of 3.8 million. Streamflow in rivers supplying the La Plata and Loíza reservoirs, the principal water supply of the San Juan metropolitan area, was at or below the 10th flow percentile for 27% to 50%
Authors
Matthew C. Larsen

Primary food resources in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a complex mosaic of tidal freshwater habitats, is now a focus of ecosystem rehabilitation because of changes in critical functions associated with its geographic location at the landestuary interface. One of these functions is the production, transport, and transformation of organic matter that constitutes the “primary food supply,” that is, the food supply
Authors
Alan D. Jassby, James E. Cloern

Controls on soil respiration: implications for climate change

No abstract available.
Authors
Lindsey E. Rustad, Thomas G. Huntington, Richard D. Boone

A strategy for a stream-gaging network in Maryland

Water is a keystone resource. In abundance, it supplies cities, industries, and agriculture. To maintain healthy natural and human ecosystems, water must not only be present in adequate quantity, but it must be of suitable quality for its intended use. Water quality depends on the amount, or load, of contaminants, both natural and anthropogenic, that it contains. Accurate assessment of these conta
Authors
Emery T. Cleaves, Edward J. Doheny
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