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: 18420
Assessing the impact of drought on arsenic exposure from private domestic wells in the conterminous United States
This study assesses the potential impact of drought on arsenic exposure from private domestic wells by using a previously developed statistical model that predicts the probability of elevated arsenic concentrations (>10 μg per liter) in water from domestic wells located in the conterminous United States (CONUS). The application of the model to simulate drought conditions used systematically reduce
Authors
Melissa Lombard, Johnni Daniel, Zuha Jeddy, Lauren Hay, Joseph D. Ayotte
Monitoring wetland water quality related to livestock grazing in amphibian habitats
Land use alteration such as livestock grazing can affect water quality in habitats of at-risk wildlife species. Data from managed wetlands are needed to understand levels of exposure for aquatic life stages and monitor grazing-related changes afield. We quantified spatial and temporal variation in water quality in wetlands occupied by threatened Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) at Klamath Marsh
Authors
Kelly L. Smalling, Jennifer Rowe, Christopher Pearl, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Carrie E. Givens, Chauncey W. Anderson, Brome McCreary, Michael J. Adams
Widespread use of the nitrification inhibitor nitrapyrin: Assessing benefits and costs to agriculture, ecosystems, and environmental health
Agricultural production and associated applications of nitrogen (N) fertilizers have increased dramatically in the last century, and current projections to 2050 show that demands will continue to increase as the human population grows. Applied in both organic and inorganic fertilizer forms, N is an essential nutrient in crop productivity. Increased fertilizer applications, however, create the pote
Authors
Emily Woodward, Thea Margaret Edwards, Carrie E Givens, Dana W. Kolpin, Michelle Hladik
Three-dimensional distribution of residence time metrics in the glaciated United States using metamodels trained on general numerical models
Residence time distribution (RTD) is a critically important characteristic of groundwater flow systems; however, it cannot be measured directly. RTD can be inferred from tracer data with analytical models (few parameters) or with numerical models (many parameters). The second approach permits more variation in system properties but is used less frequently than the first because large‐scale numeric
Authors
J. Jeffrey Starn, Leon J. Kauffman, Carl S. Carlson, James E. Reddy, Michael N. Fienen
Eroding Cascadia— Sediment and solute transport and landscape denudation in western Oregon and northwestern California
Riverine measurements of sediment and solute transport give empirical basin-scale estimates of bed-load, suspended-sediment, and silicate-solute fluxes for 100,000 km2 of northwestern California and western Oregon. This spatially explicit sediment budget shows the multifaceted control of geology and physiography on the rates and processes of fluvial denudation. Bed-load transport is greatest for s
Authors
Jim E. O'Connor, Joseph F. Mangano, Daniel R. Wise, Joshua R. Roering
Globally prevalent land nitrogen memory amplifies water pollution following drought years
Enhanced riverine delivery of terrestrial nitrogen (N) has polluted many freshwater and coastal ecosystems, degrading drinking water and marine resources. An emerging view suggests a contribution of land N memory effects—impacts of antecedent dry conditions on land N accumulation that disproportionately increase subsequent river N loads. To date, however, such effects have only been explored for s
Authors
Minjin Lee, Charles A. Stock, Elena Shevliakova, Sergey Malyshev, Paul C. D. Milly
Multiple co-occurring and persistently detected cyanotoxins and associated cyanobacteria in adjacent California lakes
The global proliferation of toxin producing cyanobacterial blooms has been attributed to a wide variety of environmental factors with nutrient pollution, increased temperatures, and drought being three of the most significant. The current study is the first formal assessment of cyanotoxins in two impaired lakes, Canyon Lake and Lake Elsinore, in southern California that have a history of cyanobact
Authors
Meredith D. A. Howard, Raphael M. Kudela, Kendra Hayashi, Avery O. Tatters, David A. Caron, Susanna Theroux, Stuart Oehrle, Miranda Roethler, Ariel Donovan, Keith Loftin, Zachary Laughrey
Trends in groundwater levels in and near the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, water years 1956–2017
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, completed a study to characterize water-level fluctuations in observation wells to examine driving factors that affect water levels in and near the Rosebud Indian Reservation, which comprises all of Todd County. The study investigates concerns regarding potential effects of groundwater withdrawals and climate condition
Authors
Kristen J. Valseth, Daniel G. Driscoll
Statistical methods for simulating structural stormwater runoff best management practices (BMPs) with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
This report documents statistics for simulating structural stormwater runoff best management practices (BMPs) with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM). The U.S. Geological Survey developed SELDM and the statistics documented in this report in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration to indicate the risk for stormwater flows, concentrations, and loads to exceed us
Authors
Gregory E. Granato, Alana B. Spaetzel, Laura Medalie
Water-resource management monitoring needs, State of Hawai‘i
In cooperation with the State of Hawai‘i Commission on Water Resource Management and in collaboration with the University of Hawaiʻi Water Resources Research Center, the U.S. Geological Survey developed a water-resource monitoring program—a rainfall, surface-water, and groundwater data-collection program—that is required to meet State needs for water-resource assessment, management, and protection
Authors
Chui Ling Cheng, Scot K. Izuka, Joseph Kennedy, Abby G. Frazier, Thomas W. Giambelluca
The river corridor’s evolving connectivity of lotic and lentic waters
River corridors supply a substantial proportion of the fresh water for societal and ecological needs. Individual functions of flowing (lotic) streams and rivers and ponded (lentic) waterbodies such as lakes and reservoirs are well-studied, but their collective functions are not as well understood. Here we bring together nationally consistent river corridor datasets to characterize the contribution
Authors
Judson Harvey, Noah Schmadel
Simulating water and heat transport with freezing and cryosuction in unsaturated soil: Comparing an empirical, semi-empirical and physically-based approach
Freezing of unsaturated soil is an important process that influences runoff and infiltration in cold-climate regions. We used a simple numerical model to simulate water and heat transport with phase change in unsaturated soil via three different approaches: empirical, semi-empirical and physically based. We compared the performance and parameterization of each approach through testing on three exp
Authors
Joris C Stuurop, Sjoerd E. A. T. M van der Zee, Clifford I. Voss, Helen K French