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: 18960
Early-Holocene warming in Beringia and its mediation by sea-level and vegetation changes
Arctic land-cover changes induced by recent global climate change (e.g., expansion of woody vegetation into tundra and effects of permafrost degradation) are expected to generate further feedbacks to the climate system. Past changes can be used to assess our understanding of feedback mechanisms through a combination of process modeling and paleo-observations. The subcontinental region of...
Authors
P. J. Bartlein, M. E. Edwards, Steven W. Hostetler, Sarah Shafer, P. M. Anderson, L. B Brubaker, A. V Lozhkin
A new isotopic reference material for stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope-ratio measurements of water—USGS50 Lake Kyoga Water
Rationale As a result of the need for isotopic reference waters having high δ2HVSMOW-SLAP and δ18OVSMOW-SLAP values for daily use, especially for tropical and equatorial-zone freshwaters, a new secondary isotopic reference material for international distribution was prepared from water collected from Lake Kyoga, Uganda. Methods This isotopic reference lakewater was filtered through a...
Authors
Tyler B. Coplen, Leonard I Wassenaar, Christine Mukwaya, Haiping Qi, Jennifer M. Lorenz
Groundwater resources of the Columbia Plateau regional aquifer system
The Columbia Plateau is a wide basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains that covers parts of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The climate over much of the Columbia Plateau is semiarid with precipitation ranging from 7 to 15 in/yr in the central part (Vaccaro and others, 2015), yet the area supports a $6 billion per year agricultural industry, including the...
Authors
Sue C. Kahle, John J. Vaccaro
Organic waste compounds as contaminants in Milwaukee-area streams
Organic waste compounds (OWCs) are ingredients and by-products of common agricultural, industrial, and household substances that can contaminate our streams through sources like urban runoff, sewage overflows, and leaking septic systems. To better understand how OWCs are affecting Milwaukee-area streams, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage...
Authors
Austin K. Baldwin, Steven R. Corsi, Christopher Magruder, Matthew Magruder, Jennifer L. Bruce
Groundwater availability of the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho
The Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System (CPRAS) covers about 44,000 square miles of southeastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, and western Idaho. The area supports a $6-billion per year agricultural industry, leading the Nation in production of apples, hops, and eight other commodities. Groundwater pumpage and surface-water diversions supply water to croplands that account for...
Authors
J. J. Vaccaro, S. C. Kahle, D.M. Ely, E.R. Burns, D.T. Snyder, J.V. Haynes, T. D. Olsen, W.B. Welch, D. S. Morgan
Widespread groundwater-level offsets caused by the Mw 5.8 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake of 23 August 2011
Groundwater levels were offset in bedrock observation wells, measured by the U.S. Geological Survey or others, as far as 553 km from the Mw 5.8 Mineral, Virginia (USA), earthquake on 23 August 2011. Water levels dropped as much as 0.47 m in 34 wells and rose as much as 0.15 m in 12 others. In some wells, which are as much as 213 m deep, the water levels recovered from these deviations in...
Authors
Evelyn A. Roeloffs, David L. Nelms, Rodney A. Sheets
A comparison of estimates of basin-scale soil-moisture evapotranspiration and estimates of riparian groundwater evapotranspiration with implications for water budgets in the Verde Valley, Central Arizona, USA
Population growth in the Verde Valley in Arizona has led to efforts to better understand water availability in the watershed. Evapotranspiration (ET) is a substantial component of the water budget and a critical factor in estimating groundwater recharge in the area. In this study, four estimates of ET are compared and discussed with applications to the Verde Valley. Higher potential ET...
Authors
Fred D. Tillman, Stephen M. Wiele, Donald R. Pool
Hydrogeologic and geochemical characterization of groundwater resources in Deep Creek Valley and adjacent areas, Juab and Tooele Counties, Utah, and Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada
The water resources of Deep Creek Valley were assessed during 2012–13 with an emphasis on better understanding the groundwater flow system and groundwater budget. Surface-water resources are limited in Deep Creek Valley and are generally used for agriculture. Groundwater is the predominant water source for most other uses and to supplement irrigation. Most groundwater withdrawal in Deep...
Authors
Philip M. Gardner, Melissa D. Masbruch
Approaches in highly parameterized inversion—PEST++ Version 3, a Parameter ESTimation and uncertainty analysis software suite optimized for large environmental models
The PEST++ Version 1 object-oriented parameter estimation code is here extended to Version 3 to incorporate additional algorithms and tools to further improve support for large and complex environmental modeling problems. PEST++ Version 3 includes the Gauss-Marquardt-Levenberg (GML) algorithm for nonlinear parameter estimation, Tikhonov regularization, integrated linear-based uncertainty...
Authors
David E. Welter, Jeremy T. White, Randall J. Hunt, John E. Doherty
A microbial arsenic cycle in sediments of an acidic mine impoundment: Herman Pit, Clear Lake, California
The involvement of prokaryotes in the redox reactions of arsenic occurring between its +5 [arsenate; As(V)] and +3 [arsenite; As(III)] oxidation states has been well established. Most research to date has focused upon circum-neutral pH environments (e.g., freshwater or estuarine sediments) or arsenic-rich “extreme” environments like hot springs and soda lakes. In contrast, relatively...
Authors
Jodi S. Blum, Shelley McCann, S. Bennett, Laurence G. Miller, J. R. Stolz, B. Stoneburner, C. Saltikov, Ronald S. Oremland
Feasibility and potential effects of the proposed Amargosa Creek Recharge Project, Palmdale, California
Historically, the city of Palmdale and vicinity have relied on groundwater as the primary source of water, owing, in large part, to the scarcity of surface water in the region. Despite recent importing of surface water, groundwater withdrawal for municipal, industrial, and agricultural use has resulted in groundwater-level declines near the city of Palmdale in excess of 200 feet since...
Authors
Allen H. Christensen, Adam J. Siade, Peter Martin, Victoria E. Langenheim, Rufus D. Catchings, Matthew K. Burgess
Importance of the colmation layer in the transport and removal of cyanobacteria, viruses, and dissolved organic carbon during natural lake-bank filtration
This study focused on the importance of the colmation layer in the removal of cyanobacteria, viruses, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) during natural bank filtration. Injection-and-recovery studies were performed at two shallow (0.5 m deep), sandy, near-shore sites at the southern end of Ashumet Pond, a waste-impacted, kettle pond on Cape Cod, MA, that is subject to periodic blooms of...
Authors
Ronald W. Harvey, David W. Metge, Denis R. LeBlanc, Jennifer C. Underwood, George R. Aiken, Kenna D. Butler, Timothy D. McCobb, Jay Jasperse