Lake and Wetland Ecosystems

This case-study of selenium pollution of Lake Koocanusa from coal mining in the upper Elk and Fording River watersheds relates to an overall goal of linking geologic source selenium dynamics to hydrological, biochemical, and ecological selenium dynamics. This type of approach enables a realistic understanding of the causes of uncertainty (for example, management alternatives for upstream selenium...

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition, climate change and recreation are rapidly altering high elevation ecosystems. This project will evaluate long-term biogeochemical, hydrological, and ecological trends in Rocky Mountain National Park to understand the causes and rates of change in alpine and subalpine waters, soils, and vegetation. Resource managers of high-elevation, protected lands can use the...

The Willamette River Basin reflects the conflicting water demands between humans and ecosystems—particularly salmon— and the challenge resource managers face throughout the Pacific Northwest.

In 2019, the USGS began a water-quality monitoring program in Lake Koocanusa (also known as Koocanusa Reservoir) and at a site on the Kootenai River downstream of Libby Dam to provide high-frequency water-quality data for Federal, State, Provincial, and Tribal entities in the United States and Canada.

For 43 years, the Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP) brought together scientists from the USGS along with students and professors from universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and California to study the physical, chemical, and biological processes of lakes, wetlands, and streams at local and watershed scales. In early 2022, The University of Minnesota and Bemidji...

The Urban Waters Federal Partnership reconnects urban communities with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies, particularly those impacted by pollution or economic distress.

Our surface water, groundwater, and aquatic ecosystems are priceless resources, used by people across the Nation for drinking, irrigation, industry, and recreation. The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project is a leading source of scientific data and knowledge for development of science-based policies and management strategies to improve and protect our water resources.

Like people, plants need nutrients, but too much of a good thing can be a problem. Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, occur naturally, but most of the nutrients in our waterways come from human activities and sources—fertilizers, wastewater, automobile exhaust, animal waste. The USGS investigates the source, transport, and fate of nutrients and their impacts on the world around us.

About 40 percent of the land in the United States is used for agriculture, and agriculture supplies a major part of the our food, feed, and fiber needs. Agricultural chemicals move into and through every component of the hydrologic system, including air, soil, soil water, streams, wetlands, and groundwater.

The sources, biogeochemistry, and ecotoxicology of selenium (Se) combine to produce a widespread potential for ecological risk such as deformities in birds and fish. Linking the understanding of source characteristics to a mechanistic, biodynamic dietary model of Se exposure on an ecosystem-scale improves the prediction of Se effects and its potential remediation.

Research by the USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project on water quality of rivers and streams covers a broad range of topics, from nonpoint pollution issues to vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems. Dive in and find out more about current water-quality conditions, how and where water quality is changing, and the latest information on pesticides, nutrients, and other contaminants.

Environmental sources of selenium (Se) such as from organic-enriched sedimentary deposits are geologic in nature and thus can occur on regional scales. A constructed map of the global distribution of Se source rocks informs potential areas of reconnaissance for modeling of Se risk including the phosphate deposits of southeastern Idaho and the coals of Appalachia.