Pennsylvania Waters - Spring 2023 - Issue 10
Improving Understanding and Coordination of Science Activities for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Issue: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States since the 1940s. PFAS are ubiquitous and persistent in the environment and have the potential to have adverse human and ecological health effects. The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partnerships has concerns about how PFAS will affect the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The CBP Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) hosted a workshop in 2022 to better understand the state of the science, improve science coordination, and propose approaches to improve our knowledge of PFAS.
Analysis of the United States documented unplugged orphaned oil and gas well dataset
In coordination with the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and in response to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) produced a documented unplugged orphaned oil and gas well dataset (called the DOW dataset hereafter) that contains the location and status of these wells nationwide as of 2022. The DOW dataset includes 117,672 wells across 27 states. The data
Comprehensive water-quality assessment in the Delaware River Basin identifies increasing trends in salinity and decreasing trends in nutrients
A new report focusing on the Delaware River Basin has found a general upward trend in specific conductance, total dissolved solids, chloride, and sodium. By contrast, trends in nutrients (ammonia, nitrate, orthophosphate, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus) tended to decline.
Investigating these trends can help the Delaware River Basin water community assess changes and management techniques.
Mapping areas of groundwater susceptible to transient contamination events from rapid infiltration into shallow fractured-rock aquifers in agricultural regions of the conterminous United States
Current time-invariant groundwater vulnerability assessments may not capture intermittent contamination events in landscape areas that experience rapid infiltration following precipitation or snowmelt. Occurrences of rapid infiltration and intermittent degradation of groundwater quality are frequently reported in fractured-rock aquifers. This investigation identifies landscape areas underlain by f
Naturally occurring constituents are more prevalent at elevated concentrations in U.S. groundwater compared to human-caused constituents
A new report has found that at a national scale, naturally occurring constituents were more prevalent at elevated concentrations in groundwater than human-caused constituents.
The naturally occurring constituents have potentially affected more people who use groundwater as a drinking water source.
Evaluation of management efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment contributions to the Chesapeake Bay estuary
No abstract available.
USGS Releases Spanish Version of National Water Dashboard
Critical information on water flows, levels, weather and flood forecasts now available in Spanish
Cross-sectional associations between drinking water arsenic and urinary inorganic arsenic in the US: NHANES 2003-2014
Background: Inorganic arsenic is a potent carcinogen and toxicant associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. The contribution of drinking water from private wells and regulated community water systems (CWSs) to total inorganic arsenic exposure is not clear. Objectives: To determine the association between drinking water arsenic estimates and urinary arsenic concentrations in the 2003-2014
The Past, Present and Future of USGS Streamgages
U.S. Geological Survey streamgages provide vital information to the public and decision-makers for a diverse set of needs.