Zeno Levy, Ph.D.
I am a groundwater hydrologist and geochemist at the California Water Science Center specializing in drinking-water resources.
I work primarily on the California State Water Resources Control Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) program. My research deals with understanding hydrologic and geochemical factors driving changes in groundwater-resource quality over time. To accomplish this, I develop novel research integrating basic hydrogeochemical methods with “big data” statistical learning techniques. I develop computational tools to query large, geochemical databases and characterize regional drivers of groundwater-quality trends. I am interested in identifying specific processes with broad transfer value that can help to forecast the fate drinking-water resources to extreme precipitation and drought.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 17
Effects of montane watershed development on vulnerability of domestic groundwater supply during drought
Climate change is expected to reduce recharge to montane aquifers in the western United States, but it is unclear how this will impact groundwater resources in watersheds where intensive surface-water development has disrupted the natural hydrologic regime. To better understand sources of recharge and associated vulnerabilities of groundwater supply in this setting, we made a detailed...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Miranda Fram, Kirsten Faulkner, Charles N. Alpers, Evelyn M Soltero, Kimberly A. Taylor
Effects of surface-water use on domestic groundwater availability and quality during drought in the Sierra Nevada foothills, California
BackgroundApproximately 2 million California residents rely on privately owned domestic wells for drinking water. During the California drought of 2012−16 groundwater levels declined in many parts of the state and wells were deepened in response. Most of the wells deepened during this time were domestic wells that were drilled into fractured bedrock throughout the Sierra Nevada foothills...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Miranda Fram, Kimberly A. Taylor
Drought-induced recharge promotes long-term storage of porewater salinity beneath a prairie wetland
Subsurface storage of sulfate salts allows closed-basin wetlands in the semiarid Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America to maintain moderate surface water salinity (total dissolved solids [TDS] from 1 to 10 g L−1), which provides critical habitat for communities of aquatic biota. However, it is unclear how the salinity of wetland ponds will respond to a recent shift in mid...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Donald Rosenberry, Robert Moucha, David M. Mushet, Martin B. Goldhaber, James W. LaBaugh, Anthony J Fiorentino, Donald I. Siegel
Using halogens (Cl, Br, I) to understand the hydrogeochemical evolution of drought-derived saline porewater beneath a prairie wetland
Numerous closed-basin prairie wetlands throughout the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America maintain moderate surface pond salinities (total dissolved solids [TDS] from 1 to 10 g L− 1) under semiarid climate by accumulation of gypsum and saline lenses of sulfate-rich porewater (TDS > 10 g L− 1) in wetland sediments during droughts. In order to understand the hydrogeochemical...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Christopher T. Mills, Zunli Lu, Martin B. Goldhaber, Donald Rosenberry, David M. Mushet, Laura K. Lautz, Xiaoli Zhou, Donald I. Siegel
Climatic drivers for multidecadal shifts in solute transport and methane production zones within a large peat basin
Northern peatlands are an important source for greenhouse gases, but their capacity to produce methane remains uncertain under changing climatic conditions. We therefore analyzed a 43 year time series of the pore-water chemistry to determine if long-term shifts in precipitation altered the vertical transport of solutes within a large peat basin in northern Minnesota. These data suggest...
Authors
Paul H. Glaser, Donald I. Siegel, Jeffrey P. Chanton, Andrew S. Reeve, Donald Rosenberry, J. Elizabeth Corbett, Soumitri Dasgupta, Zeno F. Levy
Non-USGS Publications**
Levy ZF, Rosenberry DO, Moucha R, Mushet DM, Goldhaber MB, LaBaugh JW, Fiorentino AJ, Siegel DI. 2018. Drought-induced recharge promotes long-term storage of porewater salinity beneath a prairie wetland. Journal of Hydrology 557: 391-406, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.12.005.
Levy ZF, Mills CT, Lu Z, Goldhaber MB, Rosenberry DO, Mushet DM, Lautz LK, Zhou X, Siegel DI. 2018. Using halogens (Cl, Br, I) to understand the hydrogeochemical evolution of drought-derived saline porewater beneath a prairie wetland. Chemical Geology 476: 191-207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.11.017.
Levy ZF, Siegel DI, Glaser PH, Samson SD, Dasgupta SS. 2016. Peat porewaters have contrasting geochemical fingerprints for groundwater recharge and discharge due to matrix diffusion in a large, northern bog-fen complex. Journal of Hydrology 541: 941-951, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.08.001.
Levy ZF, Smardon RC, Bays JS, Meyer D. 2014. A Point Source of a Different Color: Identifying a Gap in United States Regulatory Policy for “Green” CSO Treatment Using Constructed Wetlands. Sustainability 6(5): 2392-2412, https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su6052392.
Levy ZF, Siegel DI, Dasgupta SS, Glaser PH, Welker JM. 2014. Stable isotopes of water show deep seasonal recharge in northern bogs and fens. Hydrological Processes 228: 4938-4952, https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9983.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 17
Effects of montane watershed development on vulnerability of domestic groundwater supply during drought
Climate change is expected to reduce recharge to montane aquifers in the western United States, but it is unclear how this will impact groundwater resources in watersheds where intensive surface-water development has disrupted the natural hydrologic regime. To better understand sources of recharge and associated vulnerabilities of groundwater supply in this setting, we made a detailed...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Miranda Fram, Kirsten Faulkner, Charles N. Alpers, Evelyn M Soltero, Kimberly A. Taylor
Effects of surface-water use on domestic groundwater availability and quality during drought in the Sierra Nevada foothills, California
BackgroundApproximately 2 million California residents rely on privately owned domestic wells for drinking water. During the California drought of 2012−16 groundwater levels declined in many parts of the state and wells were deepened in response. Most of the wells deepened during this time were domestic wells that were drilled into fractured bedrock throughout the Sierra Nevada foothills...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Miranda Fram, Kimberly A. Taylor
Drought-induced recharge promotes long-term storage of porewater salinity beneath a prairie wetland
Subsurface storage of sulfate salts allows closed-basin wetlands in the semiarid Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America to maintain moderate surface water salinity (total dissolved solids [TDS] from 1 to 10 g L−1), which provides critical habitat for communities of aquatic biota. However, it is unclear how the salinity of wetland ponds will respond to a recent shift in mid...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Donald Rosenberry, Robert Moucha, David M. Mushet, Martin B. Goldhaber, James W. LaBaugh, Anthony J Fiorentino, Donald I. Siegel
Using halogens (Cl, Br, I) to understand the hydrogeochemical evolution of drought-derived saline porewater beneath a prairie wetland
Numerous closed-basin prairie wetlands throughout the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America maintain moderate surface pond salinities (total dissolved solids [TDS] from 1 to 10 g L− 1) under semiarid climate by accumulation of gypsum and saline lenses of sulfate-rich porewater (TDS > 10 g L− 1) in wetland sediments during droughts. In order to understand the hydrogeochemical...
Authors
Zeno F. Levy, Christopher T. Mills, Zunli Lu, Martin B. Goldhaber, Donald Rosenberry, David M. Mushet, Laura K. Lautz, Xiaoli Zhou, Donald I. Siegel
Climatic drivers for multidecadal shifts in solute transport and methane production zones within a large peat basin
Northern peatlands are an important source for greenhouse gases, but their capacity to produce methane remains uncertain under changing climatic conditions. We therefore analyzed a 43 year time series of the pore-water chemistry to determine if long-term shifts in precipitation altered the vertical transport of solutes within a large peat basin in northern Minnesota. These data suggest...
Authors
Paul H. Glaser, Donald I. Siegel, Jeffrey P. Chanton, Andrew S. Reeve, Donald Rosenberry, J. Elizabeth Corbett, Soumitri Dasgupta, Zeno F. Levy
Non-USGS Publications**
Levy ZF, Rosenberry DO, Moucha R, Mushet DM, Goldhaber MB, LaBaugh JW, Fiorentino AJ, Siegel DI. 2018. Drought-induced recharge promotes long-term storage of porewater salinity beneath a prairie wetland. Journal of Hydrology 557: 391-406, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.12.005.
Levy ZF, Mills CT, Lu Z, Goldhaber MB, Rosenberry DO, Mushet DM, Lautz LK, Zhou X, Siegel DI. 2018. Using halogens (Cl, Br, I) to understand the hydrogeochemical evolution of drought-derived saline porewater beneath a prairie wetland. Chemical Geology 476: 191-207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2017.11.017.
Levy ZF, Siegel DI, Glaser PH, Samson SD, Dasgupta SS. 2016. Peat porewaters have contrasting geochemical fingerprints for groundwater recharge and discharge due to matrix diffusion in a large, northern bog-fen complex. Journal of Hydrology 541: 941-951, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.08.001.
Levy ZF, Smardon RC, Bays JS, Meyer D. 2014. A Point Source of a Different Color: Identifying a Gap in United States Regulatory Policy for “Green” CSO Treatment Using Constructed Wetlands. Sustainability 6(5): 2392-2412, https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su6052392.
Levy ZF, Siegel DI, Dasgupta SS, Glaser PH, Welker JM. 2014. Stable isotopes of water show deep seasonal recharge in northern bogs and fens. Hydrological Processes 228: 4938-4952, https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.9983.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.