Naled, an organophosphate insecticide, is applied aerially at ultra-low volumes over aquatic ecosystems near Sacramento, California, USA, during summer months for mosquito control. Two ecosystem types (rice fields and a flowing canal) were sampled in 2020 and 2021. Naled and its primary degradation product (dichlorvos) were measured in water, biofilm, grazer macroinvertebrates, and omnivore/predator macroinvertebrates (predominantly crayfish). Maximum naled and dichlorvos concentrations detected in water samples one day after naled application were 287.3 and 5647.5 ng/L, respectively, which were above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s aquatic life benchmarks for invertebrates. Neither compound was detected in water more than one day after the application. Dichlorvos, but not naled, was detected in composite crayfish samples up to 10 days after the last aerial application. Detections in water from the canal showed that the compounds were transported downstream of the target application area. Factors such as vector control flight paths, dilution, and transport through air and water likely affected concentrations of naled and dichlorvos in water and organisms from these aquatic ecosystems.
","language":"English","publisher":"Springer","doi":"10.1007/s00244-023-00981-8","usgsCitation":"Smith, C., Hladik, M.L., Kuivila, K., and Waite, I.R., 2023, Field assessment of Naled and its primary degradation product (dichlorvos) in aquatic ecosystems following aerial ultra-low volume application for mosquito control: Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, v. 84, p. 307-317, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-023-00981-8.","productDescription":"11 p.","startPage":"307","endPage":"317","ipdsId":"IP-143358","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":518,"text":"Oregon Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":444223,"rank":3,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-023-00981-8","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":435413,"rank":2,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9F3DU0U","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Naled and dichlorvos in water and aquatic organisms from a canal and rice fields near Sacramento, California"},{"id":414087,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -122.18108336553227,\n 39.24258329396358\n ],\n [\n -122.18108336553227,\n 38.67900906553575\n ],\n [\n -121.19273356695606,\n 38.67900906553575\n ],\n [\n -121.19273356695606,\n 39.24258329396358\n ],\n [\n -122.18108336553227,\n 39.24258329396358\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","volume":"84","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Smith, Cassandra 0000-0003-1088-1772 cassandrasmith@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1088-1772","contributorId":193491,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Smith","given":"Cassandra","email":"cassandrasmith@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":518,"text":"Oregon Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":866320,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Hladik, Michelle L. 0000-0002-0891-2712","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0891-2712","contributorId":203857,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Hladik","given":"Michelle","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":866321,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Kuivila, Kathryn 0000-0001-7940-489X","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7940-489X","contributorId":303031,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Kuivila","given":"Kathryn","affiliations":[{"id":65617,"text":"Scientist Emeritus","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":866322,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Waite, Ian R. 0000-0003-1681-6955 iwaite@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1681-6955","contributorId":616,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Waite","given":"Ian","email":"iwaite@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"R.","affiliations":[{"id":518,"text":"Oregon Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":866323,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4}]}} ,{"id":70248732,"text":"70248732 - 2023 - Migrating ducks and submersed aquatic vegetation respond positively after invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio) exclusion from a freshwater coastal marsh","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2023-09-19T12:03:30.238894","indexId":"70248732","displayToPublicDate":"2023-03-13T07:01:18","publicationYear":"2023","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":3750,"text":"Wetlands","onlineIssn":"1943-6246","printIssn":"0277-5212","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Migrating ducks and submersed aquatic vegetation respond positively after invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio) exclusion from a freshwater coastal marsh","docAbstract":"Invasive carp can negatively affect waterbirds through habitat degradation, including removal of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV). At a freshwater coastal marsh of great ecological and cultural significance, we excluded invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio) with the goal of restoring the marsh to historical conditions to support fall-migrating waterfowl. We used a multi-pronged approach to assess the response of ducks and SAV to carp exclusion by leveraging historical duck and SAV surveys and collecting new data for six years post-exclusion on density and distribution of ducks within the marsh, SAV response, and refueling performance (as indexed by plasma-lipid metabolites) by two species of diving ducks. We found that fall-migrating duck numbers and total SAV extent rebounded to historical levels (1970s). There was a 339% increase in diving duck density and a nearly 400% increase in dabbling duck density between the pre- (i.e., 2000s) and post-exclusion periods. Diving ducks were more likely to be observed associated with SAV within the marsh, whereas dabbling ducks responded to emergent vegetation extent and water levels. Refueling performance was stable post-exclusion, despite increased numbers of ducks using the marsh, indicating that marsh habitat quality was sufficient. Some aspects of the marsh recovery remain in question, including possible shifts in SAV community composition. Overall, the carp exclusion has successfully improved the quality of habitat for migrating ducks.
Ecosystem connectivity tends to increase the resilience and function of ecosystems responding to stressors. Coastal ecosystems sequester disproportionately large amounts of carbon, but rapid exchange of water, nutrients, and sediment makes them vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal erosion. Individual components of the coastal landscape (i.e., marsh, forest, bay) have contrasting responses to sea level rise, making it difficult to forecast the response of the integrated coastal carbon sink. Here we couple a spatially-explicit geomorphic model with a point-based carbon accumulation model, and show that landscape connectivity, in-situ carbon accumulation rates, and the size of the landscape-scale coastal carbon stock all peak at intermediate sea level rise rates despite divergent responses of individual components. Progressive loss of forest biomass under increasing sea level rise leads to a shift from a system dominated by forest biomass carbon towards one dominated by marsh soil carbon that is maintained by substantial recycling of organic carbon between marshes and bays. These results suggest that climate change strengthens connectivity between adjacent coastal ecosystems, but with tradeoffs that include a shift towards more labile carbon, smaller marsh and forest extents, and the accumulation of carbon in portions of the landscape more vulnerable to sea level rise and erosion.
Wildfires pose a risk to water supplies in the western U.S. and many other parts of the world, due to the potential for degradation of water quality. However, a lack of adequate data hinders prediction and assessment of post-wildfire impacts and recovery. The dearth of such data is related to lack of funding for monitoring extreme events and the challenge of measuring the outsized hydrologic and erosive response after wildfire. Assessment and prediction of post-wildfire surface water quality would be strengthened by the strategic monitoring of key parameters, and the selection of sampling locations based on the following criteria: (1) streamgage with pre-wildfire data; (2) ability to install equipment that can measure water quality at high temporal resolution, with a focus on storm sampling; (3) minimum of 10% drainage area burned at moderate to high severity; (4) lack of major water management; (5) high-frequency precipitation; and (6) availability of pre-wildfire water-quality data and (or) water-quality data from a comparable unburned basin. Water-quality data focused on parameters that are critical to human and (or) ecosystem health, relevant to water-treatment processes and drinking-water quality, and (or) inform the role of precipitation and discharge on flow paths and water quality are most useful. We discuss strategic post-wildfire water-quality monitoring and identify opportunities for advancing assessment and prediction. Improved estimates of the magnitude, timing, and duration of post-wildfire effects on water quality would aid the water resources community prepare for and mitigate against impacts to water supplies.
Arctic marine mammals have had little exposure to vessel traffic and potential associated disturbance, but sea ice loss has increased accessibility of Arctic waters to vessels. Vessel disturbance could influence marine mammal population dynamics by altering behavioral activity budgets that affect energy balance, which in turn can affect birth and death rates. As an initial step in studying these linkages, we conducted the first comprehensive analysis to evaluate the effects of vessel exposure on Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) behaviors. We obtained >120,000 h of location and behavior (foraging, in-water not foraging, and hauled out) data from 218 satellite-tagged walruses and linked them to vessel locations from the marine automatic identification system (AIS). This yielded 206 vessel-exposed walrus telemetry hours for comparison to unexposed hours, which we used to assess if vessel exposure altered walrus behavior. We developed a filter to account for misclassification of vessel exposure of telemetered walruses. Then we tested for an effect of vessel exposure on walrus behaviors using a combination of exact and propensity score-based matching to account for confounding covariates, and we conducted statistical power analyses. We did not detect an effect of vessel exposure on walrus behaviors even when statistical power was high (i.e., for foraging walruses), which may have been due to the sample size-driven need to define vessel presence within a larger than desired distance (15-km measured radius) around a walrus. Although this study did not determine at what distance vessel exposure affects walrus behaviors, it provided an upper bound on the distance at which the vessels encountered may disturb foraging walruses. When more situation-specific information is lacking, this distance could be used as a conservative buffer to maintain between vessels and areas of high use by foraging walruses. Studies on behavioral consequences of closer proximities between walruses and vessels are needed, and our assessments of misclassification rates and statistical power can be used for future studies. We demonstrated that analytical approaches such as matching, which are rarely used in wildlife studies, are particularly useful for testing hypotheses with observational data.
","language":"English","publisher":"Wiley","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.4433","usgsCitation":"Taylor, R.L., Jay, C.V., Beatty, W., Fischbach, A.S., Quakenbush, L.T., and Crawford, J.A., 2023, Exploring effects of vessels on walrus behaviors using telemetry, automatic identification system data and matching: Ecosphere, v. 14, no. 3, e4433, 16 p., https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4433.","productDescription":"e4433, 16 p.","ipdsId":"IP-122838","costCenters":[{"id":116,"text":"Alaska Science Center Biology MFEB","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":444233,"rank":3,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4433","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":435414,"rank":2,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9IO8AZJ","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Walrus Haulout and In-water Activity Levels Relative to Vessel Interactions in the Chukchi Sea, 2012-2015"},{"id":413040,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"Russia, United States","state":"Alaska","otherGeospatial":"Chukchi Sea","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -170.32245819085716,\n 66.05513807898694\n ],\n [\n -169.7201609109013,\n 65.81337853498471\n ],\n [\n -163.44646744670234,\n 67.26413622283681\n ],\n [\n -163.48928051808477,\n 67.77761301095038\n ],\n [\n -165.89517336815703,\n 68.50009214376516\n ],\n [\n -165.8497260252095,\n 68.66729130495727\n ],\n [\n -163.80598521715572,\n 68.81337251177467\n ],\n [\n -162.7412289106771,\n 69.22689570748591\n ],\n [\n -162.42602442536432,\n 69.65754636971394\n ],\n [\n -161.76725890958286,\n 69.98451068064082\n ],\n [\n -159.03175166715397,\n 70.56710759229969\n ],\n [\n -156.4162777380868,\n 70.98318711582823\n 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]\n}","volume":"14","issue":"3","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Taylor, Rebecca L. 0000-0001-8459-7614 rebeccataylor@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8459-7614","contributorId":5112,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Taylor","given":"Rebecca","email":"rebeccataylor@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":116,"text":"Alaska Science Center Biology MFEB","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":866281,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Jay, Chadwick V. 0000-0002-9559-2189 cjay@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9559-2189","contributorId":192736,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Jay","given":"Chadwick","email":"cjay@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"V.","affiliations":[{"id":116,"text":"Alaska Science Center Biology MFEB","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":866282,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Beatty, William S. 0000-0003-0013-3113","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0013-3113","contributorId":288790,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Beatty","given":"William S.","affiliations":[{"id":6654,"text":"USFWS","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":866283,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Fischbach, Anthony S. 0000-0002-6555-865X afischbach@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6555-865X","contributorId":2865,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Fischbach","given":"Anthony","email":"afischbach@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"S.","affiliations":[{"id":116,"text":"Alaska Science Center Biology MFEB","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":866284,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Quakenbush, Lori T.","contributorId":47262,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Quakenbush","given":"Lori","email":"","middleInitial":"T.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":866285,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5},{"text":"Crawford, Justin A.","contributorId":214225,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Crawford","given":"Justin","email":"","middleInitial":"A.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":866286,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":6}]}} ,{"id":70241072,"text":"tm1D11 - 2023 - Field techniques for fluorescence measurements targeting dissolved organic matter, hydrocarbons, and wastewater in environmental waters: Principles and guidelines for instrument selection, operation and maintenance, quality assurance, and data reporting","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2023-04-03T16:43:31.13652","indexId":"tm1D11","displayToPublicDate":"2023-03-13T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2023","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":335,"text":"Techniques and Methods","code":"TM","onlineIssn":"2328-7055","printIssn":"2328-7047","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"1-D11","displayTitle":"Field Techniques for Fluorescence Measurements Targeting Dissolved Organic Matter, Hydrocarbons, and Wastewater in Environmental Waters: Principles and Guidelines for Instrument Selection, Operation and Maintenance, Quality Assurance, and Data Reporting","title":"Field techniques for fluorescence measurements targeting dissolved organic matter, hydrocarbons, and wastewater in environmental waters: Principles and guidelines for instrument selection, operation and maintenance, quality assurance, and data reporting","docAbstract":"The use of field deployable fluorescence sensors by the U.S. Geological Survey has become increasingly common for a wide variety of surface water and groundwater investigations. This report addresses field deployable fluorometers that measure the fluorescence response of various substances in water exposed to incident light generated by the sensor. An introduction to the basic principles of field measurements of fluorescence is provided, as well as technical background information on sensors that target dissolved organic matter, wastewater, and hydrocarbons, including sensor selection, operating principles, key features, and design elements. General deployment, operation and maintenance protocols, quality-assurance techniques, and suggestions for data reporting are presented to facilitate and standardize the collection and accurate communication of data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey across studies, sites, and sensor types. Sensor performance issues and common interferences are also described. An appendix is included to describe sensor calibration criteria and procedures, reporting units, and specific approaches to correct for interferences for fluorescence of dissolved organic matter sensors.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/tm1D11","usgsCitation":"Booth, A., Fleck, J., Pellerin, B.A., Hansen, A., Etheridge, A., Foster, G.M., Graham, J.L., Bergamaschi, B.A., Carpenter, K.D., Downing, B.D., Rounds, S.A., and Saraceno, J., 2023, Field techniques for fluorescence measurements targeting dissolved organic matter, hydrocarbons, and wastewater in environmental waters: Principles and guidelines for instrument selection, operation and maintenance, quality assurance, and data reporting: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 1, chap. D11, 41 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm1D11.","productDescription":"Report: vi, 41 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"52","onlineOnly":"Y","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":474,"text":"New York Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":518,"text":"Oregon Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":27821,"text":"Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":414608,"rank":6,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/tm1D11/full","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":413883,"rank":5,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9VJUCTP","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Comparisons from an Aqualog fluorometer standardized to quinine sulfate equivalents (QSE) with excitation (ex) and emissions (em) equivalent to fluorescence of dissolved organic Matter (fDOM) sensors from multiple manufacturers"},{"id":413879,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/01/d11/tm1d11.pdf","text":"Report","size":"3.61 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"TM 1–D11"},{"id":413880,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/01/d11/tm1d11.XML","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":8,"text":"xml"}},{"id":413882,"rank":4,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/01/d11/images"},{"id":413877,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/01/d11/coverthb2.jpg"}],"contact":"Director, Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
4446 Pet Lane, Suite 108
Lutz, FL 33559
The magnitude and variability of floods have increased for many nontidal streams on Long Island (LI), NY since the mid-20th century. One of the most densely populated regions of the United States, LI has experienced amplified floods in step with increases in impervious land cover, storm, and sanitary sewers that have accompanied urban development. To better understand the drivers of observed flood trends and effects of urbanization, a nonstationary flood frequency analysis is conducted, using historical annual peak flow records from 17 gaged watersheds on LI using conditional moments based on physical covariates from a two-stage sequential robust linear regression procedure. Regression results indicate that urban development and precipitation are significant co-predictors of peak flows for LI watersheds that have undergone rapid development during the available peak flow record. In watersheds with less intense urbanization or that were fully developed before the peak flow record began, precipitation alone was a significant explanatory variable. Long-term baseflow patterns identified using a nonparametric smoother explained some patterns of decreasing peak flows and heteroskedasticity in the peak flow records. Fitting a log-Pearson III distribution with these conditional moments, floods corresponding to a 20% annual exceedance probability (AEP) are up to 80% higher under a nonstationary framework compared with stationary under current watershed conditions, and differ significantly (95% confidence) from stationary estimates for 6 out of 17 watersheds. Larger floods corresponding to 1% AEPs do not differ significantly between nonstationary and stationary estimates at a 95% confidence level. Nonmonotonic trends observed in two watersheds indicate that recent stormwater management practices, such as rerouting stormwater outfalls away from the channel, substantially reduce flood frequency. Reduced nonstationary flood quantile estimates at these two watersheds are 20 to 40% lower than stationary estimates when accounting for changing watershed conditions over time. Across LI, stormwater management and water-table fluctuations have increased peak flow variability, characteristic of a late phase urban adjustment period on LI. Results of this study demonstrate that a nonstationary framework is a necessary step forward toward a regional flood-frequency analysis for LI. This nonstationary framework will allow flood managers to update flood discharge estimates to current conditions that reflect altered relationships between urban cover and climate for more targeted planning of flood control, transportation infrastructure, and management of floodplain ecosystems.
The addition of small amounts of algal biomass to stimulate methane production in coal seams is a promising low carbon renewable coalbed methane enhancement technique. However, little is known about how the addition of algal biomass amendment affects methane production from coals of different thermal maturity. Here, we show that biogenic methane can be produced from five coals ranging in rank from lignite to low-volatile bituminous using a coal-derived microbial consortium in batch microcosms with and without algal amendment. The addition of 0.1 g/l algal biomass resulted in maximum methane production rates up to 37 days earlier and decreased the time required to reach maximum methane production by 17–19 days when compared to unamended, analogous microcosms. Cumulative methane production and methane production rate were generally highest in low rank, subbituminous coals, but no clear association between increasing vitrinite reflectance and decreasing methane production could be determined. Microbial community analysis revealed that archaeal populations were correlated with methane production rate (p = 0.01), vitrinite reflectance (p = 0.03), percent volatile matter (p = 0.03), and fixed carbon (p = 0.02), all of which are related to coal rank and composition. Sequences indicative of the acetoclastic methanogenic genus Methanosaeta dominated low rank coal microcosms. Amended treatments that had increased methane production relative to unamended analogs had high relative abundances of the hydrogenotrophic methanogenic genus Methanobacterium and the bacterial family Pseudomonadaceae. These results suggest that algal amendment may shift coal-derived microbial communities towards coal-degrading bacteria and CO2-reducing methanogens. These results have broad implications for understanding subsurface carbon cycling in coal beds and the adoption of low carbon renewable microbially enhanced coalbed methane techniques across a diverse range of coal geology.
A wastewater model was applied to the Potomac River watershed to provide (i) a means to identify streams with a high likelihood of carrying elevated effluent-derived contaminants and (ii) risk assessments to aquatic life and drinking water. The model linked effluent discharges along stream networks, accumulated wastewater, and predicted contaminant loads of municipal wastewater constituents while accounting for instream dilution and attenuation. Simulations using 2016 data suggested that nearly 30% (8281 km) of streams were wastewater impacted. Low- to medium-order streams had the largest range of accumulated wastewater (ACCWW%) values. ACCWW% exceeded a 1% threshold at >39% of drinking-water intakes (varied by temporal condition). Risk assessments of municipal wastewater-contaminant mixtures indicated that 22% (1479 km) of streams impacted by municipal wastewater (5.5% of all reaches modeled) may pose high risk to aquatic organisms under mean-annual conditions, with fish more susceptible to chronic-exposure effects relative to other taxa. Risk varied temporally and by stream order, with the greatest risk occurring in the summer in small streams. These findings suggest that wastewater may be an important factor contributing to environmental degradation in the Potomac River watershed.
Anthropogenically degraded benthic-macroinvertebrate communities (benthos) are one of seven beneficial use impairments (BUIs) in the Niagara River Area of Concern (AOC). Over the last 50 years, upgrades to waste-water treatment, industry closures, and sediment remediations reduced contaminant levels throughout the system. Improvements in benthic communities and sediment toxicity, however, were difficult to assess because there are no comparable reference reaches outside the AOC. A multi-phase study was initiated in 2015 to determine if data from inside the AOC could identify reference conditions, if toxicity and benthic-community data from these sites differed from other AOC sites, and if further remediation efforts were warranted in parts of the AOC. Concentrations or quotients of PAHs, PCBs, dioxins and furans, pesticides, and most metals were below their New York Sediment Class A Guidance Values at 10 sites that were subsequently designated as reference sites. Survival and growth data from Chironomus dilutus and Hyalella azteca bioassays indicated that sediments from only a few individual AOC-impact sites were toxic or significantly different from reference sites, and that mean toxicity at pooled AOC-impact and reference sites did not differ significantly. Similarly, New York Biological Assessment Profile scores and chironomid mentum deformity scores at only a few individual sites differed significantly from corresponding indices at reference sites, but neither metric differed significantly in comparisons between pooled AOC-impact and reference sites. Most analyses indicated that benthic communities were unimpaired and that removal criteria for the benthos BUI were largely met in much of the upper Niagara River AOC.
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) have been extirpated from many karst-geology streams in West Virginia; however, the causes are not fully understood. Specifically, the impact of calcareous precipitate (marl), which is common in hard-water environments, has not been evaluated as an im- pediment to juvenile survival. Accordingly, two lab-based studies were conducted to determine if brook trout egg and alevin survival is inhibited by marl. In the first study, three aeration treatments were applied to water from a limestone spring source (13–14 C; ~300 mg L–1 hardness), resulting in different pH levels and an increasing degree of marl precipitate. Treatments included raw/untreated (RU; no marl), once-aerated (OA; limited marl), and continuously aerated (CA; significant marl) water. Brook trout eggs obtained from a local hatchery were fertilized and stocked among gravel-filled trays receiving each water type. Mortality occurred faster in CA water where marl coated egg surfaces, but cumulative survival was negligible for all water types. After 53 days, no surviving alevins remained in RU or CA, and 1% survival was observed in OA water. However, extra eggs maintained in a marl-producing system at 8 C without gravel demonstrated >50% survival. A second study was carried out to investigate this discrepancy. Survival was evaluated at three temperatures with and without gravel while producing a thin coating of marl. Increased prevalence of alevin deformities and significantly lower survival were observed at 13.7 C versus 8.1 and 11.2 C, but gravel inclusion did not affect these variables. Potentially harmful effects of marl were observed; however, juvenile brook trout survival was higher during Study 2. This research suggests that brook trout reintroduction efforts in karst-geology streams should be focused on microhabitats with limited marl production and adequate water temperatures for juvenile survival.
West Dongting Lake is a protected wetland with the potential for high levels of mercury release via wastewater and deposition from industry and agriculture during the last decade. To find out the ability of various plant species to accumulate mercury pollutants from soil and water, nine sites were studied in the downstream direction of the flow of the Yuan and Li Rivers, which are tributaries of the Yellow River flowing into West Dongting Lake, where mercury levels arere high in soil and plant tissues. The total mercury (THg) concentration in wetland soil was 0.078–1.659 mg/kg, which varied along the gradient of water flow along the river. According to canonical correspondence analysis and correlation analysis, there was a positive correlation between the soil THg concentration and the soil moisture in West Dongting Lake. There is high heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of soil THg concentration in West Dongting Lake, which may be related to the spatial heterogeneity of the soil moisture. Some plant species had higher THg concentrations in aboveground tissues (translocation factor >1), but none of these plant species fit the criteria as hyperaccumulators of mercury. And some species of the same ecological type (e.g., emergent, submergent, floating-leaved) exhibited very different strategies for mercury uptake. The concentrations of mercury in these species were lower than in other studies but these had relatively higher translocation factors. To phytoremediate soil mercury in West Dongting Lake, the regular harvest of plants could help remove mercury from soil and plant tissue.
","language":"English","publisher":"Elsevier","doi":"10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121313","usgsCitation":"Peng, D., Chen, M., Su, X., Liu, C., Zhang, Z., Middleton, B., and Lei, T., 2023, Mercury accumulation potential of aquatic plant species in West Dongting Lake, China: Environmental Pollution, v. 324, 121313, 11 p., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121313.","productDescription":"121313, 11 p.","ipdsId":"IP-140368","costCenters":[{"id":17705,"text":"Wetland and Aquatic Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":435419,"rank":0,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9LY46K3","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Data Release: Mercury accumulation potential of aquatic plant species in West Dongting Lake, China"},{"id":414612,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"China","otherGeospatial":"West Dongting Lake","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n 112.33562161630698,\n 29.071246854816167\n ],\n [\n 111.91379256125646,\n 29.071246854816167\n ],\n [\n 111.91379256125646,\n 28.746233081048587\n ],\n [\n 112.33562161630698,\n 28.746233081048587\n ],\n [\n 112.33562161630698,\n 29.071246854816167\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","volume":"324","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Peng, Dong","contributorId":224694,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Peng","given":"Dong","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":40912,"text":"Beijing Forestry","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":867278,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Chen, Mingzhu","contributorId":303338,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Chen","given":"Mingzhu","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":65768,"text":"Shenzhen Landscape Institute, Shenzhen","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":867279,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Su, Xinyue","contributorId":224696,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Su","given":"Xinyue","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":40912,"text":"Beijing Forestry","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":867280,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Liu, Chenchen","contributorId":303339,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Liu","given":"Chenchen","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":40912,"text":"Beijing Forestry","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":867281,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Zhang, Zhehao","contributorId":303340,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Zhang","given":"Zhehao","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":65769,"text":"Forestry Bureau, Quzhou City","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":867282,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5},{"text":"Middleton, Beth 0000-0002-1220-2326","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1220-2326","contributorId":222689,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Middleton","given":"Beth","affiliations":[{"id":17705,"text":"Wetland and Aquatic Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":867283,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":6},{"text":"Lei, Ting","contributorId":245022,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Lei","given":"Ting","affiliations":[{"id":40912,"text":"Beijing Forestry","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":867284,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":7}]}} ,{"id":70242934,"text":"70242934 - 2023 - Investigating hydrologic alteration in the Pearl and Pascagoula River basins using rule-based model trees","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2023-04-24T12:07:47.445858","indexId":"70242934","displayToPublicDate":"2023-03-09T07:04:19","publicationYear":"2023","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":14255,"text":"Environmental Software and Modelling","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Investigating hydrologic alteration in the Pearl and Pascagoula River basins using rule-based model trees","docAbstract":"Anthropogenic hydrologic alteration threatens the health of riverine ecosystems. Machine learning algorithms that employ the use of model trees to predict hydrologic alteration are underrepresented in related literature. This study assesses hydrologic alteration in the Pearl and Pascagoula River basins using modeled daily streamflow. Hydrologic alteration was determined by hypothesis testing and the computation of the net change across 60 years. Cubist models were developed for both basins to predict hydrologic alteration and to identify important basin characteristics. Results from net change and the hypothesis test indicated the basins were essentially identical with respect to the amount of hydrologic alteration. Cubist models for the basins successfully made accurate predictions of hydrologic alteration and demonstrated that the importance of basin geomorphology and land cover on alteration differed in both basins. The results of the study demonstrate the feasibility of model trees in assessing hydrologic alteration.
During April through September 2022, much of New England experienced a short but extreme hydrologic drought that was similar to the drought of 2020. By August 2022, Providence, Rhode Island, was declared a Federal disaster area, and New London and Windham counties in Connecticut were declared natural disaster areas. Mandatory water use restrictions were put in place in communities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island (Mecray and Borisoff, 2022). Precipitation in many areas of New England fell below normal levels in November 2021 and continued to decline until September 2022, contributing to low streamflows and groundwater levels in the region. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow and groundwater conditions from April to September 2022 were used to characterize the hydrologic component of this short-duration drought. Several record low streamflows and groundwater levels were observed across New England, even falling below 2020 levels in parts of southern New England. The severity of this drought varied across New England, and regional and statewide perspectives are presented in this report.
Highlights
Director, New England Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
10 Bearfoot Road
Northborough, MA 01532
Grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, is an herbivorous fish originally brought to North America from Asia in 1963 to control nuisance aquatic vegetation. Since their arrival, detrimental alterations to aquatic ecosystems have sometimes occurred in waterways where they were initially stocked and into which they have escaped. The movements of grass carp from lentic systems into tributaries required for spawning is poorly understood, and understanding environmental conditions associated with upstream migrations may aid in management of the species. We stocked 43 fertile diploid and 43 sterile triploid grass carp implanted with acoustic transmitters into Truman Reservoir, Missouri, USA between January 2017 and October 2018 to characterize movements during spring and summer when spawning conditions occur. Twenty fish (11 diploid/9 triploid) exhibited upstream migration behavior in the Osage River, a major tributary, in 2018 and 2019. Migration primarily occurred in April and May, during high discharge events associated with increasing river stage when water temperatures were between 15 and 28°C. Observed migrations ranged from 3.0–108 river km in length, and six individuals were observed making multiple upstream migrations in one season. Eleven fish initiated upstream migrations while in the lentic main body of the reservoir. These findings provide some evidence for upstream migrations by diploid and triploid grass carp as well both lake and river residents. Evidence of similar upstream migration behavior by both diploid and triploid grass carp suggests that triploids may be suitable surrogates for diploids for study of movement ecology. Removal efforts in tributaries targeting periods of increasing river stage during spring may provide the best opportunity of encountering large concentrations of grass carp.
Winslow Township and the Camden County Municipal Utility Authority (CCMUA) developed a plan to shut down the Winslow sewage-treatment facility and associated effluent infiltration facility and transfer the effluent to the CCMUA sewage-treatment facility on the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey. Winslow Township reduced groundwater withdrawals from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system to offset groundwater recharge lost with the cessation of effluent infiltration. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Winslow Township and the CCMUA, collected data to evaluate conditions prior to cessation of effluent infiltration and installed two continuous-record streamflow-gaging stations. Streamflow measurements also were made at two low-flow partial-record sites, and groundwater levels were measured in 17 wells at high and low water-level periods (May and September 2010). A groundwater-flow model provides estimated changes in base flow of the Great Egg Harbor River under several groundwater-withdrawal and effluent infiltration scenarios.
Water levels were measured in an observation well 480 feet (ft) from the infiltration lagoons during 1971–2010. A downward trend in water levels in the well prior to 1985 is attributed in part to increased impervious surfaces and groundwater withdrawals associated with development in the area that began in the early 1970s. From late 1985 to 2010, there was an upward trend in water levels in the well that is attributed to the construction of nearby effluent infiltration lagoons in 1985 and the increasing rate of effluent infiltration during the period. Recent and historical measurements made at the four surface-water sites were correlated with same-day discharges measured at three nearby index stations to estimate continuous low-flow record at the sites. Effects on base flow caused by reductions in groundwater withdrawals or the cessation of effluent infiltration in Winslow Township could not be ascertained from the available data with the statistical and analysis methods used.
Groundwater discharge to streams (base flow) was simulated with a groundwater-flow model of the Great Egg Harbor and Mullica River Basins. Simulated monthly base flows using 2008–10 withdrawal rates and effluent recharge (Scenario 1) are generally about 1.5 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) greater than simulated base flows using 2003–07 withdrawal rates (Baseline Scenario) because of the 1.57 Mgal/d reduction in average withdrawals by Winslow Township from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system from 2003–07 to 2008–10. Simulated monthly base flows using 2008–10 withdrawals but without effluent infiltration (Scenario 2) are very similar to, but typically slightly lower than, Baseline Scenario base flows.
Three hypothetical future distributions of groundwater withdrawals from existing Winslow Township wells are simulated, each without effluent infiltration and using the same groundwater withdrawal rate as Scenario 2, but with different hypothetical distributions of withdrawals among existing Winslow Township wells. The Scenario 3 and 4 base flows are greater than the Baseline Scenario base flows in all months, and the Scenario 5 base flows are less than the Baseline Scenario base flows in all months. The simulation results indicate that a reduction in average withdrawals from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system by 1.57 Mgal/d offsets the reduction of effluent infiltration by about the same rate, resulting in nearly unchanged base flows in the Great Egg Harbor River near Blue Anchor (01410820).
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20235002","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Township of Winslow and the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority","usgsCitation":"Carleton, G.B., and Pope, D.A., 2023, Hydrologic effects of possible changes in water-supply withdrawals from, and effluent recharge to, the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, Winslow Township, Camden County, New Jersey: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2023–5002, 16 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20235002.","productDescription":"Report: vii, 16 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"16","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-057410","costCenters":[{"id":470,"text":"New Jersey Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":413542,"rank":6,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7154G0Z","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"MODFLOW-2000 model used to evaluate the effects of possible changes in water-supply withdrawals from, and effluent recharge to, the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, Winslow Township, Camden County, New Jersey"},{"id":500487,"rank":7,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_114441.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":413541,"rank":5,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5002/images/"},{"id":413538,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5002/sir20235002.pdf","text":"Report","size":"1.58 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2023-5002"},{"id":413537,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5002/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":413539,"rank":3,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sir20235002/full","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"},"description":"SIR 2023-5002"},{"id":413540,"rank":4,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5002/sir20235002.XML"}],"country":"United States","state":"New Jersey","county":"Camden County","otherGeospatial":"Winslow Township","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -75,\n 39.833\n ],\n [\n -75,\n 39.5833\n ],\n [\n -74.833,\n 39.5833\n ],\n [\n -74.833,\n 39.833\n ],\n [\n -75,\n 39.833\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, New Jersey Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
3450 Princeton Pike, Suite 110
Lawrenceville, NJ, 08648
Since the early 1900s, groundwater withdrawn from the primary aquifers that compose the Gulf Coast aquifer system—the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers—has been an important source of water in the greater Houston area, Texas. This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, City of Houston, Fort Bend Subsidence District, Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, and Brazoria County Groundwater Conservation District, is one in an annual series of reports depicting the status of water-level altitudes and water-level changes in these aquifers in the greater Houston area.
In this report, the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers are treated as a single hydrogeologic unit for the purposes of providing annual assessments of regional-scale water-level altitudes and changes over time. In 2022, shaded depictions of water-level altitudes for the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers (undifferentiated) ranged from about 270 feet (ft) below the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) to about 195 ft above NAVD 88. The largest decline in water-level altitudes indicated by the 1977–2022 long-term water-level-change map was southeast of The Woodlands. In comparison, the 1990–2022 long-term water-level-change map depicts declines in water-level altitudes in localized areas at or near certain wells in parts of northwestern Harris County and southern Montgomery County. The largest rise in water-level altitudes for 1977–2022 was observed in a relatively large area in southeastern Harris County, whereas the largest rise in water-level altitudes for 1990–2022 was observed in a relatively small area in central Harris County. The 5-year short-term water-level-change map depicts the largest declines at three wells in northern Fort Bend County and the largest rises at five wells in southwestern and central Harris County. The 1-year short-term water-level-change map depicts the largest decline at a well in north-central Harris County and the largest rises at a well in north-central Fort Bend County and a well in southwestern Harris County.
In 2022, shaded depictions of water-level altitudes for the Jasper aquifer ranged from about 213 ft below NAVD 88 to about 285 ft above NAVD 88. The 2000–22 long-term water-level-change map depicts water-level declines throughout most of the study area where water-level-measurement data from the aquifer were collected, with the largest decline in north-central Harris County and south-central Montgomery County south of The Woodlands. The 5-year short-term water-level-change map depicts the largest decline at a well in Conroe and the largest rise at a well in south-central Montgomery County. The 1-year short-term water-level-change map depicts the largest decline at a well in south-central Montgomery County east of The Woodlands and the largest rise at a well in Conroe.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20235007","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, City of Houston, Fort Bend Subsidence District, Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, and Brazoria County Groundwater Conservation District","usgsCitation":"Ramage, J.K., and Braun, C.L., 2023, Status of water-level altitudes and long-term and short-term water-level changes in the Chicot and Evangeline (undifferentiated) and Jasper aquifers, greater Houston area, Texas, 2022: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2023–5007, 26 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20235007.","productDescription":"Report: v, 26 p.; 2 Data Releases; Dataset","numberOfPages":"36","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-144568","costCenters":[{"id":48595,"text":"Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":413744,"rank":6,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9F32XDT","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Groundwater-level altitudes and long-term groundwater-level changes in the Chicot and Evangeline (undifferentiated) and Jasper aquifers, greater Houston area, Texas, 2022"},{"id":413743,"rank":5,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P967ZHTU","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Depth to groundwater measured from wells completed in the Chicot and Evangeline (undifferentiated) and Jasper aquifers, greater Houston area, Texas, 2022"},{"id":413745,"rank":7,"type":{"id":28,"text":"Dataset"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN","text":"USGS National Water Information System database","linkHelpText":"—USGS water data for the Nation"},{"id":413736,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5007/sir20235007.XML","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":8,"text":"xml"}},{"id":413852,"rank":8,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20235007/full","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":413730,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5007/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":413735,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5007/sir20235007.pdf","text":"Report","size":"13.5 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2023–5007"},{"id":413742,"rank":4,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2023/5007/images"},{"id":500687,"rank":9,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_114444.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}}],"country":"United States","state":"Texas","city":"Houston","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -94.20508784641805,\n 29.65321984264439\n ],\n [\n -94.58944610142002,\n 30.08175651239739\n ],\n [\n -95.09460266513673,\n 30.461126573452134\n ],\n [\n -95.76448419528316,\n 30.669153528428893\n ],\n [\n -96.01706247714125,\n 30.57465112178049\n ],\n [\n -96.32454908114292,\n 30.091258611624937\n ],\n [\n -96.14884245028512,\n 29.605491239224605\n ],\n [\n -95.84135584628345,\n 29.098182928087823\n ],\n [\n -95.29227262485227,\n 28.92531664791001\n ],\n [\n -95.0616576718509,\n 28.94453828891595\n ],\n [\n -94.87496937656448,\n 29.126965830599318\n ],\n [\n -94.58944610142002,\n 29.414351031110456\n ],\n [\n -94.19410618198944,\n 29.54818708251109\n ],\n [\n -94.20508784641805,\n 29.65321984264439\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
1505 Ferguson Lane
Austin, TX 78754–4501
The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project (SBSPRP) encompasses over 6,000 hectares of former salt production ponds along the south edge of the San Francisco Bay and represents the largest wetland restoration effort on the west coast of North America. A series of studies associated with Phase 1 (2010–2018) restoration activities that are focused on a historically mercury contaminated slough and series of ponds within the restoration area have recently been completed.
This report brings together the key findings of these loosely coordinated studies and integrates the results into a more comprehensive and holistic product that informs future restoration activities associated with the SBSPRP and elsewhere. This report documents key findings associated with the breach of pond A6: (1) a short-term spike in slough fish (Mississippi silverside) total mercury concentration in lower Alviso Slough; (2) a short-term spike in surface-water particulate total mercury in lower Alviso Slough; (3) significant sediment scour in Alviso Slough adjacent to and downstream of the breach points; (4) a decrease in surface-sediment methylmercury (as a percentage of total mercury) in lower Alviso Slough; (5) the transport of 70 kilograms per year of sediment-associated total mercury into pond A6 during the first 2 years following the breach but with much of this coming from outside of Alviso Slough, presumably from the nearby shallows, Guadalupe Slough, and the larger southern San Francisco Bay area; and (6) a slowing of bed sediment erosion in lower Alviso Slough 3–5 years after the breaching of pond A6.
Although this report is not intended to be prescriptive in terms of the next steps the SBSPRP should or should not take, the totality of the findings presented provide critical process-level information regarding the extent and the duration of spikes in mercury levels in water, sediment, fish, and birds, which appeared to result from the two management actions under study. Thus, these results can be used to anticipate similar ecosystem responses associated with similar management actions that may be considered in the future. We also conclude this report by highlighting unanswered questions associated with mercury dynamics as it relates to the restoration project, and possible future directions for research.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20225113","collaboration":"Prepared in Cooperation with University of California–Davis, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and the Institute for Water Education–Delft, Netherlands","usgsCitation":"Marvin-DiPasquale, M., Slotton, D., Ackerman, J.T., Downing-Kunz, M., Jaffe, B.E., Foxgrover, A.C., Achete, F., and van der Wegen, M., 2022, South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project—A synthesis of Phase-1 mercury studies, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5113, 147 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20225113.","productDescription":"Report: x, 147 p.; 2 Data Releases","numberOfPages":"147","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-115810","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":520,"text":"Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":37277,"text":"WMA - Earth System Processes Division","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":500460,"rank":5,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_114442.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":413765,"rank":4,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7HQ3Z3K","text":"Mercury speciation and other constituent data from deep sediment cores in Alviso Slough, South San Francisco Bay, California, 2012–16","description":"Marvin-DiPasquale, M.C., Arias, M.R., Agee, J.L., Kieu, L.H., Kakouros, E., Jaffe, B.E., and Wahl, D.B., 2018, Mercury speciation and other constituent data from deep sediment cores in Alviso Slough, South San Francisco Bay, California, 2012–16: U.S. Geological Survey, Data Release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7HQ3Z3K"},{"id":413764,"rank":3,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9MERSKP","text":"Mercury speciation and other constituent data for surface sediment and water associated with the South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration, 2010–18","description":"Marvin-DiPasquale, M.C., Agee, J.L., Arias, M.R., Kakouros, E., and Kieu, L.H., 2019, Mercury speciation and other constituent data for surface sediment and water associated with the South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration, 2010–18: U.S. Geological Survey Data Release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9MERSKP."},{"id":413739,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5113/sir20225013.pdf","text":"Report","size":"23 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"Scientific Investigations Report 2022–5113"},{"id":413738,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5113/covrthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","otherGeospatial":"South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -122.40628984553588,\n 37.621994284187195\n ],\n [\n -122.38464480833986,\n 37.58877023259778\n ],\n [\n -122.34406036359792,\n 37.502962205483115\n ],\n [\n -122.25071614069111,\n 37.4020116181121\n ],\n [\n -122.14925502883574,\n 37.326747175135054\n ],\n [\n -121.98015317574374,\n 37.31598895009128\n ],\n [\n -121.85298858221822,\n 37.36976467248691\n ],\n [\n -121.85704702669263,\n 37.47827412100111\n ],\n [\n -121.95715532372319,\n 37.58448217735517\n ],\n [\n -122.1411381398872,\n 37.68304493257469\n ],\n [\n -122.40628984553588,\n 37.621994284187195\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director,
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345 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, California, 94025
This report updates groundwater-storage and groundwater-level trends presented in U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Scientific Investigations Report 2019–5060, in the Big Chino Subbasin, Yavapai County, Arizona. This earlier geophysical investigation of groundwater-storage change in the Big Chino Subbasin was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Prescott, the Town of Prescott Valley, and the Salt River Project from 2010 to 2017 to understand groundwater-level and groundwater-storage changes. Conclusions were based on precipitation, streamflow, groundwater level, and repeat microgravity data; the latter is a direct measurement of groundwater-storage change. This report focuses on the southern part of the Big Chino Subbasin for water years 2018–2021. These more recent data show relatively small changes in groundwater storage, consistent with the earlier monitoring presented in U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2019–5060. In the Big Chino Water Ranch area, water levels have increased gradually owing to discontinued pumping for irrigation during summer months, and an in-channel recharge event in summer 2021. In the Paulden, Arizona, area, gradual water level declines have continued a downward trend that started in the 1990s. Seasonal variation is present in the Paulden area, with higher water levels in the winter months when pumping for irrigation and agricultural use is reduced. Two wells showed groundwater-level increases consistent with in-channel recharge in 2018 and 2021, whereas groundwater levels in a well screened in the deeper, confined to semi-confined carbonate aquifer showed no such discrete recharge events. In the area west of Big Chino Wash and east of the Juniper Mountains and Santa Maria Mountains, groundwater levels continued long-term declines, but storage changes were minimal.
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Arizona Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
520 N. Park Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85719
The WaterML2: Part 3 - Surface Hydrology Features (HY_Features) Conceptual Model was published by OGC in 2018. This report documents the use of HY_Features concepts in support of two key tasks: (1) local to continental hydrologic modeling; and (2) referencing river corridor data to hydrographic networks. The presented use cases are applicable in hydroscience research and assessments, water resources engineering practices, and drought and flood responses.
Before the HY_Features conceptual model there was no internationally recognized standard for the design of software and data for the hydroscience and engineering community. This report presents progress towards a logical data model that interprets the abstract HY_Features concepts for use in geospatial workflows, modeling applications, and web data systems that integrate hydrologic data.
The use cases addressed include: (1) hydrologic model control volume definition; (2) hydrologic network connectivity; (3) characterization of catchments with landscape and atmospheric data; (4) river corridor characterization; (5) hydrologic location; and (6) flow network location. Each use case is described briefly along with an analysis of the information requirements. This report presents a summary of the logical model designed to satisfy the needs of these use cases and a summary of updates and changes proposed for HY_Features.
Changes for consideration by the HY_Features Standards Working Group include the following.
Provide more clarity on the inherited properties and associations of features that \"realize\" the catchment and nexus concepts from HY_Features.
Add nexus realization feature types to represent the outlet of catchments that are \"frontal\" (terminate to the ocean or a large waterbody) or \"inland sinks.\"
Add a \"HY_Flowline\" feature as a superclass of HY_Flowpath providing linear referencing on waterbodies that are not catchment realizations.
Add an association or interface to support connection between surface catchments and hydrogeologic units.
A common goal among fisheries science professionals, stakeholders, and rights holders is to ensure the persistence and resilience of vibrant fish populations and sustainable, equitable fisheries in diverse aquatic ecosystems, from small headwater streams to offshore pelagic waters. Achieving this goal requires a complex intersection of science and management, and a recognition of the interconnections among people, place, and fish that govern these tightly coupled socioecological and sociotechnical systems. The World Fisheries Congress (WFC) convenes every four years and provides a unique global forum to debate and discuss threats, issues, and opportunities facing fish populations and fisheries. The 2021 WFC meeting, hosted remotely in Adelaide, Australia, marked the 30th year since the first meeting was held in Athens, Greece, and provided an opportunity to reflect on progress made in the past 30 years and provide guidance for the future. We assembled a diverse team of individuals involved with the Adelaide WFC and reflected on the major challenges that faced fish and fisheries over the past 30 years, discussed progress toward overcoming those challenges, and then used themes that emerged during the Congress to identify issues and opportunities to improve sustainability in the world's fisheries for the next 30 years. Key future needs and opportunities identified include: rethinking fisheries management systems and modelling approaches, modernizing and integrating assessment and information systems, being responsive and flexible in addressing persistent and emerging threats to fish and fisheries, mainstreaming the human dimension of fisheries, rethinking governance, policy and compliance, and achieving equity and inclusion in fisheries. We also identified a number of cross-cutting themes including better understanding the role of fish as nutrition in a hungry world, adapting to climate change, embracing transdisciplinarity, respecting Indigenous knowledge systems, thinking ahead with foresight science, and working together across scales. By reflecting on the past and thinking about the future, we aim to provide guidance for achieving our mutual goal of sustaining vibrant fish populations and sustainable fisheries that benefit all. We hope that this prospective thinking can serve as a guide to (i) assess progress towards achieving this lofty goal and (ii) refine our path with input from new and emerging voices and approaches in fisheries science, management, and stewardship.
Ecological condition continues to decline in arid and semi-arid river basins globally due to hydrological over-abstraction combined with changing climatic conditions. Whilst provision of water for the environment has been a primary approach to alleviate ecological decline, how to accurately monitor changes in riverine trees at fine spatial and temporal scales, remains a substantial challenge. This is further complicated by constantly changing water availability across expansive river basins with varying climatic zones. Within, we combine rare, fine-scale, high frequency temporal in-situ field collected data with machine learning and remote sensing, to provide a robust model that enables broadscale monitoring of physiological tree water stress response to environmental changes via actual evapotranspiration (ET). Physiological variation of Eucalyptus camaldulensis (River Red Gum) and E. largiflorens (Black Box) trees across 10 study locations in the southern Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, was captured instantaneously using sap flow sensors, substantially reducing tree response lags encountered by monitoring visual canopy changes. Actual ET measurement of both species was used to bias correct a national spatial ET product where a Random Forest model was trained using continuous timeseries of in-situ data of up to four years. Precise monthly AMLETT (Australia-wide Machine Learning ET for Trees) ET outputs in 30 m pixel resolution from 2012 to 2021, were derived by incorporating additional remote sensing layers such as soil moisture, land surface temperature, radiation and EVI and NDVI in the Random Forest model. Landsat and Sentinal-2 correlation results between in-situ ET and AMLETT ET returned R2 of 0.94 (RMSE 6.63 mm period−1) and 0.92 (RMSE 6.89 mm period−1), respectively. In comparison, correlation between in-situ ET and a national ET product returned R2 of 0.44 (RMSE 34.08 mm period−1) highlighting the need for bias correction to generate accurate absolute ET values. The AMLETT method presented here, enhances environmental management in river basins worldwide. Such robust broadscale monitoring can inform water accounting and importantly, assist decisions on where to prioritize water for the environment to restore and protect key ecological assets and preserve floodplain and riparian ecological function.
River-to-lake transitional areas are biogeochemically active ecosystems that can alter the amount and composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) as it moves through the aquatic continuum. However, few studies have directly measured carbon processing and assessed the carbon budget of freshwater rivermouths. We compiled measurements of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and DOM in several water column (light and dark) and sediment incubation experiments conducted in the mouth of the Fox river (Fox rivermouth) upstream from Green Bay, Lake Michigan. Despite variation in the direction of DOC fluxes from sediments, we found that the Fox rivermouth was a net sink of DOC where water column DOC mineralization outweighed the release of DOC from sediments at the rivermouth scale. Although we found DOM composition also changed during our experiments, alterations in DOM optical properties were largely independent of the direction of sediment DOC fluxes. We found a consistent decrease in humic-like and fulvic-like terrestrial DOM and a consistent increase in the overall microbial composition of rivermouth DOM during our incubations. Moreover, greater ambient total dissolved phosphorus concentrations were positively associated with the consumption of terrestrial humic-like, microbial protein-like, and more recently derived DOM but had no effect on bulk DOC in the water column. Unexplained variation indicates that other environmental controls and water column processes affect the processing of DOM in this rivermouth. Nonetheless, the Fox rivermouth appears capable of substantial DOM transformation with implications for the composition of DOM entering Lake Michigan.
Restoration in dryland ecosystems often has poor success due to low and variable water availability, degraded soil conditions, and slow plant community recovery rates. Restoration treatments can mitigate these constraints but, because treatments and subsequent monitoring are typically limited in space and time, our understanding of their applicability across broader environmental gradients remains limited. To address this limitation, we implemented and monitored a standardized set of seeding and soil surface treatments (pits, mulch, and ConMod artificial nurse plants) designed to enhance soil moisture and seedling establishment across RestoreNet, a growing network of 21 diverse dryland restoration sites in the southwestern USA over 3 years. Generally, we found that the timing of precipitation relative to seeding and the use of soil surface treatments were more important in determining seeded species emergence, survival, and growth than site-specific characteristics. Using soil surface treatments in tandem with seeding promoted up to 3× greater seedling emergence densities compared with seeding alone. The positive effect of soil surface treatments became more prominent with increased cumulative precipitation since seeding. The seed mix type with species currently found within or near a site and adapted to the historical climate promoted greater seedling emergence densities compared with the seed mix type with species from warmer, drier conditions expected to perform well under climate change. Seed mix and soil surface treatments had a diminishing effect as plants developed beyond the first season of establishment. However, we found strong effects of the initial period seeded and of the precipitation leading up to each monitoring date on seedling survival over time, especially for annual and perennial forbs. The presence of exotic species exerted a negative influence on seedling survival and growth, but not initial emergence. Our findings suggest that seeded species recruitment across drylands can generally be promoted, regardless of location, by (1) incorporation of soil surface treatments, (2) employment of near-term seasonal climate forecasts, (3) suppression of exotic species, and (4) seeding at multiple times. Taken together, these results point to a multifaceted approach to ameliorate harsh environmental conditions for improved seeding success in drylands, both now and under expected aridification.
In aquifer-dependent regions, balancing aquifer protection, desalination, economic development, agricultural irrigation, and food security can be better managed through discovery and development of sources of sustainable groundwater pumping. Aquifer desalination for irrigation to protect food security can mitigate pressure on local freshwater aquifers. Despite its importance, little peer reviewed work to date has identified the economic capacity to pay for aquifer desalination for irrigation to mitigate freshwater aquifer drawdown. The novel contribution of this work is the development and application of an innovative method to assess the economic capacity to pay for aquifer desalination for irrigation for a recently discovered large saline aquifer. It develops an original framework to assess the capacity to pay for aquifer desalination, the results of which can help guide policymakers on efficient and sustainable pumping approaches across users, aquifers, and time periods. A mathematical programming model is developed to economically analyze the 200 billion cubic meter Lotikipi Aquifer, discovered in 2013 in northern Kenya using modern remote sensing methods. While initial pumping of the Lotikipi Aquifer was halted due to high groundwater salinity levels, interest remains strong in assessing the economic capacity to pay for groundwater desalination because of its potential role in protecting regional food security generated by aquifer pumping for irrigation. The model is formulated by calibrating optimized pumping patterns in two existing freshwater aquifers to replicate observed historical pumping levels. Based on that exercise, a second model is developed to identify a least cost set of pumping restrictions that return each of three regional aquifers to starting conditions over a seven-year time period. A third model extends the second by adding a constraint of a minimum required level of food grain security supported by irrigation pumping from the aquifer system. Results show that the economic capacity to pay for aquifer desalination for irrigated agriculture lies in the range of $0.08 - $0.18 USD per cubic meter under current economic conditions and desalination technologies available. While this economic capacity to pay is lower than its current cost in most places, the future could be more optimistic. Advances in desalination technology, higher crop prices, technical advance in agriculture, and development of drought-resistant crops can all contribute to a future capacity to economically justify the expense of desalination.