An attractive technique for removing CO2 from the environment is sequestration within stable carbonate solids (e. g., calcite). However, continuous addition of alkalinity is required to achieve favorable conditions for carbonate precipitation (pH>8) from aqueous streams containing dissolved CO2 (pH<4.5) and Ca2+ ions. In this study, a pH-swing process using ion exchange was demonstrated to process 300 L of produced water brine per day for CO2 mineralization. Proton titration capacities were quantified for aqueous streams in equilibrium with gas streams at various concentrations of CO2 (pCO2=0.03–0.20 atm) and at various flow rates (0.5–2.0 L min−1). Energy intensities for the process were determined to be between 30 and 65 kWh per tonne of CO2 sequestered depending on the composition of the brine stream. A life cycle assessment was performed to analyze the net carbon emissions of the technology which indicated a net CO2 reduction for pCO2≥0.12 atm (−0.06–−0.39 kg CO2e per kg precipitated CaCO3) utilizing calcium-rich brines. The results from this study indicate the ion exchange process can be used as a scalable method to provide alkalinity necessary for the capture and storage of CO2 in Ca-rich waste streams.
A Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States, entered June 7, 1954 (New Jersey v. New York, 347 U.S. 995), established the position of Delaware River Master within the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition, the Decree authorizes the diversion of water from the Delaware River Basin and requires compensating releases from specific reservoirs owned by New York City be made under the supervision and direction of the River Master. The Decree stipulates that the River Master provide reports to the Court, not less frequently than annually. This report is the 62nd annual report of the River Master of the Delaware River. This report covers the 2015 River Master report year, which is the period from December 1, 2014, to November 30, 2015.
During the report year, precipitation in the upper Delaware River Basin was 42.22 inches or 95 percent of the long-term average. The combined storage remained above 80 percent of the combined capacity until August 2015. The lowest combined storage of the report year was 57 percent of the total combined capacity on December 1, 2014. Delaware River Master operations during the year were conducted as stipulated by the Decree and the Flexible Flow Management Program.
Diversions from the Delaware River Basin by New York City and New Jersey fully complied with the Decree. The reservoir releases were made as directed by the River Master at rates designed to meet the flow objective for the Delaware River at Montague, New Jersey, on 72 days during the report year. Interim Excess Release Quantity and conservation releases, designed to relieve thermal stress and protect the fishery and aquatic habitat in the tailwaters of the reservoirs, were also made during the report year.
Water quality in the Delaware River estuary between the streamgages at Trenton, New Jersey, and Reedy Island Jetty, Delaware, was monitored at several locations. Data on water temperature, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and pH were collected continuously by electronic instruments at four sites.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20241010","isbn":"978-1-4113-4550-8","usgsCitation":"Russell, K.L., Andrews, W.J., DiFrenna, V.J., Norris, J.M., and Mason, R.R., Jr., 2024, Report of the River Master of the Delaware River for the period December 1, 2014–November 30, 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2024–1010, 96 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20241010.","productDescription":"xi, 96 p.","numberOfPages":"96","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-144905","costCenters":[{"id":509,"text":"Office of the Associate Director for Water","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":499205,"rank":6,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_116401.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":428180,"rank":5,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1010/images/"},{"id":428179,"rank":4,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1010/ofr20241010.XML","description":"OFR 2024-1010 XML"},{"id":431003,"rank":3,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20241010/full","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"},"description":"OFR 2024-1010 HTML"},{"id":428177,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1010/ofr20241010.pdf","text":"Report","size":"8.56 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2024-1010 PDF"},{"id":428176,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1010/coverthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Delaware, New Jersey New York, Pennsylvania","otherGeospatial":"Delaware River","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -76.94505928621406,\n 40.05337883630068\n ],\n [\n -74.72855902979892,\n 39.22047921540104\n ],\n [\n -73.33537420998806,\n 42.70804724221631\n ],\n [\n -75.52173314274067,\n 43.29620805006448\n ],\n [\n -76.94505928621406,\n 40.05337883630068\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Delaware River Master
Office of the Delaware River Master
U.S. Geological Survey
Like many hydrocarbon production areas in the U.S., the Poso Creek Oil Field in California includes and is adjacent to other land uses (agricultural and other developed lands) that affect the hydrology and geochemistry of the aquifer overlying and adjacent to oil development. We hypothesize that the distributions of hydrocarbons and arsenic in groundwater in such areas will be controlled by complex interactions between mixed land uses, oil-field infrastructure, and natural processes. In 2020–2021, samples of groundwater and surface water were collected and analyzed for a large suite of inorganic and organic chemicals and isotope and gas tracers to test this hypothesis. Those data are supplemented with ancillary data on historical geochemistry, hydrology, geology, and oil-field infrastructure. Hydrocarbons in groundwater (e.g., methane through pentane gases and benzene) are associated with natural processes (e.g., fault offsets or transition in sediment depositional environment) and oil-field infrastructure (e.g., fluid-migration pathways associated with uncemented annulus in oil wells or unlined pits). Arsenic concentrations >10 μg per liter (μg/L; maximum concentration 12.9 μg/L) are associated with natural processes in old, high-pH groundwater, and more recent recharge of water from natural and/or engineered recharge processes. Along the southwest margin of the oil field, pumping for drinking-water and irrigation supplies in combination with engineered groundwater recharge produce a depression in groundwater elevations where groundwater with elevated sulfate concentrations from agricultural areas and groundwater with hydrocarbons from the oil field mix to produce a zone of sulfate reduction that removes hydrocarbons and arsenic from groundwater but produces elevated sulfide (S2-) concentrations (maximum concentration 29 mg per liter, mg/L). In this study, multiple approaches were required to resolve the overlapping effects of land uses, oil-field infrastructure, and natural processes on the distributions of hydrocarbons and arsenic in groundwater. The combined use of geographic, historical, physical, chemical, isotopic, and other information to constrain processes could be a useful approach for studies in other hydrocarbon-production areas. This is particularly important where land uses affect aquifer hydrology to an extent that causes mixing of groundwaters with different chemical compositions.
The Grand Valley in western Colorado is in the semiarid Southwest United States. The north side of the Grand Valley has many ungaged ephemeral streams, which are of particular interest because (1) the underlying bedrock geology, Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale, is a sedimentary rock deposit identified as a major salinity contributor to the Colorado River and (2) despite infrequent streamflows of short duration, monsoon-derived floods in these ephemeral streams can carry substantial amounts of sediment downstream, affecting upstream and downstream banks and channel cross sections. The study area is of interest, because salinity, or the total dissolved solids concentration, in the Colorado River causes an estimated $300 million to $400 million per year in economic damages in the United States, and it is estimated 62 percent of the Upper Colorado River Basin’s total dissolved solid loads originate from geologic sources. In an effort to minimize salt contributions to the Colorado River from public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, a comprehensive salinity control approach is typically used to reduce nonpoint sources of salinity through land management techniques and practices.
In 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, began an assessment of ephemeral streams located on the north side of the Grand Valley, western Colorado, to characterize stream channel stability and identify mechanisms affecting erosion. The U.S. Geological Survey developed a method for automatically extracting channel cross-section geometry from existing remotely sensed terrain models. Based on estimated flood stage and surrogate streamflows, hydraulic characteristics were calculated. Furthermore, the channel geometries and hydraulic characteristics were used to estimate channel stability using a statistical model.
Cross-section stabilities were determined from a stream channel stability assessment for a subset of 1,406 visited (field observed) locations out of 13,415 cross sections, which were delineated from remotely sensed terrain models. The application of Manning’s resistance equation in combination with multiple logistic regression models demonstrated channel stability can be estimated with a 0.845 goodness of fit for a validation dataset when using a combination of drainage area, width-to-depth ratio, sinuosity, and shear stress as the explanatory variables. Stream channel stability was extrapolated for 13,415 unvisited (not field observed) cross sections using the multiple logistic regression model and defined explanatory variables. Mapping of the ephemeral streams and their associated stabilities may be used by the Bureau of Land Management to prioritize areas for remediation or changes in management strategies to reduce sediment and salinity loading to the Colorado River.
The study found channel stability within the ephemeral streams to be spatially variable, longitudinally discontinuous, and dictated by changes in channel bed slope. The stable ephemeral streams were relatively wide and shallow and often had smaller drainage areas with less potential for producing shear stresses capable of overcoming channel adhesion. A change in channel bed slope can provide the means necessary to generate shear stresses appropriate to initiate erosion and a subsequent stability transition to incising channels. Channel widening happens when either or both banks of an incising channel reach a critical height for mass wasting, or when channel curvature causes higher sidewall stress. Regardless, widening channels can promote increases in sinuosity and subsequently reduce steep channel bed slopes. Consequently, stable and widening channels can have comparable bed slopes, making channel bed slope a poor explanatory variable to predict channel stability overall, despite its function to initiate channel instability.
The results were based on a surrogate 0.10 annual exceedance probability (AEP; return period equal to the 10-year flood) interval streamflow, although it was recognized fluctuations in streamflow would also affect channel stability. Past and current changes within the study area affect streamflow; therefore, mechanisms affecting erosion include land use disturbances, soil compaction, loss of vegetation cover, drought, less frequent and more extreme precipitation, and fires—which all intensify the potential runoff and erosion within the study area.
Director, Colorado Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Box 25046, Mail Stop 415
Denver, Colorado 80225
Sediment management is an important aspect of dam removal projects, often driving costs and influencing community acceptance. For dams storing uncontaminated sediments, downstream release is often the cheapest and most practical approach and can be ecologically beneficial to downstream areas deprived of sediment for years. To employ this option, project proponents must estimate the sediment quantity to be released and, if substantial, estimate how long it will take to erode, where it will go and how long it will stay there. We investigated these issues when the Bloede Dam was removed from the Patapsco River in Maryland, USA, in 2018. The dam was about 10 m high, and its impoundment was nearly filled with an estimated 186 600 m3 of sediment composed of 70% sand and 30% mud. After removal, using elevation surveys generated by traditional methods as well as structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry at high temporal resolution, we documented rapid erosion of stored sediments in the first 6 months (~60%) followed by greatly reduced erosion rates for the next two and a half years. A stable channel developed in the impoundment during the rapid erosion phase. These results were predicted by a two-phased erosion response model developed from observations at sand-filled impoundments, thus expanding its applicability to include impoundments with a sand-over-mud stratigraphy. A similar two-phase erosion response has been reported for sediment releases at other dam removals in the United States, France and Japan across a range of dam and watershed scales, indicating what practitioners and communities should expect in similar settings. Downstream, repeat surveys combined with discharge and sediment gaging showed rapid transport of eroded sediments through a 5-km reach, especially during the first year when discharges were above normal, and little overbank storage.
","language":"English","publisher":"Wiley","doi":"10.1002/esp.5850","usgsCitation":"Collins, M.J., Baker, M.E., Cashman, M.J., Miller, A., and Van Ryswick, S., 2024, Impounded sediment and dam removal: Erosion rates and proximal downstream fate: Earth Systems Processes and Landforms, v. 49, p. 2690-2703, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5850.","productDescription":"14 p.","startPage":"2690","endPage":"2703","ipdsId":"IP-155014","costCenters":[{"id":41514,"text":"Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":439656,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5850","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":432028,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Maryland","otherGeospatial":"Patapsco River","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -76.83408755981594,\n 39.30706218141856\n ],\n [\n -76.82795890419602,\n 39.32160674641318\n ],\n [\n -76.87308992002937,\n 39.34486766362994\n ],\n [\n -76.88530997597846,\n 39.33378339261742\n ],\n [\n -76.83504342654426,\n 39.302889650775796\n ],\n [\n -76.83408755981594,\n 39.30706218141856\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","volume":"49","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Collins, Matthias J. 0000-0003-4238-2038","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4238-2038","contributorId":196365,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Collins","given":"Matthias","email":"","middleInitial":"J.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":907903,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Baker, Matthew E.","contributorId":149189,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Baker","given":"Matthew","email":"","middleInitial":"E.","affiliations":[{"id":17665,"text":"Department of Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, US","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":907904,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Cashman, Matthew J. 0000-0002-6635-4309","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6635-4309","contributorId":203315,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Cashman","given":"Matthew","middleInitial":"J.","affiliations":[{"id":37277,"text":"WMA - Earth System Processes Division","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":907905,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Miller, Andrew","contributorId":200717,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Miller","given":"Andrew","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":907906,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Van Ryswick, Stephen","contributorId":341076,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Van Ryswick","given":"Stephen","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":25435,"text":"Maryland Geological Survey","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":907907,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5}]}} ,{"id":70273290,"text":"70273290 - 2024 - Modeling nearshore total phosphorus in Lake Michigan using linked hydrodynamic and water quality models","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2026-01-05T15:24:15.668823","indexId":"70273290","displayToPublicDate":"2024-05-06T09:12:30","publicationYear":"2024","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":1458,"text":"Ecological Modelling","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Modeling nearshore total phosphorus in Lake Michigan using linked hydrodynamic and water quality models","docAbstract":"Reductions in streamflow caused by groundwater pumping, known as “streamflow depletion,” link the hydrologic process of stream-aquifer interactions to human modifications of the water cycle. Isolating the impacts of groundwater pumping on streamflow is challenging because other climate and human activities concurrently impact streamflow, making it difficult to separate individual drivers of hydrologic change. In addition, there can be lags between when pumping occurs and when streamflow is affected. However, accurate quantification of streamflow depletion is critical to integrated groundwater and surface water management decision making. Here, we highlight research priorities to help advance fundamental hydrologic science and better serve the decision-making process. Key priorities include (a) linking streamflow depletion to decision-relevant outcomes such as ecosystem function and water users to align with partner needs; (b) enhancing partner trust and applicability of streamflow depletion methods through benchmarking and coupled model development; and (c) improving links between streamflow depletion quantification and decision-making processes. Catalyzing research efforts around the common goal of enhancing our streamflow depletion decision-support capabilities will require disciplinary advances within the water science community and a commitment to transdisciplinary collaboration with diverse water-connected disciplines, professions, governments, organizations, and communities.
Waterfowl are housed in captivity for research studies that are infeasible in the wild. Accommodating the unique requirements of semi-aquatic species in captivity while meeting experimental design criteria for research questions can be challenging and may have unknown effects on animal health. Thus, testing and standardizing best husbandry and care practices for waterfowl is necessary to facilitate proper husbandry and humane care while ensuring reliable and repeatable research results. To inform husbandry practices for captive-reared and wild-caught lesser scaup (Aythya affinis; hereafter, scaup), we assessed body mass and fat composition across two different aspects of husbandry, source population (captive-reared or wild caught), and housing densities (birds/m2). Our results suggest that housing scaup at low densities (≤0.6 m2/bird, P = 0.049) relative to other species can minimize negative health effects. Captive-reared scaup were heavier (P = 0.027) with greater body fat (P < 0.001) and exhibited fewer signs of stress during handling than wild-caught scaup. In our experience, scaup which are captive-reared from eggs collected in the wild were better for long-term captivity studies as they maintained body mass between and recovered lost body mass following trials. Researchers would benefit from carefully evaluating the tradeoffs of using short- and long-term captive methods on their research question before designing projects, husbandry practices, and housing facilities for waterfowl.
","language":"English","publisher":"Oxford Academic","doi":"10.1093/tas/txae076","usgsCitation":"Beach, C., Jacques, C., Lancaster, J., Osborne, D., Yetter, A., Cole, R.A., Hagy, H., and Fournier, A., 2024, Lessons learned from using wild-caught and captive-reared lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) in captive experiments: Translational Animal Science, v. 8, txae076, 7 p., https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txae076.","productDescription":"txae076, 7 p.","ipdsId":"IP-161402","costCenters":[{"id":456,"text":"National Wildlife Health Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":439667,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txae076","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":429201,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"volume":"8","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2024-05-04","publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Beach, C.R","contributorId":336886,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Beach","given":"C.R","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":80893,"text":"Department of Biological Sciences, Western Illinois University,","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":901298,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Jacques, C.N","contributorId":336887,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Jacques","given":"C.N","affiliations":[{"id":33955,"text":"Illinois Department of Natural Resources","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":901299,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Lancaster, J.D.","contributorId":336888,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Lancaster","given":"J.D.","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":80895,"text":"Gulf Coast Joint Venture, Ducks Unlimited, Inc.","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":901300,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Osborne, D.C.","contributorId":336889,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Osborne","given":"D.C.","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":80897,"text":"College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, University of Arkansas at Monticello, Monticello, Arkansas, 71656","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":901301,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Yetter, A.P.","contributorId":336890,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Yetter","given":"A.P.","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":80898,"text":"Forbes Biological Station–Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Havana, Illinois, 62644","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":901302,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5},{"text":"Cole, Rebecca A. 0000-0003-2923-1622 rcole@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2923-1622","contributorId":2873,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Cole","given":"Rebecca","email":"rcole@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"A.","affiliations":[{"id":456,"text":"National Wildlife Health Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":901303,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":6},{"text":"Hagy, H.M.","contributorId":336891,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Hagy","given":"H.M.","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":80899,"text":"National Wildlife Refuge System, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Stanton, Tennessee, 38069","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":901304,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":7},{"text":"Fournier, A.M.V.","contributorId":336892,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Fournier","given":"A.M.V.","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":80898,"text":"Forbes Biological Station–Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Havana, Illinois, 62644","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":901305,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":8}]}} ,{"id":70255660,"text":"70255660 - 2024 - Combining terrestrial lidar with single line transects to investigate geomorphic change: A case study on the Upper Verde River, Arizona","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2024-06-27T12:27:55.213471","indexId":"70255660","displayToPublicDate":"2024-05-03T07:24:38","publicationYear":"2024","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":1801,"text":"Geomorphology","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Combining terrestrial lidar with single line transects to investigate geomorphic change: A case study on the Upper Verde River, Arizona","docAbstract":"The Upper Verde River in northern Arizona, USA is a vital resource for the wildlife and humans that rely on its waters. We characterize the riparian corridor topography using terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) data from 2021 to 2022. We also quantify geomorphic changes associated with human and climate-driven alterations in river flow and vegetation changes by combining the contemporary lidar surveys with legacy measurements from single line geomorphology transects measured by the United States Forest Service (USFS) in 2009. Seventeen plots along the Upper Verde River were surveyed with the TLS and the data were coregistered within individual plots with a Root Mean Square Error of <0.03 m among scan positions. Digital Elevation Models (DEM) were derived for each plot from the TLS data at 10 cm resolution and compared to the 2009 USFS cross-section data to quantify elevation changes. In areas with statistically significant change, we detected maximum changes in elevation due to erosion and deposition of −0.37 m and + 0.97 m, respectively. Topographic changes over the 13-year period were predominately aggradation and associated with sediment deposition, which we hypothesize might have resulted from altered river flow and vegetation encroachment. This study also demonstrates a quantitative and statistical methodology to fuse traditional single line cross-section data with contemporary lidar data to quantify geomorphic change. The novel approach demonstrated here is broadly applicable to natural resource managers for integrating and contextualizing legacy topographic data for understanding past, present, and future landscape and habitat changes.
Wetlands are integral to the global carbon cycle, serving as both a source and a sink for organic carbon. Their potential for carbon storage will likely change in the coming decades in response to higher temperatures and variable precipitation patterns. We characterized the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition from 12 different wetland sites across the USA spanning gradients in climate, landcover, sampling depth, and hydroperiod for comparison to DOM in other inland waters. Using absorption spectroscopy, parallel factor analysis modeling, and ultra-high resolution mass spectroscopy, we identified differences in DOM sourcing and processing by geographic site. Wetland DOM composition was driven primarily by differences in landcover where forested sites contained greater aromatic and oxygenated DOM content compared to grassland/herbaceous sites which were more aliphatic and enriched in N and S molecular formulae. Furthermore, surface and porewater DOM was also influenced by properties such as soil type, organic matter content, and precipitation. Surface water DOM was relatively enriched in oxygenated higher molecular weight formulae representing HUPHigh O/C compounds than porewaters, whose DOM composition suggests abiotic sulfurization from dissolved inorganic sulfide. Finally, we identified a group of persistent molecular formulae (3,489) present across all sites and sampling depths (i.e., the signature of wetland DOM) that are likely important for riverine-to-coastal DOM transport. As anthropogenic disturbances continue to impact temperate wetlands, this study highlights drivers of DOM composition fundamental for understanding how wetland organic carbon will change, and thus its role in biogeochemical cycling.
Ediacara-type macrofossils appear as early as ~575 Ma in deep-water facies of the Drook Formation of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland, and the Nadaleen Formation of Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada. Our ability to assess whether a deep-water origination of the Ediacara biota is a genuine reflection of evolutionary succession, an artifact of an incomplete stratigraphic record, or a bathymetrically controlled biotope is limited by a lack of geochronological constraints and detailed shelf-to-slope transects of Ediacaran continental margins. The Ediacaran Rackla Group of the Wernecke Mountains, NW Canada, represents an ideal shelf-to-slope depositional system to understand the spatiotemporal and environmental context of Ediacara-type organisms' stratigraphic occurrence. New sedimentological and paleontological data presented herein from the Wernecke Mountains establish a stratigraphic framework relating shelfal strata in the Goz/Corn Creek area to lower slope deposits in the Nadaleen River area. We report new discoveries of numerous Aspidella hold-fast discs, indicative of frondose Ediacara organisms, from deep-water slope deposits of the Nadaleen Formation stratigraphically below the Shuram carbon isotope excursion (CIE) in the Nadaleen River area. Such fossils are notably absent in coeval shallow-water strata in the Goz/Corn Creek region despite appropriate facies for potential preservation. The presence of pre-Shuram CIE Ediacara-type fossils occurring only in deep-water facies within a basin that has equivalent well-preserved shallow-water facies provides the first stratigraphic paleobiological support for a deep-water origination of the Ediacara biota. In contrast, new occurrences of Ediacara-type fossils (including juvenile fronds, Beltanelliformis, Aspidella, annulated tubes, and multiple ichnotaxa) are found above the Shuram CIE in both deep- and shallow-water deposits of the Blueflower Formation. Given existing age constraints on the Shuram CIE, it appears that Ediacaran organisms may have originated in the deeper ocean and lived there for up to ~15 million years before migrating into shelfal environments in the terminal Ediacaran. This indicates unique ecophysiological constraints likely shaped the initial habitat preference and later environmental expansion of the Ediacara biota.
Evidence of the widespread occurrence of microplastics throughout our environment and exposure to humans and other organisms over the past decade has led to questions about the possibility of health hazards and mitigation of exposures. This document discusses nanoplastics as well as microplastics (referred to solely as microplastics); the microplastics have a range from 1 micrometer to 5 millimeters (1 μm–5 mm) in length, whereas the nanoplastics are less than 1 μm in length (sidebar ES1).
A myriad of environmental exposure pathways with microplastics to humans and wildlife, including ingestion, inhalation, and bodily absorption, are likely to exist. A growing body of evidence has documented bioaccumulation of microplastics in tissues and organs of humans and wildlife, benthic community effects, and potential nutritional and reproductive effects in some wildlife species. Understanding if or when environmental exposures pose a health risk is complicated by the diversity of microplastic sizes, morphologies, polymer types, and chemicals added during manufacturing or sorbed from the environment; ongoing challenges in analytical methods used to detect, quantify, and characterize microplastics and associated chemicals in our ecosystems; and the fact that ecotoxicological studies regarding microplastics are still in their infancy. Therefore, the study of environmental exposures and potential related health hazards of microplastics to the public and wildlife is a One Health (sidebar ES2) research topic that necessitates integrated science approaches.
A better understanding of the sources, pathways, fate, and biological effects of microplastics has become a priority of the Federal Government, State governments, Tribes, stakeholders, and the public. Examples of Federal and State microplasticfocused legislation and programs to prioritize microplastic research and reduction include the Federal Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015, California Senate Bills 1422 and 1263 (2018), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Trash Free Waters Program, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Microplastic and Nanoplastic Metrology project, and Minnesota’s microplastic project. With its unique expertise and capabilities, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is well positioned to help fill some of the most important microplastic science gaps.
This strategic science vision document for microplastics identifies current (2023) microplastic science gaps and prioritizes research relevant to the mission, expertise, and capabilities of the USGS. It is intended for USGS scientists and stakeholders to use as a starting point for planning, prioritizing, and designing collaborative environmental microplastic science. Many of the microplastic science gaps and priorities are scalable, from local to national, and thus, can be made commensurate with available funding and evolving analytical and field tools, laboratory capacity, and stakeholder needs. Current (2023) or future research by academia and other Federal or State agencies, and Tribes may be aimed at some of the same microplastic science gaps identified in this document. Therefore, this document can be used as an information resource to maximize strengths and capabilities and minimize redundancy in communication and collaboration.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/cir1521","isbn":"978-1-4113-4554-6","usgsCitation":"Iwanowicz, D.D., Baldwin, A.K., Barber, L.B., Blazer, V.S., Corsi, S.R., Duris, J.W., Fisher, S.C., Focazio, M., Janssen, S.E., Jasmann, J.R., Kolpin, D.W., Kraus, J.M., Lane, R.F., Lee, M.E., McSwain, K.B., Oden, T.D., Reilly, T.J., and Spanjer, A.R., 2024, Integrated science for the study of microplastics in the environment—A strategic science vision for the U.S. Geological Survey: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1521, 54 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1521.","productDescription":"vi, 54 p.","numberOfPages":"54","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-149474","costCenters":[{"id":506,"text":"Office of the AD Ecosystems","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":499074,"rank":6,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_116399.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":428169,"rank":3,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1521/full","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"},"description":"CIR 1521 HTML"},{"id":428170,"rank":4,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1521/cir1521.XML","linkFileType":{"id":8,"text":"xml"},"description":"CIR 1521 XML"},{"id":428171,"rank":5,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1521/images/"},{"id":428167,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1521/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":428168,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1521/cir1521.pdf","text":"Report","size":"16.8 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"CIR 1521 PDF"}],"contact":"Program Coordinator, Environmental Health Program
U.S. Geological Survey
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20192
A structured decision making (SDM) approach can help evaluate tradeoffs between conservation and human-benefit objectives by fostering communication and knowledge transfer among stakeholders, decision makers, and the public. However, the process is iterative and completing the full process may take years. It can be difficult to initiate an SDM effort when problems seem insurmountable. Occasionally, SDM may not even be the best or correct approach for addressing the conservation problem at hand. We describe the implementation of an SDM process to help inform difficult decisions related to competing objectives. We convened a diverse stakeholder group from the largest estuary in the western United States; the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Bay-Delta). The stakeholder group consisted of representatives from local, state, and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and recreational fishers. The stakeholder group agreed on a problem statement and identified four priority objectives related to Chinook salmon, delta smelt, water availability and reliability, and agricultural water use. Furthermore, they proposed 14 candidate management actions to achieve their objectives. The group then used existing quantitative models and data to evaluate trade-offs in proposed management actions to identify areas of agreement of proposed candidate actions. The clear communication of the problem statement and objectives among the stakeholder group, along with evaluation of tradeoffs and uncertainty via decision-support models suggest that a full SDM approach may work in the Bay-Delta. We further communicate lessons learned during our implementation of SDM to help guide future SDM efforts in the region and elsewhere.
Diadromous fishes migrate between marine and fresh waters for reproduction. For anadromous species, which spawn in freshwater, improved access to freshwater spawning and nursery habitats and ability of juveniles to emigrate to the ocean may support population recovery. Despite the potentially enormous influence of early life stage survival on adult population size, managers and scientists have limited capacity to assess numbers of juvenile anadromous fishes leaving freshwater ecosystems. Such data are critical for evaluating reproductive success and habitat suitability and have been identified as a top priority in anadromous fish research and management. We developed a state-of-the-art underwater video and computational system to collect videos to estimate abundances and migration timing for juvenile river herring (Alosa pseudoharengus; Alosa aestivalis). We collected continuous video in the Monument River (Bourne, Massachusetts, USA) from June to November 2017. We trained three types of neural network models to detect and count fish in video frames and evaluated model performance by comparing human counts to model outputs. Our top model assessed presence and absence (F1 = 87%) and counted fish (counting error 9.4%) with an accuracy comparable to human counters (F1 = 88%). Our system's capability to collect accurate counts of emigrating juveniles will provide critical information that could be related to the numbers of spawning adults, system-specific productivity, and spawning and nursery habitat suitability. Both the video collection system and computational model may be transferrable to other sites and for other species where tracking juvenile emigration may inform management efforts.
","language":"English","publisher":"Wiley","doi":"10.1002/lom3.10607","usgsCitation":"Marjadi, M., Batchelder, S., Govostes, R., Roy, A.H., Sheppard, J.J., Slocombe, M., and Llopiz, J.K., 2024, A video monitoring and computational system for estimating migratory juvenile fish abundance in river systems: Limnology and Oceanography Methods, v. 22, no. 5, p. 295-310, https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10607.","productDescription":"16 p.","startPage":"295","endPage":"310","ipdsId":"IP-153977","costCenters":[{"id":199,"text":"Coop Res Unit Leetown","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":499869,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10607","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":433576,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Massachusetts","city":"Bourne","otherGeospatial":"Monument River watershed","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -70.64760395310527,\n 41.776303905697034\n ],\n [\n -70.64760395310527,\n 41.73753363601219\n ],\n [\n -70.46626157712495,\n 41.73753363601219\n ],\n [\n -70.46626157712495,\n 41.776303905697034\n ],\n [\n -70.64760395310527,\n 41.776303905697034\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","volume":"22","issue":"5","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2024-03-14","publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Marjadi, Meghna N.","contributorId":342885,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Marjadi","given":"Meghna N.","affiliations":[{"id":36396,"text":"University of Massachusetts","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":910465,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Batchelder, Sidney","contributorId":342893,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Batchelder","given":"Sidney","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":36711,"text":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":910469,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Govostes, Ryan","contributorId":343989,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Govostes","given":"Ryan","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":6706,"text":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":912569,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Roy, Allison H. 0000-0002-8080-2729 aroy@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8080-2729","contributorId":4240,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Roy","given":"Allison","email":"aroy@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"H.","affiliations":[{"id":199,"text":"Coop Res Unit Leetown","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":910466,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Sheppard, John J.","contributorId":342890,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Sheppard","given":"John","email":"","middleInitial":"J.","affiliations":[{"id":39892,"text":"Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":910468,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5},{"text":"Slocombe, Meghan-Grace","contributorId":342888,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Slocombe","given":"Meghan-Grace","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":36396,"text":"University of Massachusetts","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":910467,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":6},{"text":"Llopiz, Joel K.","contributorId":317780,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Llopiz","given":"Joel","email":"","middleInitial":"K.","affiliations":[{"id":13294,"text":"Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":912570,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":7}]}} ,{"id":70267511,"text":"70267511 - 2024 - Land use and dog park associations with Escherichia coli in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area watershed","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2025-05-28T14:00:46.293627","indexId":"70267511","displayToPublicDate":"2024-05-01T08:52:05","publicationYear":"2024","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":1,"text":"Federal Government Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":18517,"text":"Science Report","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":1}},"seriesNumber":"NPS/SR—2024/113","title":"Land use and dog park associations with Escherichia coli in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area watershed","docAbstract":"A recent study in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CHAT) indicated that dogs were a primary source of fecal contamination in the Chattahoochee River and that at least some of the contamination in the river was coming from locations outside of CHAT. The study herein sought to determine if dog parks in the CHAT watershed were sources of dog fecal contamination in streams within the watershed. Escherichia coli (E. coli) data were compiled from the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Neighborhood Water Watch (NWW) program for sites within the CHAT watershed. Information about dog park locations within the Atlanta metropolitan area was compiled through online searches. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, forward stepwise linear regression, and Spearman rank correlations were used to investigate the relations between seasonal E. coli levels (E. coli concentration and the proportion of samples that exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency beach action value [BAV]) and dog parks within the drainage basins. NWW sites with dog parks within the drainage basins had higher E. coli concentrations in the summer and winter, and samples exceeded the BAV more frequently in the winter than sites without dog parks within the drainage basins. Escherichia coli levels in the summer and winter were positively correlated with the number of dog parks within the drainage basins, indicating that E. coli concentrations and the frequency of BAV exceedances were seasonally higher at sites with more dog parks than at sites with fewer dog parks within the drainage basins. Escherichia coli concentrations in the summer were negatively correlated with distance to the nearest dog park in the drainage basin, indicating that sites with at least one dog park in close proximity had higher E. coli concentrations in the summer than sites for which the closest dog park was more distantly located. However, results of this study may have been influenced by the high degree of spatial autocorrelation in the data caused by overlapping drainage basins. Additionally, E. coli occurs in the gut systems of many species, so concentrations of E. coli may not represent levels of dog fecal contamination. Dog waste in residential yards and neighborhoods is a possible source of contamination in the watershed that could be investigated in future studies on sources of fecal contamination in the CHAT watershed. Utilizing dog-specific genetic markers in future studies would help reduce ambiguity in data interpretation.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. National Park Service","doi":"10.36967/2302755","collaboration":"National Park Service","usgsCitation":"McKee, A., and Couch, A., 2024, Land use and dog park associations with Escherichia coli in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area watershed: Science Report NPS/SR—2024/113, vii, 33 p., https://doi.org/10.36967/2302755.","productDescription":"vii, 33 p.","ipdsId":"IP-135638","costCenters":[{"id":13634,"text":"South Atlantic Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":486635,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Georgia","otherGeospatial":"Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area watershed","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -83.9,\n 34.25\n ],\n [\n -84.6,\n 34.25\n ],\n [\n -84.6,\n 33.75\n ],\n [\n -83.9,\n 33.75\n ],\n [\n -83.9,\n 34.25\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"McKee, A.M. 0000-0003-2790-5320","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2790-5320","contributorId":334968,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"McKee","given":"A.M.","affiliations":[{"id":13634,"text":"South Atlantic Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":938452,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Couch, Ann M.","contributorId":355960,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Couch","given":"Ann M.","affiliations":[{"id":36189,"text":"National Park Service","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":938453,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2}]}} ,{"id":70253244,"text":"tm7A3 - 2024 - Accounting for the fraction of carcasses outside the searched area in the estimation of bird and bat fatalities at wind energy facilities","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2024-12-03T19:57:00.75842","indexId":"tm7A3","displayToPublicDate":"2024-04-30T16:58:47","publicationYear":"2024","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":"7-A3","displayTitle":"Accounting for the Fraction of Carcasses Outside the Searched Area in the Estimation of Bird and Bat Fatalities at Wind Energy Facilities","title":"Accounting for the fraction of carcasses outside the searched area in the estimation of bird and bat fatalities at wind energy facilities","docAbstract":"Accurate estimation of bird and bat mortality at wind energy facilities requires accounting for carcasses that lie outside the search plots because they lie beyond the search radius or in areas within the search radius that remain unsearched due to sub-optimal search conditions such as thick vegetation, rough or dangerous ground, water, or restricted access to the land. However, carcass density is not constant around a turbine and the fraction of carcasses within the unsearched area can vary greatly depending on where the area lies relative to the turbine. The density-weighted proportion approach takes into account the changing density of carcasses around turbines to estimate the fraction of carcasses lying in unsearched areas (dwp). It involves tallying the carcasses found in concentric rings centered at the turbine, fitting a curve to the carcass densities in the rings, and dividing the integral of the curve over the area searched by the integral over the total area. Accounting for unsearched area presents special difficulties such as extrapolation beyond the search radius, spatial prediction, and model selection, which are frequently ignored or under-appreciated, potentially resulting in substantial estimation errors.
A powerful new R software package (dwp) is available to perform the calculations, given the distances at which carcasses were found from turbines and a map of the searched area used to discern the fraction of the ground searched at each distance. If all ground within a given search radius has been searched, the map is simply the search radius. For more complicated search plots, other kinds of maps may be used: R polygons for plots that can be readily delineated into searched and not-searched areas (for example, searches restricted to access roads and turbine pads), GIS shape files for complicated search patterns (for example, non-uniform vegetation or ground texture resulting in spatially varying search conditions), or raster files for complicated search patterns coupled with carcass spatial distribution that depends on both distance and direction from turbines.
This study discusses estimation and interpretation of dwp in the context of several realistic examples; provides guidance for use of the dwp software for doing the analyses; and addresses questions of extrapolation, spatial prediction, and model selection.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/tm7A3","usgsCitation":"Dalthorp, D., Huso, M., Dalthorp, M., and Mintz, J., 2024, Accounting for the fraction of carcasses outside the searched area in the estimation of bird and bat fatalities at wind energy facilities: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 7, chap. A3, 104 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/tm7A3.","productDescription":"vii, 104 p.","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-135475","costCenters":[],"links":[{"id":428248,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/7a3/tm7A3.XML"},{"id":428246,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/7a3/tm7A3.jpg"},{"id":428247,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/7a3/tm7A3.pdf","text":"Report","size":"6 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"TM 7A3"}],"contact":"Director, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
777 NW 9th Street, Suite 400
Corvallis, Oregon 97330
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers American River Watershed Common Features project (ACRF) seeks to reduce flood risk for the City of Sacramento, California, and surrounding areas. The project includes levee-remediation measures to address seepage, stability, erosion, and height concerns as well as the widening of the Sacramento Weir and Bypass. The project reach is in the lower extent of the Sacramento River migration corridor for the federally threatened southern Distinct Population Segment of North American green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris). To establish baseline migratory behavior, we examined adult green sturgeon transit through the project area prior to construction. Biologists from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers collected and tagged 55 adult green sturgeon with acoustic and passive integrated transponders, near Hamilton City, California, at river kilometer 332 of the Sacramento River each fall from 2020 to 2022. To evaluate fish movements, we deployed five acoustic detection sites at river kilometers 101, 90, 76, and 21 on the Sacramento River and in Tule Canal near the Sacramento Bypass at river kilometer 101 of the Sacramento River. The acoustic receivers detected nearly all tagged fish moving downstream through the ARCF study area during the same water year (October 1–September 30) in which they were tagged. Three fish released in October of 2020 arrived at the ARCF study area more than 362 days later in October 2021. The timing of tagged fish movements was associated with increases in river flow and not hour of day. Adult green sturgeon moved downstream from January to August when streamflows exceeded 15,000 cubic feet per second. During water year 2023 and the critically dry water year 2022, fish moved with the first peaks in flow occurring from mid-October to early January. Fish tagged in the critically dry water year 2021 entered the ARCF study area over an extended period from January to October, when flows remained around 10,000 cubic feet per second all year. Fish moved quickly between sites within the ARCF study area and generally spent less than 1 hour at each detection site.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20241025","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers","usgsCitation":"Hansen, A.C., Burdick, S.M., Johnson, R.P., Chase, R.D., and Thomas, M.J., 2024, Adult green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) movements in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, California, December 2020–January 2023: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2024–1025, 17 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20241025.","productDescription":"vii, 17 p.","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-160183","costCenters":[{"id":654,"text":"Western Fisheries Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":428182,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1025/ofr20241025.pdf","text":"Report","size":"6.55 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2024-1025 PDF"},{"id":428183,"rank":3,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20241025/full","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"},"description":"OFR 2024-1025 HTML"},{"id":428185,"rank":5,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1025/ofr20241025.XML"},{"id":428181,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1025/ofr20241025.jpg"},{"id":428184,"rank":4,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1025/images"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","otherGeospatial":"Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -121.72096146410857,\n 38.13471307768137\n ],\n [\n -121.39983277185577,\n 38.13471307768137\n ],\n [\n -121.39983277185577,\n 38.595842840770814\n ],\n [\n -121.72096146410857,\n 38.595842840770814\n ],\n [\n -121.72096146410857,\n 38.13471307768137\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Western Fisheries Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
6505 NE 65th Street
Seattle, Washington 98115-5016
This report describes the development of a CE-QUAL-W2 river hydrodynamics and temperature model of a 21-mile reach of the Illinois River including a 3-mile reach of a major tributary, the Fox River. Model outputs consist of streamflow, water velocity, water-surface elevation, and water-temperature time series that can be used to simulate summer conditions in years with and without extensive development of harmful algal blooms (HABs). These analyses may provide a better understanding of some complex factors contributing to HAB development along the Illinois River. Such an understanding may provide more accurate HAB timing and location predictions and may help determine potential mitigating activities to prevent or limit the size and duration of HABs.
Using the observed and simulated hydrodynamic conditions in the Illinois River study reach, it was possible to compare and contrast streamflow, velocity, and temperature conditions in years with varying HAB distributions. Occurrences of extensive HABs were documented in the study reach in June 2020 and June 2021, but only a small HAB restricted to the Marseilles Lock and Dam pool occurred in the summer of 2022. The objective then was to find similarities in site conditions between 2020 and 2021 that may contrast with the conditions in 2022. Among the 3 years included in the study, the variability in simulated water temperature exceeded variability in observed streamflow and simulated velocities. The longest period of water temperatures greater than 27 degrees Celsius (°C) in the selected locations in June of the three analysis years was in the second half of June 2022, yet no study-area wide HAB was documented in 2022. Simulations indicated that after warm water temperatures were established in the reach in June 2022, a cooling period broke up the warming period. This period of cooling was greater in magnitude and duration downstream from the location of a localized HAB perhaps limiting the spread of the bloom.
Residence times differed substantially in segments representing different channel features; values ranged from 0.28 to 17.3 (days per 500 meters of channel) between the main stem and backwater areas, respectively. Variation in average June residence times was also greater among different channel features than among different years in the study period. The HABs in 2020 and 2021 at Starved Rock Dam were documented when water temperatures were about 26 °C. River backwater areas at some locations did attain these temperatures 2 to 3 days before the conditions in the main stem. Residence times in the backwater areas, however, generally exceeded 9 days, thus limiting the exchange of water carrying algal biomass into the main channel.
Hydrodynamic model calibration involved adjusting model parameters until observed and simulated daily water-surface elevations, daily streamflows, discrete velocities, and channel areas were similar. Temperature calibration was done with near-surface continuous time-series data and discrete vertical profile temperatures. Observed and simulated water temperatures generally were within 1 °C at all monitoring locations.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20245025","usgsCitation":"Ament, M.R., and Heimann, D.C., 2024, Simulation of hydrodynamics and water temperature in a 21-mile reach of the upper Illinois River, Illinois, 2020–22 (ver. 1.1, October 2024): U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2024–5025, 35 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20245025.","productDescription":"Report: viii, 35 p.; Data Release; Dataset","numberOfPages":"48","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-147887","costCenters":[{"id":36532,"text":"Central Midwest Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":497947,"rank":9,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_116400.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":462442,"rank":8,"type":{"id":25,"text":"Version History"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2024/5025/versionHist.txt","size":"2.7 KB","linkFileType":{"id":2,"text":"txt"}},{"id":428192,"rank":7,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sir20245025/full"},{"id":428191,"rank":6,"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":428190,"rank":5,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BV9EG2","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Hydrodynamic and water-temperature model of a 21-mile reach of the upper Illinois River, Illinois (ver. 1.1, October 2024)"},{"id":428189,"rank":4,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2024/5025/images/"},{"id":428186,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2024/5025/coverthb2.jpg"},{"id":428187,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2024/5025/sir20245025.pdf","text":"Report","size":"2.6 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2024–5025"},{"id":428188,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2024/5025/sir20245025.XML"}],"country":"United States","state":"Illinois","otherGeospatial":"Upper Illinois River","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -89.09651850759147,\n 41.39468681338917\n ],\n [\n -89.09651850759147,\n 41.27302034876615\n ],\n [\n -88.30008450383568,\n 41.27302034876615\n ],\n [\n -88.30008450383568,\n 41.39468681338917\n ],\n [\n -89.09651850759147,\n 41.39468681338917\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","edition":"Version 1.0: April 30, 2024; Version 1.1: October 1, 2024","contact":"Director, Central Midwest Water Science Center
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1400 Independence Road
Rolla, MO 65401
In Missouri, distinct geophysical gradients influence statewide patterns in water quality. Here, we quantify the spatiotemporal variability of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in reservoirs and streams and the edaphic, hydrologic, and land cover variables that account for cross-system variation. Datasets included statewide inventories collected over decades and studies with greater temporal resolution (n = >6350 DOC measurements). Among reservoirs, the smallest DOC concentration was measured in a spring-fed system within a forested watershed, and the largest was where agricultural biosolids were applied to the land (range 1.0–15.9 mg/L, overall mean 5.8 mg/L). Reservoir values increased from the southern forested Highlands (mean 4.7 mg/L) to the northern agricultural Plains (mean 7.0 mg/L). Stream DOC was similar to reservoir values (overall mean in streams 6.3 mg/L; Highlands mean 4.0 mg/L; Plains mean 6.6 mg/L), despite differences in study design and collection period. Reservoir DOC increased in spring, indicative of allochthonous loading, with small autochthonous additions during a broad summer peak. Temporal variability in DOC was low relative to macronutrients and chlorophyll in both reservoirs and streams, indicating DOC may be a sensitive and readily detected indicator of temporal change in these systems. In regression analyses, watershed features accounted for more than 60% of overall cross-system variability in DOC in both reservoirs and streams. Driver-response relations, however, differed between regions. This analysis extends our understanding of environmental influences on surface water chemistry in Missouri and indicates DOC is nearly as predictable as macronutrients using landscape-level features.
The Chesapeake Bay Agreement (CBA) has numerous direct goals for improving habitat, living resources, and water quality, conserving lands, engaging communities and addressing a changing climate. To date, the progress toward the wetlands outcome (creation/ restoration of 85,000 acres and enhancement of 150,000 acres) has been very slow and the outcome is projected to be off course for 2025. Two specific confounding issues arise in efforts to achieve the Bay wetlands goal: 1) the idea that restoration is driven, and incentivized and accounted for, in order to meet the TMDL’s water quality (WQ) benefits, leaving habitat benefits undervalued; and 2) there is often tension between competing restoration priorities and financial resources among different Best Management Practice (BMP) types that include wetlands, such as wetland restoration/creation/rehabilitation, stream restoration, and the creation or restoration of forest buffers.
The collaborative workshop “Evaluating an Improved Systems Approach to Wetland Crediting: Consideration of Wetland Ecosystem Services” was held March 22-23, 2022 to explore the wetland accounting system and provide insight on improved approaches to promote wetland projects toward the wetlands outcome. Four sessions were organized around topics of 1) Accounting, 2) Landscape Systems Approach, 3) Wetlands Projects and Co-Benefits, and 4) Management Implications and Recommendation Development with 21 presentations, Q and A and facilitated discussions.
Acknowledgement of the limitations of the current management framework to achieve significant gains in wetland area supports the conclusion that absent significant adaptive management of wetlands efforts, any outcome for net wetlands gains beyond 2025 will be similarly confounded. Workshop findings included suggestions for how to approach restoration projects at a systems level (e.g., creek, shoreline reach, watershed) in order to maximize synergies for multiple ecological outcomes and ecosystem services. Recommendations for improvement on existing efforts, as well as new processes, tools and partnerships are suggested from the workshop’s analysis of the state of the science as considerations to increase implementation of wetlands projects.
","language":"English","publisher":"Chesapeake Bay Program","collaboration":"Chesapeake Bay Program","usgsCitation":"Mason, P., Noe, G.E., Berlin, A., Clearwater, D., Claggett, S., Goerman, D., Landry, B.J., and Santoro, A., 2024, Evaluating an improved systems approach to wetland crediting: Consideration of wetland ecosystem services, 82 p.","productDescription":"82 p.","ipdsId":"IP-162160","costCenters":[{"id":40020,"text":"Florence Bascom Geoscience Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":428245,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"},{"id":428233,"rank":1,"type":{"id":15,"text":"Index Page"},"url":"https://www.chesapeake.org/stac/document-library/evaluating-an-improved-systems-approach-to-wetland-crediting-consideration-of-wetland-ecosystem-services/"}],"country":"United States","otherGeospatial":"Chesapeake Bay watershed","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": 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Resources","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":899782,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":7},{"text":"Santoro, Alison","contributorId":335929,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Santoro","given":"Alison","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":33964,"text":"Maryland Department of Natural Resources","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":899783,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":8}]}} ,{"id":70253235,"text":"70253235 - 2024 - A multi-marker assessment of sewage contamination in streams using human-associated indicator bacteria, human-specific viruses, and pharmaceuticals","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2024-04-30T12:00:07.983207","indexId":"70253235","displayToPublicDate":"2024-04-29T06:55:53","publicationYear":"2024","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":3352,"text":"Science of the Total Environment","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"A multi-marker assessment of sewage contamination in streams using human-associated indicator bacteria, human-specific viruses, and pharmaceuticals","docAbstract":"Human sewage contaminates waterways, delivering excess nutrients, pathogens, chemicals, and other toxic contaminants. Contaminants and various sewage indicators are measured to monitor and assess water quality, but these analytes vary in their representation of sewage contamination and the inferences about water quality they support. We measured the occurrence and concentration of multiple microbiological (n = 21) and chemical (n = 106) markers at two urban stream locations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA over two years. Five-day composite water samples (n = 98) were collected biweekly, and sewage influent samples (n = 25) were collected monthly at a Milwaukee, WI water reclamation facility. We found the vast majority of markers were not sensitive enough to detect sewage contamination. To compare analytes for monitoring applications, five consistently detected human sewage indicators were used to evaluate temporal patterns of sewage contamination, including microbiological (pepper mild mottle virus, human Bacteroides, human Lachnospiraceae) and chemical (acetaminophen, metformin) markers. The proportion of human sewage in each stream was estimated using the mean influent concentration from the water reclamation facility and the mean concentration of all stream samples for each sewage indicator marker. Estimates of instream sewage pollution varied by marker, differing by up to two orders of magnitude, but four of the five sewage markers characterized Underwood Creek (mean proportions of human sewage ranged 0.0025 % - 0.075 %) as less polluted than Menomonee River (proportions ranged 0.013 % - 0.14 %) by an order of magnitude more. Chemical markers correlated with each other and yielded higher estimates of sewage pollution than microbial markers, which exhibited greater temporal variability. Transport, attenuation, and degradation processes can influence chemical and microbial markers differently and cause variation in human sewage estimates. Given the range of potential human and ecological health effects of human sewage contamination, robust characterization of sewage contamination that uses multiple lines of evidence supports monitoring and research applications.
The Special Contributing Area Loading Program (SCALP) is a hydrologic routing program that simulates reservoir routing through a linear-reservoir-in-series method. The Java version of SCALP was developed to replicate and replace the functionality of an older version of the program written in Fortran. SCALP models flow through three reservoirs in series using an input runoff depth time series and information describing the hydrologic characteristics and sanitary flow for one or more land areas within a basin, supplied by the user. Each basin is herein referred to as a “Special Contributing Area” (SCA); the SCAs are a central concept in SCALP. Although flow through each SCA is routed separately, the user may simulate multiple SCAs in a batch simulation. The outputs of SCALP include information about flows through and overflows from the three reservoirs in the series.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20241021","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers","usgsCitation":"Doyle, H.F., and Domanski, M.M., 2024, Special Contributing Area Loading Program user’s manual: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2024–1021, 15 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20241021.","productDescription":"Report: vi, 15 p.; Software Release","numberOfPages":"26","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-137188","costCenters":[{"id":36532,"text":"Central Midwest Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":427858,"rank":6,"type":{"id":35,"text":"Software Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9EE0614","text":"USGS software release","linkHelpText":"—SCALP (Special Contributing Area Loading Program, ver. 1.0.0)"},{"id":427857,"rank":5,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20241021/full"},{"id":427856,"rank":4,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1021/images/"},{"id":427855,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1021/ofr20241021.XML"},{"id":427854,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1021/ofr20241021.pdf","text":"Report","size":"4.0 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2024–1021"},{"id":427853,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2024/1021/coverthb.jpg"}],"contact":"Director, Central Midwest Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
405 North Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
The spatiotemporal distribution of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in rivers remains poorly understood, and there is an urgent need to develop a consistent set of metrics to better document HAB occurrences and forecast future events. Using data from seven sites in the Illinois River Basin, we computed metrics focused on HAB conditions related to excess algal growth and hypoxia. Daily mean chlorophyll and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations, gross primary productivity (GPP), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) rates, focused on water quality status, identifying the timing of the transition from a clear-water to an algal dominated state. Early warning indicators (EWIs), the first-order autoregressive process (Ar1) and standard deviation (SD) of chlorophyll concentrations, focused on future events, forecasting blooms. Metrics were compared to either literature-derived or statistical-based thresholds and were normalized by total number of daily samples for an exceedance rate. Exceedances of a daily mean chlorophyll concentration averaged 50 % across all sites using a 10 µg L−1 threshold but increasing the threshold to 50 μg L−1 reduced the average exceedance rate to 5 %. The average exceedance rate for GPP (∼8 g O2 m2d−1 threshold) was 15 %, similar to the daily amplitude DO concentration (∼3 mg L−1 threshold), but the average for NEP (0 g O2 m2 d−1 threshold) was higher, at 28 %. The number of days with at least 1 continuous DO concentration below the threshold of 5, 3, or 2 mg L−1, had basin wide exceedance rates of 9 %, 3 %, and 2 %, respectively. Thresholds for EWIs, Ar1 and SD, were exceeded at 5 of the 7 sites with high chlorophyll concentrations and GPP rates. The correlation between proxies for algal biomass (chlorophyll concentration) and productivity (GPP) was strongest for sites in the middle region of the basin, with R2 values between 0.54 and 0.74. Although, cyanotoxin concentrations are the most commonly used metrics by states to define an inland water HAB, there is a paucity of publicly available data. The wider availability of chlorophyll and oxygen data combined with the results from this study suggest that biomass and productivity state and event-based metrics may be a promising way to assess and predict the vulnerability of rivers to some of the deleterious effects of HABs at broad spatial scales.
The California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP) investigated water quality of groundwater resources used for drinking-water supplies in the Madera-Chowchilla, Kings, Kaweah, Tule, and Tulare Lake groundwater subbasins of the southeastern San Joaquin Valley during 2013–15. The study focused primarily on groundwater resources used for domestic-supply wells in the southeastern San Joaquin Valley (SESJV-D), which correspond mostly to shallower parts of aquifer systems, compared to the groundwater resources used for public-supply wells in the southeastern San Joaquin Valley (SESJV-P). The investigation had three components: (1) characterization of the status of water quality in the SESJV-D, (2) comparison between water quality in the SESJV-D and SESJV-P, and (3) identification of natural and anthropogenic factors that potentially could affect water quality in these resources.
The characterization of water quality in the SESJV-D was based on data collected from 198 domestic wells sampled during 2013–15 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); characterization of water quality in the SESJV-P was based on data collected from 124 wells sampled by the USGS during 2005–18 and an additional 1,577 wells with publicly available data reported to the California State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water (SWRCB-DDW). Measured concentrations were compared to regulatory and non-regulatory drinking-water quality benchmarks. A grid-based method was used to estimate the areal proportions of each study area and the whole southeastern San Joaquin Valley with high (greater than benchmark concentration), moderate (greater than half of the benchmark for inorganic and one-tenth of the benchmark for organic), and low concentrations relative to those benchmarks.
Natural and anthropogenic factors that could affect groundwater quality for the SESJV-D were identified in the context of the hydrogeologic setting of the southeastern San Joaquin Valley. The considered factors represented hydrologic conditions and position in the groundwater flow system (well depth, lateral position, presence of hydric soils, percentage of coarse-grained sediment, and aridity index), land-use characteristics (percentages of agricultural, urban, and natural land use, percentage of orchard or vineyard land use, and densities of septic tanks and underground storage tanks near the wells), and geochemical conditions (groundwater age class, oxidation-reduction class, pH, and dissolved oxygen and bicarbonate concentrations). Factors are compared between SESJV-D and SESJV-P at the scale of the five study areas.
One or more inorganic constituents with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or California maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) were detected at high concentrations in 47 percent of the SESJV-D and in 32 percent of the SESJV-P. The inorganic constituents most commonly present at high concentrations in the SESJV-D were nitrate, uranium, and arsenic. Within the SESJV-D, the proportion of the study area with high concentrations of inorganic constituents ranged from 19 percent in Madera-Chowchilla to 60 percent in Kings and Tulare Lake. One or more inorganic constituents with California State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water secondary maximum contaminant levels (SMCL-CAs) were detected at high concentrations in 14 percent of the SESJV-D and in 19 percent of the SESJV-P. The constituents most commonly present at high concentrations were manganese, iron, and total dissolved solids (TDS). Although the proportion of SESJV-D and SESJV-P with high concentrations of TDS greater than the upper SMCL were similar at 4 percent, the proportion of the SESJV-D with moderate concentrations (between the recommended and upper SMCL-CA), 30 percent, was greater than the proportion of the SESJV-P with moderate concentrations, 12 percent.
One or more organic constituents with MCLs were present at high concentrations in 19 percent of the SESJV-D and in 12 percent of the SESJV-P. All the constituents detected at high concentrations in the SESJV-D were fumigants, primarily 1,2,3-trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP) and 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP). Fumigants also were the constituents most commonly detected at high concentrations in the SESJV-P, although high concentrations of solvents also were detected. The SESJV-D dataset included analysis of many organic constituents without MCL benchmarks and with detection levels far below drinking water benchmark concentrations; detections at these low concentrations can be used as tracers of anthropogenic influence on groundwater. Pesticides and degradates of pesticides were detected in 60 percent of the SESJV-D; the most frequently detected pesticides were the herbicides simazine, didealkylatrazine (CAAT, a degradate of simazine and atrazine), diuron, and bromacil.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20245009","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board","programNote":"A product of the California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program","usgsCitation":"Burow, K.R., Shelton, J.L., and Fram, M.S., 2024, Status of water quality in groundwater resources used for drinking-water supply in the southeastern San Joaquin Valley, 2013–15—California GAMA Priority Basin Project: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2024–5009, 135 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20245009.","productDescription":"Report: xiii, 135 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"136","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-094434","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":428122,"rank":5,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sir20245009/full"},{"id":493742,"rank":7,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_116370.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":428123,"rank":6,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9DCTLXV","text":"USGS Data Release","description":"Balkan, M., Burow, K.R., and Shelton, J.L., and Fram, M.S., 2024, Data sets for: Status of water quality in groundwater resources used for drinking water supply in the southeast San Joaquin Valley, 2013–2015—California GAMA Priority Basin Project: U.S. Geological Survey data release, accessed January, 22, 2024, at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9DCTLXV","linkHelpText":"Data sets for: Status of water quality in groundwater resources used for drinking water supply in the southeast San Joaquin Valley, 2013–2015—California GAMA Priority Basin Project"},{"id":428120,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2024/5009/sir20245009.xml"},{"id":428118,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2024/5009/covrthb.jpg"},{"id":428121,"rank":4,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2024/5009/images"},{"id":428119,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2024/5009/sir20245009.pdf","text":"Report","size":"16 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}}],"country":"United States","state":"California","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -121.36728753741212,\n 37.719936264455484\n ],\n [\n -121.36728753741212,\n 35.78355104851377\n ],\n [\n -118.20322503741215,\n 35.78355104851377\n ],\n [\n -118.20322503741215,\n 37.719936264455484\n ],\n [\n -121.36728753741212,\n 37.719936264455484\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director,
California Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
6000 J Street, Placer Hall
Sacramento, California 95819
Wildlife species confront threats from climate and land use change, exacerbating the influence of extreme climatic events on populations and biodiversity. Migratory waterbirds are especially vulnerable to hydrological drought via reduced availability of surface water habitats. We assessed how whooping cranes (Grus americana) modified habitat use and migration strategies during drought to evaluate their resilience to changing conditions and adaptive capacity. We categorized >8000 night-roost sites used by 146 cranes from 2010 to 2022 and examined relative use during non-drought, moderate drought, and extreme drought conditions. We found cultivated and uncultivated palustrine and lacustrine wetlands were generally used less during droughts than non-drought conditions. Conversely, impounded palustrine and lacustrine systems and rivers served more frequently as drought refugia (i.e., used more during drought than non-drought conditions). Night roosts occurred primarily on private lands (86% overall); public land use decreased with latitude and increased with drought severity, with greatest use (56%) occurring during severe autumn drought in the southern Great Plains. Quantifying use of identified critical habitats in the United States indicated that Cheyenne Bottoms State Waterfowl Management Area and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge were used less during drought, and the Central Platte River and Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge received similar use during drought compared to non-drought conditions. Our findings provide insights into compensatory use of habitats, where impounded surface water may function in a complementary fashion with natural wetlands. Collectively, these and other types of wetlands distributed across the migration corridor provided a reliable network of habitat available across the Great Plains. A diversity of wetlands available during variable environmental conditions would be useful in supporting continued recovery of whooping cranes and likely have benefits for a wide array of migratory birds.