Regression models for estimating suspended sediment concentrations and loads and comparison with acoustic surrogate model on the Snake River, Weiser, Idaho, 1977–2022
Megan K. Kenworthy
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5007
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Idaho Power, developed streamflow- based regression models to estimate suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and loads on the Snake River at Weiser, Idaho site (U.S. Geological Survey streamgage 13269000; hereafter referred to as “Snake at Weiser site”). This site sits upstream from the dams...
Fossil footprints and Ice Age ecosystems of White Sands National Park
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, David Bustos, Thomas M. Urban, Matthew R. Bennett
2026, Fact Sheet 2025-3046
IntroductionIn September 2021, National Park Service staff, U.S. Geological Survey scientists, and an international team of researchers revealed evidence in the form of human footprints at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, that showed people were present in North America between 23,000 and 21,000 years ago. This time was during...
Water use in Louisiana, 2020
Angela L. Robinson
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5135
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, collected water-withdrawal and water-use data from a 2020 inventory of water withdrawals in Louisiana. In 2020, approximately 8,700 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn from groundwater and surface-water sources in Louisiana, which...
Natomas basin giant gartersnake annual monitoring report 2024
Allison M. Nguyen, Jonathan P. Rose, Anna C. Jordan, Giancarlo R. Napolitano, Daniel Macias, Elliot J. Schoenig, Gabriel A. Reyes, Brian J. Halstead
2026, Open-File Report 2026-1009
The giant gartersnake (Thamnophis gigas) is a semi aquatic snake endemic to the Central Valley of California. After losing 95 percent of its historic wetland habitat (Frayer and others, 1989), giant gartersnakes became state and federally listed as a threatened species (California Fish and Game Commission, 1971; U.S. Fish and...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Bossier Formation within the onshore United States and State waters of the Gulf Coast Region, 2025
Rand Gardner, Justin E. Birdwell, Jason A. Flaum, Scott A. Kinney, Janet K. Pitman, Stanley T. Paxton, Andrea D. Cicero, Jenny H. Lagesse, Jeffrey D. Pepin, John W. Counts, Benjamin G. Johnson, Celeste D. Lohr, Katherine J. Whidden, Katherine L. French, Tracey J. Mercier, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller
2026, Fact Sheet 2026-3004
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 3 million barrels of oil and 343.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in reservoirs of the Bossier Formation within the onshore United States and State waters of the Gulf Coast region....
Inland recreational fisheries harvest far exceeds reported inland harvest in the United States
Matthew D. Robertson, Holly Susan Embke, Abigail Lynch, Stephen R. Midway, Craig Paukert
2026, Fisheries
Recreational fisheries are important global contributors to food security, socio-cultural practices, and local and regional economies. However, inland recreational fisheries are often overlooked by policymakers due to a limited understanding of the magnitude of participation, harvest, and economic impact. Here, we used the U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog...
Drift and dispersion of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) eggs and larvae for hypothetical spawning scenarios in the Upper Mississippi River
Jessica Z. LeRoy, Grace Loppnow, P. Ryan Jackson, G. Everett Lasher
2026, Scientific Reports (16)
Invasive carp pose ecological and economic risks to North American freshwater systems. This study uses the Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator to model the drift of invasive silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) eggs and larvae after hypothetical spawning in Pools 1–10 of the Upper Mississippi River. Although adult invasive carps have been detected...
Analysis of alternative weir designs for improved passage of select fish at the U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging weir at Blackwells Mills, New Jersey
Thomas P. Suro, Michal J. Niemoczynski, Kevin B. Mulligan
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5002
As the population of New Jersey continues to remain dense, the need for water supply will likely continue to be high, which can lead to water managers needing to make difficult decisions about managing drinking-water supply. Streamgaging weirs like the ones used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) play a...
Preliminary geologic map of the Sparta East, Sparta West, and parts of the Glade Valley and Whitehead 7.5-minute quadrangles, North Carolina and Virginia, and the epicentral area of the August 9, 2020, Mw 5.1 earthquake near Sparta, North Carolina
Arthur J. Merschat, Mark W. Carter, Ashley S. Lynn, Benjamin R. Weinmann, William E. Odom, Ryan J. McAleer, Shannon A. Mahan, Kevin G. Stewart, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, E. Allen Crider, Jr.
2026, Open-File Report 2026-1010
Introduction New bedrock and surficial geologic mapping in the Sparta East, Sparta West, and parts of the Glade Valley and Whitehead 7.5-minute quadrangles, North Carolina and Virginia, investigates the geologic framework and causative mechanisms of the August 9, 2020, Mw 5.1 earthquake near Sparta, North Carolina. The mapping documents (1) the...
Regional conservation planning tool: A spreadsheet model to support spatial prioritization and resource allocation decisions
Anastasia Couvillon, Gregory J. Soulliere, David H. Gordon, Diane Eggeman, Mohammed A Al-Saffar, Dale D. Humburg, James E. Lyons
2026, Wildlife Society Bulletin
Prioritization is a central component of natural resource management because conservation needs routinely exceed available resources. Waterfowl and wetland conservation programs in North America are at the forefront of landscape-scale prioritization and transboundary management decisions due to the migratory nature of ducks, geese, and swans. The growing availability of geographic...
Sex-specific Atlantic salmon upstream passage and fallback at a natural cascade after dam removal
Kurt C. Heim, Jonah L. Withers, William Arden, Laurie Earley, David Minkoff, Theodore Castro-Santos
2026, Fisheries Management and Ecology
In the Boquet River (NY, USA) a low-head dam set above a ~200-m bedrock cascade was removed in 2015. We used radio-telemetry to assess landlocked Atlantic salmon passage at the remaining cascade (2020, 2022). Across years, 52% of males (13/25) attempted cascade passage whereas females made no discernable attempts (0/11)....
An automated geographic information system-based hydraulic modeling tool for developing preliminary culvert designs for stream crossings in Massachusetts
Gardner C. Bent, Brendan A. McCarthy, Luke P. Sturtevant, Meghan A. McCallister, Amanda L. Tudor, Ian P. Armstrong, Mark W. Poe, Alexander P. Graziano, Carl S. Carlson
2026, Fact Sheet 2026-3065
IntroductionCurrently (2026), many of the about 25,000 roadway crossing structures over rivers and streams in Massachusetts are undersized. Undersized culverts and bridges can be detrimental to fish and wildlife movement, habitat continuity, and the health of aquatic organisms. Undersized culverts also can lack the resiliency needed to withstand large floods,...
An overview and participatory framework for choosing spatial boundaries in social–ecological systems modeling
Christina D. Perella, Jelena Vukomanovic, Caleb R. Hickman, Adam J. Terando, Mitchell J. Eaton, Marie Schaefer
2026, ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (15)
A common challenge when modeling social–ecological systems (SESs) is defining the spatial extent of the system. Boundaries that do not adequately capture both social and ecological processes and their interactions can lead to mischaracterization of the system, while expanding boundaries too widely can impact model complexity and required resources. Socially,...
The United States Magnetotelluric Array and the National Impedance Map
Anna Kelbert, Paul A. Bedrosian, Adam Schultz, Gary D. Egbert, Louise Pellerin, Jeffrey J. Love, Andy Frassetto, Benjamin S. Murphy
2026, Reviews of Geophysics (64)
The United States Magnetotelluric Array (USMTArray) data set, collected in the years 2006–2024, consists of more than 1,700 long-period magnetotelluric stations covering the entirety of the contiguous United States on a quasi-regular 70 km grid. Funding across multiple federal agencies was critical to sustaining this effort to its completion. Important components...
Understanding the occurrence and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in surface waters of the nontidal Passaic River Basin
Molly L. Schreiner, Kristin M. Romanok, Jacob T. Gray, Eileen J. Brown, Brianna M. Williams, Maureen Kneser, Albert J. Capuzzi, Jason Boerner, Luke Giunta, Paul Serillo, John J. Trainor, Kelly L. Smalling
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5018
This study, completed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission (NJDWSC), was designed to characterize the occurrence and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in surface waters of the nontidal Passaic River Basin in New Jersey that have the potential to...
Assessment of long-term trends in streamflow statistics within and near the Mobile Bay and Perdido Bay watersheds, United States, 1950–2022
William H. Asquith, Elena R. Crowley-Ornelas, Amanda R. Whaling
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5142
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, assessed monotonic trends for a variety of streamflow statistics for 69 long-term U.S. Geological Survey streamgages within either the Mobile Bay or Perdido Bay watersheds that were active through at least at the end of calendar year...
Building resilience in dryland ecosystems: A climate adaptation strategy menu for pinyon–juniper woodlands
Jesse Gray, Mandy L. Slate, Alyson Ennis, Courtney Peterson, John B. Bradford, Adam Roy Noel, Michael C. Duniway, Tara B. Bishop, Ian P. Barrett, Chris Domschke, Joel T. Humphries, Nicole N. Barger
2026, Forests (17)
Pinyon–juniper (PJ) woodlands, one of the most extensive mature and old-growth woodland types in the Western United States, provide critical ecological, cultural, and economic benefits but face increasing threats from climate change, altered disturbance regimes, invasive species, and pests. We developed the PJ Woodland Climate Adaptation Management Menu, a decision...
Nest site and habitat changes over 15 years in a predicted climate refugium in Beluga, AK, USA, have a positive impact on Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica) nest survival
Eden Smith, Rose J. Swift, Anna Courtemanche, Feipeng Huang, Mary Margaret Pelton, Lauren Puleo, Josiah Simmonds, Matthew Waller, Hannah Walton, Casey Weissburg, Luke R. Wilde, Nathan R. Senner
2026, Polar Biology (49)
Climate change is transforming the Arctic and sub-Arctic at a pace that threatens many taxa with population declines and extinction. However, some habitats–such as muskeg bogs–can serve as climatic refugia and lessen the effects of a changing climate on the species that rely on them. Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica) are...
Evaluating approximations of river channel shape using a national cross section database
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel
2026, Water Resources Research (62)
Many hydrologic applications require basic information on the size and shape of river channels, but measuring cross section (XS) geometry in the field or via remote sensing can be costly and often provides only partial coverage. Given these challenges, we capitalized upon an existing data set of 46,971 XS from...
Socio-ecological impacts of the 2025 Los Angeles urban fires on communities, neighborhoods, and homes
Carl August Norlen, Sadikshya Sharma, Francisco J. Escobedo
2026, Nature Communications (17)
Human settlements are increasingly being impacted by urban fires initiated by wildfires. Metrics such as area burned and number of structures destroyed are important, but research often overlooks the socio-ecological complexity of urban fires. We study the impacts of the 2025 Los Angeles fires on two communities at the neighborhood and...
Hydrologic investigation of water level fluctuations at Moreau Lake, Moreau Lake State Park, town of Moreau, New York
Paul M. Heisig
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5132
The causes of water level fluctuations at Moreau Lake, within Moreau Lake State Park in the town of Moreau, New York, were investigated from 2016 to 2021 after lake water levels dropped between 2015 and 2016, raising concerns about the loss of a shallow swimming area at the park beach....
A hierarchical approach for finding undiscovered populations of an endangered bumble bee
Clint Otto, Alma Christa Schrage, Audrey Claire Lothspeich, Larissa L. Bailey, Tamara Smith, Robert Planman, Judy Cardin, Kristen S. Ellis, Bethany Dennis, Ralph Grundel
2026, Scientific Reports (16)
Understanding the distributions of rare species is necessary to guide monitoring and inform species recovery efforts. The rusty patched bumble bee (RPBB; Bombus affinis, Cresson) is an endangered species with an extant, known distribution centered around urban areas of the Midwestern United States. We tested a novel approach for finding undocumented RPBBs...
Shallow hydrogeologic framework of the Tully Valley mudboil area, Onondaga County, New York
John H. Williams, Neil C. Terry, William M. Kappel, Paul M. Heisig, Robin L. Glas, Joshua C. Woda
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5129
Mudboils have been documented in the Tully Valley in southern Onondaga County, New York, since the late 1890s. Sediment-laden water from the mudboils flows into Onondaga Creek, which empties into Onondaga Lake at Syracuse 15 miles to the north. Turbidity from the mudboils has degraded the water quality of Onondaga...
Springtime formation of laminated soil carbonate rinds and changes in fluvial terrace soils on orbital timescales at Rio Mesa, Utah, USA
Tyler E. Huth, Thure E. Cerling, David W. Marchetti, Amy L. Ellwein, Shannon A. Mahan, David R. Bowling, Benjamin H. Passey, Victor J. Polyak, Yemane Asmerom
2026, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (27)
Laminated soil carbonate rinds are a Quaternary paleoclimate archive whose isotope composition is linked to soil formation conditions. At Rio Mesa, Utah (USA), we investigated the fidelity of rind records in a river terrace setting by determining the seasonal timing of rind formation and testing for inter-record replication. We infer...
Modeling chronic wasting disease transmission risk in mule deer related to habitat characteristics
Erica Meta Christensen, Nathan J. Kleist, David R. Edmunds, Julie A. Heinrichs, D. Joanne Saher, Ashley L. Whipple, Melia DeVivo, Cameron L. Aldridge
2026, PLoS ONE (21)
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease of cervids that spreads to uninfected individuals through direct transmission (contact with infected individuals), vertical transmission (from mother to offspring), or indirect transmission (exposure to contaminated environments). The risk of indirect transmission is unevenly distributed on the landscape, and risk levels are...
