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The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is a program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. The Secretary of Agriculture is required to submit an annual report to Congress on Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program agreements that, among other things, reports on the progress made towards fulfilling commitments outlined...

In this report, we consider evolutionary and ecological connectivity for westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) and mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) within the Pend Oreille River in northeastern Washington State, northern Idaho, and adjacent portions of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, we focused on the rationale for active translocation...

Flat Creek, a tributary to the Snake River in northwestern Wyoming, is an important source of irrigation water, fish and wildlife habitat, and local recreation. Since 1996, a section of Flat Creek within the town of Jackson has failed to meet Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s surface-water-quality standards for total...

Current time-invariant groundwater vulnerability assessments may not capture intermittent contamination events in landscape areas that experience rapid infiltration following precipitation or snowmelt. Occurrences of rapid infiltration and intermittent degradation of groundwater quality are frequently reported in fractured-rock aquifers. This investigation identifies landscape areas underlain by fractured rock within the conterminous...

Imaging sonar was used to assess the behavior, abundance, and timing of fish at the entrances to the Selective Water Withdrawal (SWW) intake structure located in the forebay of Round Butte Dam, Oregon during the spring of 2021. The purposes of the SWW are (1) to direct surface currents...

We surveyed for Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher) at 33 locations along multiple drainages in San Diego County, including portions of Agua Hedionda Creek, Cottonwood Creek, Escondido Creek, Los Penasquitos Creek, Otay River, San Diego River, San Dieguito River, San Luis Rey River, Sweetwater River, and Tijuana River....

Executive SummaryPopulations of federally endangered Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris) in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, and Clear Lake Reservoir (hereinafter, Clear Lake), California, are experiencing long-term decreases in abundance. Upper Klamath Lake populations are decreasing not only because of adult mortality, which is relatively low,...

Across the Pacific Northwest, there are many examples of artificial structures created to allow passage of upstream-migrating salmon over natural barriers. We studied upstream passage across three structures installed in 1989 to allow passage of salmon over Lake Creek Falls, a series of three natural waterfalls at the outlet...

The seagrasses eelgrass (Zostera marina) and widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima) are prominent features of coastal lagoons along the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico, supporting a rich diversity of marine life. Yet little is known about their spatial distribution in this region. This is a concern because of declining trends...

Trends in the abundance and distribution of eelgrass (Zostera marina), the primary winter forage of black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans), was evaluated at three major wintering sites for black brant along the northern Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico. This region of northwestern Mexico contains significant beds of eelgrass...

In 2015, U.S. Geological Survey scientists in collaboration with scientists from other institutions began a study of the Queen Charlotte fault—the first systematic study of the fault in more than three decades. The primary goal of the study was to gain a better understanding of the earthquake, tsunami, and underwater-landslide...

The Mount Blue Sky (formerly Mount Evans) 7.5’ quadrangle lies in Park and Clear Creek counties, Colorado, about 60 km west of Denver. The highest elevation in the quadrangle is 14,265 ft (4,348 m) at the top of Mount Blue Sky. The lowest is at about 9,200 ft (2,804 m)...

We conducted a study to assess the efficacy of using a parentage-based tagging survival model (PBT N-mixture model) to evaluate two sources of mortality for juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in Lookout Point Reservoir, Oregon. The model was originally developed to evaluate reservoir mortality because of predation from piscivorous...

A collaborative acoustic telemetry study was conducted to describe behavior and movement patterns of juvenile green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) in the lower Sacramento River, California during 2016–19. For the study, juvenile green sturgeon were collected, tagged, and released in the Sacramento River between river kilometer (rkm) 467 and rkm...

A Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States, entered June 7, 1954, established the position of Delaware River Master within the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition, the Decree authorizes diversion of water from the Delaware River Basin and requires compensating releases from certain reservoirs, owned by New York...

Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat Cal/Val Team continually...

Water, bed sediment, and invertebrate tissue were sampled in streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the Clark Fork Basin. The sampling program was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to characterize aquatic resources in...

In this report, we apply the stream salmonid simulator (S3) to coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Klamath River Basin by extending the original model to account for life history and disease dynamics specific to coho salmon. This version of S3 includes tracking of three separate life-history strategies representing...

The Navajo (N) aquifer is an extensive aquifer and the primary source of groundwater in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Water availability is an important issue in the Black Mesa area because of the arid climate, past industrial water use, and continued water requirements for municipal use...

Bathymetric and topographic data were collected from May 2013 to February 2016 along the 15.84-mile reach of the Colorado River spanning from Glen Canyon Dam to Lees Ferry in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona. Channel bathymetry was mapped using multibeam and singlebeam echo sounders; subaerial topography was mapped using...

The Bushy Park Reservoir is a relatively shallow impoundment in southeastern South Carolina. The reservoir, located under a semi-tropical climate, is the principal water supply for the city of Charleston, South Carolina, and the surrounding areas including the Bushy Park Industrial Complex. Although there was an adequate supply of freshwater...

Executive SummaryLandslide hazards are present in all 50 States and most U.S. territories, and they affect lives, property, infrastructure, and the environment. Landslides are the downslope move­ment of earth materials under the force of gravity. They can occur without any obvious trigger. Widespread or severe land­slide events are often driven...

Collection of accurate suspended-sediment data using depth-integrating samplers requires that they operate isokinetically, that is, that they sample at the local stream velocity unaffected by the presence of the suspended-sediment sampler. Sub-isokinetic suspended-sediment sampling causes grain-size dependent positive biases in the suspended-sediment concentration measured by the suspended-sediment sampler. Collapsible bag...

Passive membrane samplers—semipermeable membrane devices and polar organic chemical integrative samplers—were deployed for 22 continuous days at 7 sites along the West Maui, Hawaiʻi, coastline in February and March 2017 to assess organic contaminants at shallow coral reef ecosystems from diverse upstream inputs. The distribution of organic compounds observed at...

Coastal communities in Alaska are undergoing rapid environmental change from increasing temperatures and baseline data are needed to monitor potential impacts. We conducted the first surveys of the abundance and distribution of eelgrass (Zostera marina) and seaweeds in the western part of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge at the end of...