Area- and depth- weighted averages of selected SSURGO variables for the conterminous United States and District of Columbia
Michael Wieczorek
2014, Data Series 866
This digital data release consists of seven data files of soil attributes for the United States and the District of Columbia. The files are derived from National Resources Conservations Service’s (NRCS) Soil Survey Geographic database (SSURGO). The data files can be linked to the raster datasets of soil mapping unit...
Measurement of unsaturated hydraulic properties and evaluation of property-transfer models for deep sedimentary interbeds, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Kimberlie Perkins, Brittany D. Johnson, Benjamin B. Mirus
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5206
Operations at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have the potential to contaminate the underlying Eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer. Methods to quantitatively characterize unsaturated flow and recharge to the ESRP aquifer are needed to inform water-resources management decisions at INL. In particular, hydraulic properties are needed to parameterize distributed...
Water and nutrient budgets for Vancouver Lake, Vancouver, Washington, October 2010-October 2012
Rich W. Sheibley, James R. Foreman, Cameron A. Marshall, Wendy B. Welch
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5201
Vancouver Lake, a large shallow lake in Clark County, near Vancouver, Washington, has been undergoing water-quality problems for decades. Recently, the biggest concern for the lake are the almost annual harmful cyanobacteria blooms that cause the lake to close for recreation for several weeks each summer. Despite decades of interest...
Science to support the understanding of Ohio's water resources, 2014-15
Kimberly Shaffer, Stephanie P. Kula
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3097
Ohio’s water resources support a complex web of human activities and nature—clean and abundant water is needed for drinking, recreation, farming, and industry, as well as for fish and wildlife needs. Although rainfall in normal years can support these activities and needs, occasional floods and droughts can disrupt streamflow, groundwater,...
Multisensor earth observations to characterize wetlands and malaria epidemiology in Ethiopia
Alemayehu Midekisa, Gabriel B. Senay, Michael C. Wimberly
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 8791-8806
Malaria is a major global public health problem, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The spatial heterogeneity of malaria can be affected by factors such as hydrological processes, physiography, and land cover patterns. Tropical wetlands, for example, are important hydrological features that can serve as mosquito breeding habitats. Mapping and monitoring of...
Simulation of the Lower Walker River Basin hydrologic system, west-central Nevada, using PRMS and MODFLOW models
Kip K. Allander, Richard G. Niswonger, Anne E. Jeton
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5190
Walker Lake is a terminal lake in west-central Nevada with almost all outflow occurring through evaporation. Diversions from Walker River since the early 1900s have contributed to a substantial reduction in flow entering Walker Lake. As a result, the lake is receding, and salt concentrations have increased to a level...
Abandoned floodplain plant communities along a regulated dryland river
L. V. Reynolds, Patrick B. Shafroth, P. K. House
2014, River Research and Applications (30) 1084-1098
Rivers and their floodplains worldwide have changed dramatically over the last century because of regulation by dams, flow diversions and channel stabilization. Floodplains no longer inundated by river flows following dam-induced flood reduction comprise large areas of bottomland habitat, but the effects of abandonment on plant communities are not well...
Practical limitations on the use of diurnal temperature signals to quantify groundwater upwelling
Martin A. Briggs, Laura K. Lautz, Sean F. Buckley, John W. Lane Jr.
2014, Journal of Hydrology (519) 1739-1751
Groundwater upwelling to streams creates unique habitat by influencing stream water quality and temperature; upwelling zones also serve as vectors for contamination when groundwater is degraded. Temperature time series data acquired along vertical profiles in the streambed have been applied to simple analytical models to determine rates of vertical fluid...
Quality of surface water in Missouri, water year 2013
Miya N. Barr, Rachel E. Schneider
2014, Data Series 886
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2013 water year (October 1, 2012, through September 30, 2013), data were collected at...
Simulation of hydrologic conditions and suspended-sediment loads in the San Antonio River Basin downstream from San Antonio, Texas, 2000-12
J. Ryan Banta, Darwin J. Ockerman
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5182
Suspended sediment in rivers and streams can play an important role in ecological health of rivers and estuaries and consequently is an important issue for water-resource managers. To better understand suspended-sediment loads and transport in a watershed, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the San Antonio River Authority, developed a...
Low-head hydropower assessment of the Brazilian State of São Paulo
Guleid A. Artan, W. Matthew Cushing, Melissa L. Mathis, Larry L. Tieszen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1206
This study produced a comprehensive estimate of the magnitude of hydropower potential available in the streams that drain watersheds entirely within the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Because a large part of the contributing area is outside of São Paulo, the main stem of the Paraná River was excluded from...
An objective and parsimonious approach for classifying natural flow regimes at a continental scale
Stacey A. Archfield, Jonathan G. Kennen, Daren M. Carlisle, David M. Wolock
2014, River Research and Applications (30) 1166-1183
Hydro-ecological stream classification-the process of grouping streams by similar hydrologic responses and, by extension, similar aquatic habitat-has been widely accepted and is considered by some to be one of the first steps towards developing ecological flow targets. A new classification of 1543 streamgauges in the contiguous USA is presented by...
Understanding the hydrologic sources and sinks in the Nile Basin using multisource climate and remote sensing data sets
Gabriel B. Senay, Naga Manohar Velpuri, Stefanie Bohms, Yonas Demissie, Mekonnen Gebremichael
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 8625-8650
In this study, we integrated satellite-drived precipitation and modeled evapotranspiration data (2000–2012) to describe spatial variability of hydrologic sources and sinks in the Nile Basin. Over 2000–2012 period, 4 out of 11 countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda) in the Nile Basin showed a positive water balance while three downstream...
A suggestion for computing objective function in model calibration
Yiping Wu, Shuguang Liu
2014, Ecological Informatics (24) 107-111
A parameter-optimization process (model calibration) is usually required for numerical model applications, which involves the use of an objective function to determine the model cost (model-data errors). The sum of square errors (SSR) has been widely adopted as the objective function in various optimization procedures. However, ‘square error’ calculation was...
Estimates of natural salinity and hydrology in a subtropical estuarine ecosystem: implications for Greater Everglades restoration
Frank E. Marshall, G. Lynn Wingard, Patrick A. Pitts
2014, Estuaries and Coasts (37) 1449-1466
Disruption of the natural patterns of freshwater flow into estuarine ecosystems occurred in many locations around the world beginning in the twentieth century. To effectively restore these systems, establishing a pre-alteration perspective allows managers to develop science-based restoration targets for salinity and hydrology. This paper describes a process to develop...
Analysis of projected water availability with current basin management plan, Pajaro Valley, California
Randall T. Hanson, Brian Lockwood, Wolfgang Schmid
2014, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies (519) 131-147
The projection and analysis of the Pajaro Valley Hydrologic Model (PVHM) 34 years into the future using MODFLOW with the Farm Process (MF-FMP) facilitates assessment of potential future water availability. The projection is facilitated by the integrated hydrologic model, MF-FMP that fully couples the simulation of the use and movement...
Effects of distributed and centralized stormwater best management practices and land cover on urban stream hydrology at the catchment scale
John V. Loperfido, Gregory B. Noe, S. Taylor Jarnagin, Dianna M. Hogan
2014, Journal of Hydrology (519) 2584-2595
Urban stormwater runoff remains an important issue that causes local and regional-scale water quantity and quality issues. Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) have been widely used to mitigate runoff issues, traditionally in a centralized manner; however, problems associated with urban hydrology have remained. An emerging trend is implementation of BMPs...
Environmental stressors afflicting tailwater stream reaches across the United States
Leandro E. Miranda, R. M. Krogman
2014, River Research and Applications (30) 1184-1194
The tailwater is the reach of a stream immediately below an impoundment that is hydrologically, physicochemically and biologically altered by the presence and operation of a dam. The overall goal of this study was to gain a nationwide awareness of the issues afflicting tailwater reaches in the United States. Specific...
Predicting East African spring droughts using Pacific and Indian Ocean sea surface temperature indices
Christopher C. Funk, Andrew Hoell, Shraddhanand Shukla, Ileana Blade, Brant Liebmann, Jason B. Roberts, Franklin R. Robertson
2014, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (11) 3111-3136
In southern Ethiopia, Eastern Kenya, and southern Somalia poor boreal spring rains in 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 contributed to severe food insecurity and high levels of malnutrition. Predicting rainfall deficits in this region on seasonal and decadal time frames can help decision makers support disaster risk...
A seasonal agricultural drought forecast system for food-insecure regions of East Africa
Shraddhanand Shukla, Amy McNally, Gregory Husak, Christopher C. Funk
2014, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (11) 3049-3081
The increasing food and water demands of East Africa's growing population are stressing the region's inconsistent water resources and rain-fed agriculture. More accurate seasonal agricultural drought forecasts for this region can inform better water and agricultural management decisions, support optimal allocation of the region's water resources, and mitigate socio-economic losses...
Aquifers of Arkansas: protection, management, and hydrologic and geochemical characteristics of groundwater resources in Arkansas
Timothy M. Kresse, Phillip D. Hays, Katherine R. Merriman, Jonathan A. Gillip, D. Todd Fugitt, Jane L. Spellman, Anna M. Nottmeier, Drew A. Westerman, Joshua M. Blackstock, James L. Battreal
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5149
Sixteen aquifers in Arkansas that currently serve or have served as sources of water supply are described with respect to existing groundwater protection and management programs, geology, hydrologic characteristics, water use, water levels, deductive analysis, projections of hydrologic conditions, and water quality. State and Federal protection and management programs are...
Groundwater-flow and land-subsidence model of Antelope Valley, California
Adam J. Siade, Tracy Nishikawa, Diane L. Rewis, Peter Martin, Steven P. Phillips
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5166
Antelope Valley, California, is a topographically closed basin in the western part of the Mojave Desert, about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The Antelope Valley groundwater basin is about 940 square miles and is separated from the northern part of Antelope Valley by faults and low-lying hills. Prior to...
Dual-domain mass-transfer parameters from electrical hysteresis: Theory and analytical approach applied to laboratory, synthetic streambed, and groundwater experiments
Martin A. Briggs, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, John B. Ong, Judson W. Harvey, John W. Lane Jr.
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 8281-8299
Models of dual‐domain mass transfer (DDMT) are used to explain anomalous aquifer transport behavior such as the slow release of contamination and solute tracer tailing. Traditional tracer experiments to characterize DDMT are performed at the flow path scale (meters), which inherently incorporates heterogeneous exchange processes; hence, estimated “effective” parameters are...
Measurements of HFC-134a and HCFC-22 in groundwater and unsaturated-zone air: implications for HFCs and HCFCs as dating tracers
Karl B. Haase, Eurybiades Busenberg, Niel Plummer, Gerolamo Casile, Ward E. Sanford
2014, Chemical Geology (385) 117-128
A new analytical method using gas chromatography with an atomic emission detector (GC–AED) was developed for measurement of ambient concentrations of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in soil, air, and groundwater, with the goal of determining their utility as groundwater age tracers. The analytical detection limits of HCFC-22 (difluorochloromethane, CHClF2)...
Hyporheic flow and transport processes: mechanisms, models, and biogeochemical implications
Fulvio Boano, Judson W. Harvey, Andrea Marion, Aaron I. Packman, Roberto Revelli, Luca Ridolfi, Worman Anders
2014, Reviews of Geophysics (52) 603-679
Fifty years of hyporheic zone research have shown the important role played by the hyporheic zone as an interface between groundwater and surface waters. However, it is only in the last two decades that what began as an empirical science has become a mechanistic science devoted to modeling studies of...
