Optical sensors for water quality
Brian A. Pellerin, Brian A. Bergamaschi
2014, Lakeline 13-17
Shifts in land use, population, and climate have altered hydrologic systems in the United States in ways that affect water quality and ecosystem function. Water diversions, detention in reservoirs, increased channelization, and changes in rainfall and snowmelt are major causes, but there are also more subtle causes such as changes...
Groundwater quality at Alabama Plating and Vincent Spring, Vincent, Alabama, 2007–2008
Mike Bradley, Amy C. Gill
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1298
The former Alabama Plating site in Vincent, Alabama, includes the location where the Alabama Plating Company operated an electroplating facility from 1956 until 1986. The operation of the facility generated waste containing cyanide, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, zinc, and other heavy metals. Contamination resulting from the site operations was...
In vivo retention of ingested Au NPs by Daphnia magna: No evidence for trans-epithelial alimentary uptake
Farhan R. Khan, Gabrielle M. Kennaway, Marie-Noële Croteau, Agnieszka Dybowska, Brian D. Smith, Antonio J.A. Nogueira, Philip S. Rainbow, Samuel N. Luoma, Eugenia Valsami-Jones
2014, Chemosphere (100) 97-104
In vivo studies with Daphnia magna remain inconclusive as to whether engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are internalized into tissues after ingestion. Here we used a three-pronged approach to study the in vivo retention and efflux kinetics of 20 nm citrate stabilized Au NPs ingested by this key aquatic species. Daphnids were...
Mercury cycling in agricultural and managed wetlands: a synthesis of methylmercury production, hydrologic export, and bioaccumulation from an integrated field study
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Jacob A. Fleck, Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Craig A. Stricker, Wesley A. Heim, Philip Bachand, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Gary Gill, Mark Stephenson, Charles N. Alpers
2014, Science of the Total Environment (484) 221-231
With seasonal wetting and drying, and high biological productivity, agricultural wetlands (rice paddies) may enhance the conversion of inorganic mercury (Hg(II)) to methylmercury (MeHg), the more toxic, organic form that biomagnifies through food webs. Yet, the net balance of MeHg sources and sinks in seasonal wetland environments is poorly understood...
Potentiometric surface of the Ozark aquifer in northern Arkansas, 2010
John B. Czarnecki, Aaron L. Pugh, Joshua M. Blackstock
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5013
The Ozark aquifer in northern Arkansas is composed of dolomite, limestone, sandstone, and shale of Late Cambrian to Middle Devonian age and ranges in thickness from approximately 1,100 feet to more than 4,000 feet. Hydrologically, the aquifer is complex, characterized by discrete and discontinuous flow components with large variations in...
Hydrogeologic framework and geologic structure of the Floridan aquifer system and intermediate confining unit in the Lake Okeechobee area, Florida
Ronald S. Reese
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3288
The successful implementation of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) as a water-management tool requires detailed information on the hydrologic and hydraulic properties of the potential water storage zones. This report presents stratigraphic and hydrogeologic sections of the upper part of the Floridan aquifer system and the overlying confining unit or...
Metolachlor metabolite (MESA) reveals agricultural nitrate-N fate and transport in Choptank River watershed
Gregory W. McCarty, Cathleen J. Hapeman, Clifford P. Rice, W. Dean Hively, Laura L. McConnell, Ali M. Sadeghi, Megan W. Lang, David R. Whitall, Krystyna Bialek, Peter Downey
2014, Science of the Total Environment (473-474) 473-482
Over 50% of streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been rated as poor or very poor based on the index of biological integrity. The Choptank River estuary, a Bay tributary on the eastern shore, is one such waterway, where corn and soybean production in upland areas of the watershed...
Reconstructing disturbances and their biogeochemical consequences over multiple timescales
Kendra K. McLauchlan, Philip E. Higuera, Daniel G. Gavin, Steven S. Perakis, Michelle C. Mack, Heather Alexander, John Battles, Franco Biondi, Brian Buma, Daniele Colombaroli, Sara K. Enders, Daniel R. Engstrom, Feng Sheng Hu, Jennifer R. Marlon, John Marshall, Matt McGlone, Jesse L. Morris, Lucas E. Nave, Bryan Shuman, Erica A.H. Smithwick, Dunia H. Urrego, David A. Wardle, Christopher J. Williams, Joseph J. Williams
2014, BioScience (64) 105-116
Ongoing changes in disturbance regimes are predicted to cause acute changes in ecosystem structure and function in the coming decades, but many aspects of these predictions are uncertain. A key challenge is to improve the predictability of postdisturbance biogeochemical trajectories at the ecosystem level. Ecosystem ecologists and paleoecologists have generated...
Assessing effects of native forest restoration on soil moisture dynamics and potential aquifer recharge, Auwahi, Maui
Kim S. Perkins, John R. Nimmo, Arthur C. Medeiros, Daphne J. Szutu, Erica von Allmen
2014, Ecohydrology (7) 1437-1451
Understanding the role of soils in regulating water flow through the unsaturated zone is critical in assessing the influence of vegetation on soil moisture dynamics and aquifer recharge. Because of fire, introduced ungulates and landscape-level invasion of non-native grasses, less than 10% of original dry forest (~730 mm precipitation annually) still...
Nitrate fate and transport through current and former depressional wetlands in an agricultural landscape, Choptank Watershed, Maryland, United States
J. M. Denver, S.W. Ator, M.W. Lang, T.R. Fisher, A.B. Gustafson, R. Fox, J.W. Clune, G.W. McCarty
2014, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (69) 1-16
Understanding local groundwater hydrology and geochemistry is critical for evaluating the effectiveness of wetlands at mitigating agricultural impacts on surface waters. The effectiveness of depressional wetlands at mitigating nitrate (NO3) transport from fertilized row crops, through groundwater, to local streams was examined in the watershed of the upper Choptank River,...
Decadal oscillation of lakes and aquifers in the upper Great Lakes region of North America: hydroclimatic implications
C.J. Watras, J.S. Read, K.D. Holman, Z. Liu, Y.-Y. Song, A.J. Watras, S. Morgan, E.H. Stanley
2014, Geophysical Research Letters (41) 456-462
We report a unique hydrologic time-series which indicates that water levels in lakes and aquifers across the upper Great Lakes region of North America have been dominated by a climatically-driven, near-decadal oscillation for at least 70 years. The historical oscillation (~13y) is remarkably consistent among small seepage lakes, groundwater tables and...
Coupled hydrological and biogeochemical processes controlling variability of nitrogen species in streamflow during autumn in an upland forest
Stephen D. Sebestyen, James B. Shanley, Elizabeth W. Boyer, Carol Kendall, Daniel H. Doctor
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 1569-1591
Autumn is a season of dynamic change in forest streams of the northeastern United States due to effects of leaf fall on both hydrology and biogeochemistry. Few studies have explored how interactions of biogeochemical transformations, various nitrogen sources, and catchment flow paths affect stream nitrogen variation during autumn. To provide...
Evaluation of wastewater contaminant transport in surface waters using verified Lagrangian sampling
Ronald C. Antweiler, Jeffrey H. Writer, Sheila F. Murphy
2014, Science of the Total Environment (470-471) 551-558
Contaminants released from wastewater treatment plants can persist in surface waters for substantial distances. Much research has gone into evaluating the fate and transport of these contaminants, but this work has often assumed constant flow from wastewater treatment plants. However, effluent discharge commonly varies widely over a 24-hour period, and...
Africa-wide monitoring of small surface water bodies using multisource satellite data: A monitoring system for FEWS NET
Naga Manohar Velpuri, Gabriel B. Senay, James Rowland, James P. Verdin, Henok Alemu
Assefa M. Melesse, Wossenu Abtew, Shimelis G. Setegn, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Nile River Basin
Continental Africa has the highest volume of water stored in wetlands, large lakes, reservoirs, and rivers, yet it suffers from problems such as water availability and access. With climate change intensifying the hydrologic cycle and altering the distribution and frequency of rainfall, the problem of water availability and access will...
Compilation of hydrologic data for White Sands pupfish habitat and nonhabitat areas, northern Tularosa Basin, White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, 1911-2008
C.A. Naus, R. G. Myers, D.K. Saleh, N. C. Myers
2014, Data Series 810
The White Sands pupfish (Cyprinodon tularosa), listed as threatened by the State of New Mexico and as a Federal species of concern, is endemic to the Tularosa Basin, New Mexico. Because water quality can affect pupfish and the environmental conditions of their habitat, a comprehensive compilation of hydrologic data for...
Understanding uncertainties in future Colorado River streamflow
Julie A. Vano, Bradley Udall, Daniel Cayan, Jonathan T Overpeck, Levi D. Brekke, Tapash Das, Holly C. Hartmann, Hugo G. Hidalgo, Martin P Hoerling, Gregory J. McCabe, Kiyomi Morino, Robert S. Webb, Kevin Werner, Dennis P. Lettenmaier
2014, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (95) 59-78
The Colorado River is the primary water source for more than 30 million people in the United States and Mexico. Recent studies that project streamf low changes in the Colorado River all project annual declines, but the magnitude of the projected decreases range from less than 10% to 45% by...
Assessing streamflow sensitivity to variations in glacier mass balance
Shad O’Neel, Eran Hood, Anthony Arendt, Louis C. Sass
2014, Climatic Change (123) 329-341
The mountains ringing the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) receive upwards of 4–8 m yr−1 of precipitation (Simpson et al.2005; Weingartner et al. 2005; O’Neel 2012), much of which runs off into productive coastal waters. The alpine landscape is heavily glacierized, and storage and turnover of water by glaciers substantially influences...
Dynamics of submarine groundwater discharge and associated fluxes of dissolved nutrients, carbon, and trace gases to the coastal zone (Okatee River estuary, South Carolina)
W.P. Porubsky, N.B. Weston, W.S. Moore, C. Ruppel, S.B. Joye
2014, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (131) 81-97
Multiple techniques, including thermal infrared aerial remote sensing, geophysical and geological data, geochemical characterization and radium isotopes, were used to evaluate the role of groundwater as a source of dissolved nutrients, carbon, and trace gases to the Okatee River estuary, South Carolina. Thermal infrared aerial remote sensing surveys illustrated the...
Trends in precipitation, streamflow, reservoir pool elevations, and reservoir releases in Arkansas and selected sites in Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma, 1951–2011
Daniel M. Wagner, Joshua D. Krieger, Katherine R. Merriman
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5240
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) conducted a statistical analysis of trends in precipitation, streamflow, reservoir pool elevations, and reservoir releases in Arkansas and selected sites in Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma for the period 1951–2011. The Mann-Kendall test was used to test for...
Simulated and observed 2010 flood-water elevations in selected river reaches in the Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket River Basins, Rhode Island
Phillip J. Zarriello, David E. Straub, Stephen M. Westenbroek
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5191
Heavy persistent rains from late February through March 2010 caused severe flooding and set, or nearly set, peaks of record for streamflows and water levels at many long-term U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in Rhode Island. In response to this flood, hydraulic models were updated for selected reaches covering about 33...
Simulated and observed 2010 floodwater elevations in the Pawcatuck and Wood Rivers, Rhode Island
Phillip J. Zarriello, David E. Straub, Thor E. Smith
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5193
Heavy, persistent rains from late February through March 2010 caused severe flooding that set, or nearly set, peaks of record for streamflows and water levels at many long-term U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in Rhode Island. In response to this flood, hydraulic models of Pawcatuck River (26.9 miles) and Wood River...
Simulated and observed 2010 floodwater elevations in selected river reaches in the Pawtuxet River Basin, Rhode Island
Phillip J. Zarriello, Scott A. Olson, Robert H. Flynn, Kellan R. Strauch, Elizabeth A. Murphy
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5192
Heavy, persistent rains from late February through March 2010 caused severe flooding that set, or nearly set, peaks of record for streamflows and water levels at many long-term streamgages in Rhode Island. In response to this event, hydraulic models were updated for selected reaches covering about 56 river miles in...
Linkage of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool and the Texas Water Availability Model to simulate the effects of brush management on monthly storage of Canyon Lake, south-central Texas, 1995-2010
William H. Asquith, Johnathan R. Bumgarner
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5239
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, developed and applied an approach to create a linkage between the published upper Guadalupe River Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) brush-management (ashe juniper [Juniperus ashei]) model and the full authorization version Guadalupe River Water...
Hydrologic monitoring of a landslide-prone hillslope in the Elliott State Forest, Southern Coast Range, Oregon, 2009-2012
Joel B. Smith, Jonathan W. Godt, Rex L. Baum, Jeffrey A. Coe, William J. Burns, Michael M. Morse, Basak Sener-Kaya, Murat Kaya
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1283
The Oregon Coast Range is dissected by numerous unchanneled headwater basins, which can generate shallow landslides and debris flows during heavy or prolonged rainfall. An automated monitoring system was installed in an unchanneled headwater basin to measure rainfall, volumetric water content, groundwater temperature, and pore pressures at 15-minute intervals. The...
An enhanced archive facilitating climate impacts analysis
E.P. Maurer, L. Brekke, T. Pruitt, B. Thrasher, J. Long, P. Duffy, M. Dettinger, D. Cayan, J. Arnold
2014, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (95) 1011-1019
We describe the expansion of a publicly available archive of downscaled climate and hydrology projections for the United States. Those studying or planning to adapt to future climate impacts demand downscaled climate model output for local or regional use. The archive we describe attempts to fulfill this need by providing...
