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In 1992, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), began a study of the hydrogeology and water quality of the aquifers underlying the vicinity of Belvidere, Boone County, Ill. Previously, volatile organic compounds (VOC's) and other constituents of industrial origin were detected in one...

In a study of arsenic concentrations in public-supply wells in the New England Coastal Basins, concentrations at or above 0.005 mg/L (milligrams per liter) were detected in more samples of water from wells completed in bedrock (25 percent of all samples) than in water from wells completed in stratified drift...

The interactions of surface water and ground water along the Santa Clara River in Ventura County, California, were evaluated by analyzing river-discharge and water-quality data and geohydrologic information collected by the U.S. Geological Survey between 1993 and 1995 for the Piru, Fillmore, and Santa Paula subbasins. Measurements of discharge and...

An urban stormwater treatment unit was tested as part of an ongoing program of urban nonpoint- pollution research in Madison, Wis. Flow measurements were made and water samples were collected at the inlet to, outlet from, and bypass around the treatment chamber of the device that was installed to collect...

Eutrophication is a common problem for lakes in agricultural and urban areas, such as Lakes Wingra and Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. This report describes a study to estimate the sources of phosphorus, a major contributor to eutrophication, to Lakes Wingra and Mendota from two small urban residential drainage basins. The...

Nitrate in ground water discharged to the Atlantic coastal bays of Maryland enhances the growth of phytoplankton and algae in the bays, which in turn contributes to the process of eutrophication (changes in a body of water as nutrients and sediments accumulate), which is one of the principal environmental problems...

This report provides data on dissolved-oxygen (DO) concentrations and identifies the environmental processes that most affect DO concentrations during base-flow periods in the lower reaches of Middle Fork and South Fork Beargrass Creek in Jefferson County, Kentucky. These reaches are affected by inputs from combined-sewer overflows. Sections of the lower reaches of the two streams run through single-family...

Prior to the early 1990's, ground-water in the Kona area, which is in the western part of the island of Hawaii, was withdrawn from wells located within about 3 mi from the coast where water levels were less than 10 feet above sea level. In 1990, exploratory drilling in the...

Quantifying the hydraulic interaction of aquifers and streams is important in the analysis of stream base fow, flood-wave effects, and contaminant transport between surface- and ground-water systems. This report describes the use of two computer programs, STLK1 and STWT1, to analyze the hydraulic interaction of streams with confined, leaky, and...

Lake Houston, a reservoir completed in 1954 about 25 miles east-northeast of Houston, Texas, is a principal surface-water source for the city of Houston. The increase in water supply to meet future demands is expected to be accommodated by supplementing surface-water inflows to Lake Houston. The Trinity River is considered...

A bathymetric survey conducted during March and April, 1996, determined the total storage capacity Lake Ngardok to be between 90 and 168 acre-feet. Elevation-surface area and elevation-capacity curves summarizing the current relations among elevation, surface area, and storage capacity were created from the bathymetric map. Rainfall and lake-elevation data collected...

High concentrations of dissolved iron in ground water contribute to the biofouling of public-supply wells, and the treatment and remediation of biofouling are costly. Water companies on Long Island, N.Y., spend several million dollars annually to recondition, redevelop, and replace supply wells and distribution lines; treat dissolved iron with sequestering...

Surface-water-quality conditions were assessed in the Yakima River Basin, which drains 6,155 square miles of mostly forested, range, and agricultural land in Washington. The Yakima River Basin is one of the most intensively farmed and irrigated areas in the United States, and is often referred to as the “Nation’s Fruitbowl.”...

As of September 30, 1998, the surface-water data-collection network of Texas (table 1) included 313 continuous-recording streamflow stations (D), 22 gage-height record only stations (G), 23 crest-stage partial-record stations (C), 39 flood-hydrograph partial-record stations (H), 25 low-flow partial-record stations (L), 1 continuous-recording temperature station (M1), 25 continuous-recording temperature and conductivity...

Neogene and Quaternary sediments constitute the surficial aquifer beneath the study area; in descending order from youngest to oldest these include-the Quaternary undifferentiated surficial sand and Satilla Formation; the Pliocene(?) Cypresshead Formation; and the middle Miocene Coosawhatchie Formation. Beneath the surficial aquifer, the upper Brunswick aquifer consists of part of...

The water-quantity and water-quality data for the Fraser River watershed through water year 1997 were compiled for ground-water and surface-water sites. In order to assess the water-quality data, the data were related to land use/land cover in the watershed. Data from 81 water-quantity and water-quality sites, which consisted of 9...

A statewide study was conducted to develop two methods for estimating the magnitude and frequency of floods in rural ungaged basins in North Carolina. Flood-frequency estimates for gaged sites in North Carolina were computed by fitting the annual peak flows for each site to a log-Pearson Type III distribution. As...

Streamflows for selected flow durations from 1 to 99 percent and the August median streamflows were estimated for 11 long-term streamflow-gaging stations in and near the study area. Estimates of streamflow and associated standard errors were determined for selected flow durations from 50 to 99 percent and the August median...

The developed part of Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska, consists of two basins with drainage areas of 4.0 and 0.64 square miles, respectively. Runoff and suspended-sediment data were collected from August 1996 to March 1998 to gain a basic understanding of the surface-water hydrology of these areas and...

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC method) and tritium and helium isotopes (3H-3He method) were used as environmental tracers to estimate ground-water age in conjunction with efforts to develop a regional ground-water flow model of the buried-valley aquifer in the Dayton area, southwestern Ohio. This report describes results of CFC and water-quality sampling, summarizes...

The Chesapeake Bay River-Input Monitoring Program was established to characterize the water quality of four major rivers in Maryland, and to quantify the load and the long-term trends in concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and suspended sediment transported from the nontidal part of each river to the Chesapeake Bay....

Organochlorine and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds are of concern in the Columbia River Basin because of their adverse effects on fish and wildlife. Because these compounds can have important biological consequences at concentrations well below the detection limits associated with conventional water-sampling techniques, we used semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) to...

Twelve monitoring wells were installed in 1997 at seven sites in and near Oasis Valley, Nevada. The wells, ranging in depth from 65 to 642 feet, were installed to measure water levels and to collect water-quality samples. Well-construction data and geologic and geophysical logs are presented in this report. Seven...

Surface and borehole geophysical methods were used to determine fracture orientation in crystalline bedrock at the Eastern Surplus Superfund Site in Meddybemps, Maine. Fracture-orientation information is needed to address concerns about the fate of contaminants in ground water at the site. Azimuthal square-array resistivity surveys were conducted at 3 locations...