Use of surrogate technologies to estimate suspended sediment in the Clearwater River, Idaho, and Snake River, Washington, 2008-10
Molly S. Wood, Gregg N. Teasdale
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5052
Elevated levels of fluvial sediment can reduce the biological productivity of aquatic systems, impair freshwater quality, decrease reservoir storage capacity, and decrease the capacity of hydraulic structures. The need to measure fluvial sediment has led to the development of sediment surrogate technologies, particularly in locations where streamflow alone is not...
Emergent sandbar dynamics in the lower Platte River in eastern Nebraska: methods and results of pilot study, 2011
Jason S. Alexander, Devin M. Schultze, Ronald B. Zelt
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5031
The lower Platte River corridor provides important habitats for two State- and federally listed bird species: the interior least tern (terns; Sternula antillarum athallassos) and the piping plover (plovers; Charadrius melodus). However, many of the natural morphological and hydrological characteristics of the Platte River have been altered substantially by water...
Adaptive management of flows from dams: a win-win framework for water users
Elise R. Irwin
2013, Book chapter, Auburn Speaks: On Water
Alabama is blessed with more than 77,000 miles of rivers and streams that carve through the terrestrial landscape of the state. When you think about it, every road you drive on crosses a river and many of our major cities are located on the bank of a river....
Human effects on the hydrologic system of the Verde Valley, central Arizona, 1910–2005 and 2005–2110, using a regional groundwater flow model
Bradley D. Garner, D. R. Pool, Fred D. Tillman, Brandon T. Forbes
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5029
Water budgets were developed for the Verde Valley of central Arizona in order to evaluate the degree to which human stresses have affected the hydrologic system and might affect it in the future. The Verde Valley is a portion of central Arizona wherein concerns have been raised about water availability,...
Effects of past and future groundwater development on the hydrologic system of Verde Valley, Arizona
Bradley D. Garner, D. R. Pool
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3016
Communities in central Arizona’s Verde Valley must manage limited water supplies in the face of rapidly growing populations. Developing groundwater resources to meet human needs has raised questions about the effects of groundwater withdrawals by pumping on the area’s rivers and streams, particularly the Verde River. U.S. Geological Survey hydrologists...
An isotope-dilution standard GC/MS/MS method for steroid hormones in water
William T. Foreman, James L. Gray, Rhiannon C. ReVello, Chris E. Lindley, Scott A. Losche
2013, Book chapter, Evaluating Veterinary Pharmaceutical Behavior in the Environment: ACS Symposium Series
An isotope-dilution quantification method was developed for 20 natural and synthetic steroid hormones and additional compounds in filtered and unfiltered water. Deuterium- or carbon-13-labeled isotope-dilution standards (IDSs) are added to the water sample, which is passed through an octadecylsilyl solid-phase extraction (SPE) disk. Following extract cleanup using Florisil SPE, method...
A compilation of U.S. Geological Survey pesticide concentration data for water and sediment in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta region: 1990–2010
James L. Orlando
2013, Data Series 756
Beginning around 2000, abundance indices of four pelagic fishes (delta smelt, striped bass, longfin smelt, and threadfin shad) within the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta began to decline sharply (Sommer and others, 2007). These declines collectively became known as the pelagic organism decline (POD). No single cause has...
The development and application of a decision support system for land management in the Lake Tahoe Basin—The Land Use Simulation Model
William M. Forney, I. Benson Oldham, Neil Crescenti
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5229
This report describes and applies the Land Use Simulation Model (LUSM), the final modeling product for the long-term decision support project funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act and developed by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Geographic Science Center for the Lake Tahoe Basin. Within the context of...
Using the KINEROS2 modeling framework to evaluate the increase in storm runoff from residential development in a semi-arid environment
Jeffrey R. Kennedy, David C. Goodrich, Carl L. Unkrich
2013, Journal of Hydrologic Engineering (18) 698-706
The increase in runoff from urbanization is well known; one extreme example comes from a 13 hectare residential neighborhood in southeast Arizona where runoff was 27 times greater than an adjacent grassland watershed over a forty‐month period from 2005 to 2008. Rainfall‐runoff modeling using the newly‐described KINEROS2 urban element and...
Effects of hydrologic connectivity and environmental nariables on nekton assemblage in a coastal marsh system
Sung-Ryong Kang, Sammy L. King
2013, Wetlands (33) 321-334
Hydrologic connectivity and environmental variation can influence nekton assemblages in coastal ecosystems. We evaluated the effects of hydrologic connectivity (permanently connected pond: PCP; temporary connected pond: TCP), salinity, vegetation coverage, water depth and other environmental variables on seasonal nekton assemblages in freshwater, brackish, and saline marshes of the Chenier Plain,...
Spatial variability of the response to climate change in regional groundwater systems -- examples from simulations in the Deschutes Basin, Oregon
Michael S. Waibel, Marshall W. Gannett, Heejun Chang, Christina L. Hulbe
2013, Journal of Hydrology (486) 187-201
We examine the spatial variability of the response of aquifer systems to climate change in and adjacent to the Cascade Range volcanic arc in the Deschutes Basin, Oregon using downscaled global climate model projections to drive surface hydrologic process and groundwater flow models. Projected warming over the 21st century is...
Symposium 9: Rocky Mountain futures: preserving, utilizing, and sustaining Rocky Mountain ecosystems
Jill S. Baron, Timothy Seastedt, Daniel B. Fagre, Jeffrey A. Hicke, Diana Tomback, Elizabeth Garcia, Zachary H. Bowen, Jesse A. Logan
2013, Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America (94) 195-199
In 2002 we published Rocky Mountain Futures, an Ecological Perspective (Island Press) to examine the cumulative ecological effects of human activity in the Rocky Mountains. We concluded that multiple local activities concerning land use, hydrologic manipulation, and resource extraction have altered ecosystems, although there were examples where the “tyranny...
Significance of exchanging SSURGO and STATSGO data when modeling hydrology in diverse physiographic terranes
Tanja N. Williamson, Charles J. Taylor, Jeremy K. Newson
2013, Soil Science Society of America Journal (77) 877-889
The Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) is a TOPMODEL-based hydrologic model that depends on spatially accurate soils data to function in diverse terranes. In Kentucky, this includes mountainous regions, karstic plateau, and alluvial plains. Soils data are critical because they quantify the space to store water, as well...
A refined index of model performance: a rejoinder
David R. Legates, Gregory J. McCabe
2013, International Journal of Climatology (33) 1053-1056
Willmott et al. [Willmott CJ, Robeson SM, Matsuura K. 2012. A refined index of model performance. International Journal of Climatology, forthcoming. DOI:10.1002/joc.2419.] recently suggest a refined index of model performance (dr) that they purport to be superior to other methods. Their refined index ranges from − 1.0 to 1.0 to resemble a correlation...
Statistical classification of hydrogeologic regions in the fractured rock area of Maryland and parts of the District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware
Brandon J. Fleming, Andrew E. LaMotte, Andrew J. Sekellick
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5043
Hydrogeologic regions in the fractured rock area of Maryland were classified using geographic information system tools with principal components and cluster analyses. A study area consisting of the 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watersheds with rivers that flow through the fractured rock area of Maryland and bounded by the Fall...
Shallow groundwater in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Alaska—Conceptualization and simulation of flow
Colin P. Kikuchi
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5049
The Matanuska-Susitna Valley is in the Upper Cook Inlet Basin and is currently undergoing rapid population growth outside of municipal water and sewer service areas. In response to concerns about the effects of increasing water use on future groundwater availability, a study was initiated between the Alaska Department of Natural...
Stochastic empirical loading and dilution model (SELDM) version 1.0.0
Gregory E. Granato
2013, Techniques and Methods 4-C3
The Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) is designed to transform complex scientific data into meaningful information about the risk of adverse effects of runoff on receiving waters, the potential need for mitigation measures, and the potential effectiveness of such management measures for reducing these risks. The U.S. Geological...
A new map of standardized terrestrial ecosystems of Africa
Roger G. Sayre, Patrick Comer, Jon Hak, Carmen Josse, Jacquie Bow, Harumi Warner, Mahamane Larwanou, Ensermu Kelbessa, Tamrat Bekele, Harald Kehl, Ruba Amena, Rado Andriamasimanana, Taibou Ba, Laurence Benson, Timothy Boucher, Matthew Brown, Jill J. Cress, Oueddo Dassering, Beverly A. Friesen, Francis Gachathi, Sebei Houcine, Mahamadou Keita, Erick Khamala, Dan Marangu, Fredrick Mokua, Boube Morou, Ladislav Mucina, Samuel Mugisha, Edward Mwavu, Michael Rutherford, Patrice Sanou, Stephen Syampungani, Bojoi Tomor, Abdallahi Ould Mohamed Vall, Jean Pierre Vande Weghe, Eunice Wangui, Lucy Waruingi
2013, African Geographical Review
Terrestrial ecosystems and vegetation of Africa were classified and mapped as part of a larger effort and global protocol (GEOSS – the Global Earth Observation System of Systems), which includes an activity to map terrestrial ecosystems of the earth in a standardized, robust, and practical manner, and at the finest...
Web-based flood database for Colorado, water years 1867 through 2011
Michael S. Kohn, Robert D. Jarrett, Gary S. Krammes, Amanullah Mommandi
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1225
In order to provide a centralized repository of flood information for the State of Colorado, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation, created a Web-based geodatabase for flood information from water years 1867 through 2011 and data for paleofloods occurring in the past 5,000 to...
CRT--Cascade Routing Tool to define and visualize flow paths for grid-based watershed models
Wesley R. Henson, Rose L. Medina, C. Justin Mayers, Richard G. Niswonger, R.S. Regan
2013, Techniques and Methods 6-D2
The U.S. Geological Survey Cascade Routing Tool (CRT) is a computer application for watershed models that include the coupled Groundwater and Surface-water FLOW model, GSFLOW, and the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). CRT generates output to define cascading surface and shallow subsurface flow paths for grid-based model domains. CRT requires a...
Electrical signatures of ethanol-liquid mixtures: implications for monitoring biofuels migration in the subsurface
Yves Robert Personna, Lee Slater, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Dale D. Werkema, Zoltan Szabo
2013, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (144) 99-107
Ethanol (EtOH), an emerging contaminant with potential direct and indirect environmental effects, poses threats to water supplies when spilled in large volumes. A series of experiments was directed at understanding the electrical geophysical signatures arising from groundwater contamination by ethanol. Conductivity measurements were performed at the laboratory scale on EtOH–water...
Managing the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals in wastewater-impacted streams
Paul M. Bradley, Dana W. Kolpin
2013, Book chapter, Current perspectives in contaminant hydrology and water resources sustainability
A revolution in analytical instrumentation circa 1920 greatly improved the ability to characterize chemical substances. This analytical foundation resulted in an unprecedented explosion in the design and production of synthetic chemicals during and post-World War II. What is now often referred to as the 2nd Chemical Revolution has provided substantial...
Modeling the long-term fate of agricultural nitrate in groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley, California
Francis H. Chapelle, Bruce G. Campbell, Mark A. Widdowson, Mathew K. Landon
2013, Book chapter, Current perspectives in contaminant hydrology and water resources sustainability
Nitrate contamination of groundwater systems used for human water supplies is a major environmental problem in many parts of the world. Fertilizers containing a variety of reduced nitrogen compounds are commonly added to soils to increase agricultural yields. But the amount of nitrogen added during fertilization typically exceeds the amount...
Arsenic in groundwater: a summary of sources and the biogeochemical and hydrogeologic factors affecting arsenic occurrence and mobility
Julia L. Barringer, Pamela A. Reilly
Paul M. Bradley, editor(s)
2013, Book chapter, Current perspectives in contaminant hydrology and water resources sustainability
Arsenic (As) is a metalloid element (atomic number 33) with one naturally occurring isotope of atomic mass 75, and four oxidation states (-3, 0, +3, and +5) (Smedley and Kinniburgh, 2002). In the aqueous environment, the +3 and +5 oxidation states are most prevalent, as the oxyanions arsenite (H3AsO3 or...
Balancing practicality and hydrologic realism: a parsimonious approach for simulating rapid groundwater recharge via unsaturated-zone preferential flow
Benjamin B. Mirus, J. R. Nimmo
2013, Water Resources Research (49) 1458-1465
The impact of preferential flow on recharge and contaminant transport poses a considerable challenge to water-resources management. Typical hydrologic models require extensive site characterization, but can underestimate fluxes when preferential flow is significant. A recently developed source-responsive model incorporates film-flow theory with conservation of mass to estimate unsaturated-zone preferential fluxes...
