Developing flood-inundation maps for Johnson Creek, Portland, Oregon
Adam J. Stonewall, Benjamin A. Beal
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5024
Digital flood-inundation maps were created for a 12.9‑mile reach of Johnson Creek by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The flood-inundation maps depict estimates of water depth and areal extent of flooding from the mouth of Johnson Creek to just upstream of Southeast 174th Avenue in Portland, Oregon. Each flood-inundation...
Characterizing the early life history of an imperiled freshwater mussel (Ptychobranchus jonesi) with host-fish determination and fecundity estimation
John Mcleod, Howard L. Jelks, Sandra Pursifull, Nathan A. Johnson
2017, Freshwater Science (36) 338-350
Conservation of imperiled species is frequently challenged by insufficient knowledge of life history and environmental factors that affect various life stages. The larvae (glochidia) of most freshwater mussels in the family Unionidae are obligate ectoparasites of fishes. We described the early life history of the federally endangered Southern Kidneyshell Ptychobranchus...
Wind River Subbasin Restoration, annual report of U.S. Geological Survey activities: Parr monitoring and instream passive integrated transponder detection, January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015
Ian Jezorek, Patrick Connolly
2017, Report
We used Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT)-tagging and a series of instream PIT-tag interrogation systems (PTIS) to investigate life-histories, populations, and efficacy of habitat restoration actions for steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss in the Wind River subbasin, WA. Our tagging focused on parr in headwater areas of the subbasin and our PTISs provide information on movement...
Predicting the impacts of Mississippi River diversions and sea-level rise on spatial patterns of eastern oyster growth rate and production
Hongqing Wang, Q. Chen, Megan La Peyre, Kelin Hu, Jerome F. La Peyre
2017, Ecological Modelling (352) 40-53
There remains much debate regarding the perceived tradeoffs of using freshwater and sediment diversions for coastal restoration in terms of balancing the need for wetland restoration versus preserving eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) production. Further complicating the issue, climate change-induced sea-level rise (SLR) and land subsidence are also expected to affect...
Flood-inundation maps for the Big Blue River at Shelbyville, Indiana
Kathleen K. Fowler
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5166
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 4.1-mile reach of the Big Blue River at Shelbyville, Indiana, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The floodinundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site...
Refining previous estimates of groundwater outflows from the Medina/Diversion Lake system, San Antonio area, Texas
Richard N. Slattery, William H. Asquith, John D. Gordon
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3008
IntroductionIn 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System, began a study to refine previously derived estimates of groundwater outflows from Medina and Diversion Lakes in south-central Texas near San Antonio. When full, Medina and Diversion Lakes (hereinafter referred to as the Medina/Diversion Lake...
Characterization of peak streamflows and flood inundation of selected areas in Louisiana from the August 2016 flood
Kara M. Watson, John B. Storm, Brian K. Breaker, Claire E. Rose
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5005
Heavy rainfall occurred across Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi in August 2016 as a result of a slow-moving area of low pressure and a high amount of atmospheric moisture. The storm caused major flooding in the southern portions of Louisiana including areas surrounding Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Flooding occurred along the...
Flood-inundation maps for the St. Joseph River at Elkhart, Indiana
Zachary W. Martin
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5179
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 6.6-mile reach of the St. Joseph River at Elkhart, Indiana, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site...
Sandhill crane roost selection, human disturbance, and forage resources
Aaron T. Pearse, Gary Krapu, David A. Brandt
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (91) 477-486
Sites used for roosting represent a key habitat requirement for many species of birds because availability and quality of roost sites can influence individual fitness. Birds select roost sites based on numerous factors, requirements, and motivations, and selection of roosts can be dynamic in time and space because of various...
A history of the 2014 Minute 319 environmental pulse flow asdocumented by field measurements and satellite imagery
Steven M. Nelson, Jorge Ramirez-Hernandez, J. Eliana Rodriguez-Burgeueno, Jeff Milliken, Jeffrey R. Kennedy, Francisco Zamora-Arroyo, Karen Schlatter, Edith Santiago-Serrano, Edgar Carrera-Villa
2017, Ecological Engineering (106) 733-748
As provided in Minute 319 of the U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty of 1944, a pulse flow of approximately 132 million cubic meters (mcm) was released to the riparian corridor of the Colorado River Delta over an eight-week period that began March 23, 2014 and ended May 18, 2014. Peak flows were...
Response of selenium concentrations in groundwater to seasonal canal leakage, lower Gunnison River Basin, Colorado, 2013
J.I. Linard, P.B. McMahon, L. R. Arnold, J.C. Thomas
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5047
Selenium is a water-quality concern in the lower Gunnison River Basin because irrigation water interacting with seleniferous soils derived from the Mancos Shale Formation has mobilized selenium and increased its concentrations in surface water. Understanding the occurrence of elevated selenium concentrations in groundwater is necessary because groundwater discharge is an...
Hierarchical stochastic modeling of large river ecosystems and fish growth across spatio-temporal scales and climate models: the Missouri River endangered pallid sturgeon example
Mark L. Wildhaber, Christopher K. Wikle, Edward H. Moran, Christopher J. Anderson, Kristie J. Franz, Rima Dey
2017, Geological Society of London Special Publications (408) 119-145
We present a hierarchical series of spatially decreasing and temporally increasing models to evaluate the uncertainty in the atmosphere – ocean global climate model (AOGCM) and the regional climate model (RCM) relative to the uncertainty in the somatic growth of the endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus). For effects on fish...
A water-budget analysis of Medina and Diversion Lakes and the Medina/Diversion Lake system, with estimated recharge to Edwards aquifer, San Antonio area, Texas
Richard N. Slattery, Lisa D. Miller
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5209
In January 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey—in cooperation with the Edwards Aquifer Authority—began a study to refine and, if possible, extend previously derived (1995–96) relations between the stage in Medina Lake and recharge to the Edwards aquifer to include the effects of reservoir stages below 1,018 feet and greater than...
Status of scientific knowledge, recovery progress, and future research directions for the Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi Vladykov, 1955
Kenneth J. Sulak, F Parauka, W. Todd Slack, T Ruth, Michael T. Randall, K Luke, M. F Mette, M. E Price
2016, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (32) 87-161
The Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, is an anadromous species of Acipenseridae and native to North America. It currently inhabits and spawns in the upper reaches of seven natal rivers along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from the Suwannee River, Florida, to the Pearl River, Louisiana, during...
Life history and status of Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum LeSueur, 1818)
Boyd Kynard, Stephania Bolden, Micah Kieffer, Mark Collins, Hal Brundage, Eric Hilton, Mark Litvak, Michael T. Kinnison, Tim L. King, Douglas C. Peterson
2016, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (32) 208-248
Shortnose Sturgeon = SNS (Acipenser brevirostrum) is a small diadromous species with most populations living in large Atlantic coast rivers and estuaries of North America from New Brunswick, Canada, to GA, USA. There are no naturally landlocked populations, so all populations require access to fresh water and salt water to...
Sources of groundwater and characteristics of surface-water recharge at Bell, White, and Suwannee Springs, Florida, 2012–13
John F. Stamm, W. Scott McBride
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1190
Discharge from springs in Florida is sourced from aquifers, such as the Upper Floridan aquifer, which is overlain by an upper confining unit that locally can have properties of an aquifer. Water levels in aquifers are affected by several factors, such as precipitation, recharge, and groundwater withdrawals, which in turn...
Long Valley Caldera Lake and reincision of Owens River Gorge
Wes Hildreth, Judy Fierstein
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5120
Owens River Gorge, today rimmed exclusively in 767-ka Bishop Tuff, was first cut during the Neogene through a ridge of Triassic granodiorite to a depth as great as its present-day floor and was then filled to its rim by a small basaltic shield at 3.3 Ma. The gorge-filling basalt, 200...
Changing agricultural practices: Potential consequences to aquatic organisms
Peter J. Lasier, Matthew L. Urich, Sayed M. Hassan, Whitney N. Jacobs, Robert B. Bringolf, Kathleen M. Owens
2016, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (188) 1-17
Agricultural practices pose threats to biotic diversity in freshwater systems with increasing use of glyphosate-based herbicides for weed control and animal waste for soil amendment becoming common in many regions. Over the past two decades, these particular agricultural trends have corresponded with marked declines in populations of fish and mussel...
Hydrologic assessment of the shallow groundwater flow system beneath the Shinnecock Nation tribal lands, Suffolk County, New York
Michael L. Noll, Simonette L. Rivera, Ronald Busciolano
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5110
Defining the distribution and flow of shallow groundwater beneath the Shinnecock Nation tribal lands in Suffolk County, New York, is a crucial first step in identifying sources of potential contamination to the surficial aquifer and coastal ecosystems. The surficial or water table aquifer beneath the tribal lands is the primary...
Tree regeneration by seed in bottomland hardwood forests: A review
Whitney A. Kroschel, Sammy L. King, Richard F. Keim
2016, Southeastern Naturalist (15) 42-60
Bottomland hardwood forests (BLH) are found in temperate, humid regions of the southeastern US, primarily on alluvial floodplains adjacent to rivers. Altered hydrology in rivers and floodplains has caused changes in stand development and species composition of BLHs. We hypothesize that the driving mechanisms behind these changes are related to...
Satellite-derived temperature data for monitoring water status in a floodplain forest of the Upper Sabine River, Texas
Mary Grace T. Lemon, Scott T. Allen, Brandon L. Edwards, Sammy L. King, Richard F. Keim
2016, Southeastern Naturalist (15) 90-102
Decreased water availability due to hydrologic modifications, groundwater withdrawal, and climate change threaten bottomland hardwood (BLH) forest communities. We used satellite-derived (MODIS) land-surface temperature (LST) data to investigate spatial heterogeneity of canopy temperature (an indicator of plant-water status) in a floodplain forest of the upper Sabine River for 2008–2014. High...
Survival and metamorphosis of larval sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) residing in Lakes Michigan and Huron near river mouths
Nicholas S. Johnson, Travis O. Brenden, William D. Swink, Mathew A. Lipps
2016, Journal of Great Lakes Research (42) 1461-1469
Although population demographics of larval lampreys in streams have been studied extensively, demographics in lake environments have not. Here, we estimated survival and rates of metamorphosis for larval sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) populations residing in the Great Lakes near river mouths (hereafter termed lentic areas). Tagged larvae were stocked and...
Characterization of peak streamflows and flood inundation of selected areas in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi from flood of March 2016
Brian K. Breaker, Kara M. Watson, Paul A. Ensminger, John B. Storm, Claire E. Rose
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5162
Heavy rainfall occurred across Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi in March 2016 as a result of a slow-moving southward dip in the jetstream, funneling tropical moisture into parts of the Gulf Coast States and the Mississippi River Valley. The storm caused major flooding in the northwestern and southeastern parts of...
Groundwater and surface-water interaction, water quality, and processes affecting loads of dissolved solids, selenium, and uranium in Fountain Creek, near Pueblo, Colorado, 2012–2014
L. Rick Arnold, Roderick F. Ortiz, Christopher R. Brown, Kenneth R. Watts
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5134
In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Arkansas River Basin Regional Resource Planning Group, initiated a study of groundwater and surface-water interaction, water quality, and loading of dissolved solids, selenium, and uranium to Fountain Creek near Pueblo, Colorado, to improve understanding of sources and processes affecting loading...
Stage-discharge relations and annual nitrogen and phosphorus load estimates for stream sites in the Elk River Basin, 2006–2008
Anne B. Hoos, Shannon D. Williams, William J. Wolfe
2016, Data Series 1015
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), measured continuous discharge at 4 water-quality monitoring sites and developed stage-discharge ratings for 10 additional water-quality monitoring sites in the Elk River Basin during 2006 through 2008. The discharge data were collected to support stream...