Occurrence of cyanobacteria and associated cyanotoxins in the Raritan Basin Water Supply Complex, New Jersey, August 2020 to August 2021
Rebecca M. Gorney, Heather A. Heckathorn, Kyle R. Clonan, Pamela A. Reilly, Kathryn Cahalane, Bradley W. Bjorklund
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5128
Harmful algal blooms, particularly cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs), have emerged as a substantial global concern because of their detrimental effects on water quality and aquatic ecosystem health. CyanoHABs can produce cyanotoxins, which pose serious health risks to humans and wildlife, such as liver failure and respiratory distress. This is...
Selected water-quality data from the Cedar River and Cedar Rapids well fields, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 2017–22
Shannon M. Meppelink, Stephen J. Kalkhoff
2026, Data Report 1224
The Cedar River alluvial aquifer is the source of drinking water in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Production wells are completed in the alluvial aquifer approximately 40 to 80 feet below land surface. The City of Cedar Rapids and the U.S. Geological Survey have studied the groundwater-flow system and water quality of...
A chromosome-level genome assembly of a vernal pool specialist amphibian, the Western Spadefoot, Spea hammondii
Ben Thompsky, Eric Beraut, Robert D. Cooper, Merly Escalona, Robert E. Espinoza, Robert N. Fisher, Courtney Miller, Oanh Nguyen, Samuel Sacco, Ruta Sahasrabudhe, William E. Seligmann, Erin Tofflemier, Ian J. Wang, H. Bradley Schaffer
2026, Journal of Heredity
We assembled and annotated a chromosome-level genome for the Western Spadefoot, Spea hammondii (Anura, Scaphiopodidae) representing one of only three amphibians included in the California Conservation Genomics Project (CCGP). Spea hammondii is a vernal pool breeding anuran native to California and northwestern Baja California which has undergone both range contractions and local extirpations across...
Simulated seasonal loads of total nitrogen and total phosphorus by major source from watersheds draining to Washington waters of the Salish Sea, 2005 through 2020
Noah M. Schmadel, Cristiana Figueroa-Kaminsky, Daniel R. Wise, Jamie K. Wasielewski, Zachary Johnson, Robert W. Black
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5001
The U.S. Geological Survey and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) have developed watershed models of seasonal load estimates of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) discharging into the Washington State waters of the Salish Sea from 2005 through 2020. The modeling approach used was dynamic SPARROW (SPAtially...
Fifteen years of WRTDS for advancing water-quality science: A critical review of methodological developments and global applications
Qian Zhang, Robert M. Hirsch, Laura A. DeCicco, Jennifer C. Murphy
2026, Environmental Science and Technology (60) 11170-11182
Contamination by nutrients, major ions, and metals poses a major threat to global water sustainability. Understanding how these pollutants vary across time and space requires long-term monitoring and robust statistical approaches. Traditional methods, however, often struggle to account for streamflow variability, seasonality, and nonlinear responses. Introduced in 2010, the Weighted...
Global glacier mass change in 2025
Michael Zemp, Ethan Z. Welty, Samuel U. Nussbaumer, Jacqueline Bannwart, Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, Albin Wells, Andreas Peter Ahlstrøm, Brian Anderson, Liss Marie Andreassen, Mohd. Farooq Azam, Jamie Barnett, Carlo Baroni, Nicholas Edward Barrand, Andreas Bauder, Eric Bernard, Etienne Berthier, Giulia Bertolotti, Tobias Bolch, Mylène Bonnefoy-Demongeot, Matthias H. Braun, David Burgess, David Cappelletti, Jonathan L. Carrivick, Luca Carturan, Daniele Cat Berro, Jorge Luis Ceballos, Guillermo Cobos, Rolando Cruz, Nicolas Cullen, Bolívar Cáceres, Johanna Dahlkvist, Otgonbayar Demberel, Simon de Villiers, Roberto Dinale, Eugene Drozdov, Inés Dussaillant, Luzmila Dávila, Nelly Elagina, Hallgeir Elvehøy, Alexander Erofeev, Daniel Falaschi, Andrea Fischer, Mauro Fischer, Caitlyn Florentine, Koji Fujita, Stephan Peter Galos, Ayon Garcia, Noel Gourmelen, Federico Grosso, Afanasiy Gubanov, Andri Gunnarsson, Anne Guyez, Lea Hartl, Martin Hoelzle, Jorge Huenante, Romain Hugonnet, Matthias Huss, Bernhard Hynek, Takuro Imazu, Rodolfo Iturraspe, Livia Jakob, Sharad Joshi, Neamat Karimi, Nina Kirchner, Bjarne Kjøllmoen, Jack Kohler, Stanislav Kutuzov, Ivan Lavrentiev, James Matthew Lea, Amerigo Lendvai, Huilin Li, Shenghai Li, Zhongqin Li, Andreas Linsbauer, Sebastián Marinsek, Enrico Mattea, Christoph Mayer, Christopher McNeil, Luca Mercalli, Alexandra Messerli, Carolyn Michael, Umberto Morra di Cella, Francisco Navarro, Hofiz Navruzshoev, Anton Neureiter, Gennady Nosenko, Massimo Pecci, Mauri Pelto, Victor Popovnin, Rainer Prinz, Carla Puigdomenech, Heather Purdie, Finnur Pálsson, Alberto Rossotto, Lucas Ruiz, Louis Sass, Erik Schytt Mannerfelt, Riccardo Scotti, Donghui Shangguan, Brenda Shepherd, Delphine Six, Andrey Smirnov, Ireneusz Sobota, Markus Strudl, Shin Sugiyama, Emmanuel Thibert, Laura Thomson, Thorsteinn Thorsteinsson, Levan Tielidze, Florian Tolle, Pavel Toropov, Paolo Tuccella, Gulomjon Umirzakov, Ryskul Usubaliev, Lauren Vargo, Wei Yang, Bernhard Zagel
2026, Nature Reviews Earth and Environment (7) 213-215
Glaciers lost 408 ± 132 Gt of mass during the hydrological year 2025, equivalent to 1.1 ± 0.4 mm sea-level rise. Since 1975, glacier mass loss has totalled 9,583 ± 1,211 Gt, equivalent to 26.4 ± 3.3 mm of sea-level rise, with six of the highest mass-loss years on record...
Long-term monotonic trends in water budget components in the contiguous United States: Insights from two hydrologic models
Phillip J. Goodling, Sydney Foks, Jessica Ayers
2026, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (62)
Characterizing changes to water availability for domestic, industrial, agricultural, and other uses is essential to support water management. To better quantify these changes, the U.S. Geological Survey and National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research produced two hydrologic models simulating water budget components from 1980 to 2021 over the...
Mangrove ecosystems: Importance, threats and opportunities for restoration
Elijah I. Ohimain, Robert Eugene Turner, Beth A. Middleton
2026, Water (18)
Mangroves are crucial for biodiversity conservation, coastal protection, and supporting local livelihoods. Mangroves may also protect coasts from storms and rising sea levels and can play a major role in climate mitigation. Threats to their health include activities such as infrastructural development, urban encroachment, aquaculture and crop farming, and oil...
Local water use and climate variability drive water stress and alter ecological flows over the conterminous United States
Edward G. Stets, Matthew J. Cashman, Olivia L. Miller, Kathryn Powlen, Anthony J. Martinez, Julie Padilla, Althea A. Archer
2026, Environmental Research: Water (2)
Consistent, large-scale estimates of water availability are needed to identify and avoid potential conflicts among human and ecosystem uses of water. We present an assessment of water limitation, defined as the monthly balance (difference) between water supply (ws) and human consumptive water use (wc), for the conterminous United States (CONUS)...
Deep critical zone controls on shallow landslides
Seulgi Moon, Giuseppe Formetta, Justin T. Higa, Riccardo Busti, Dino G. Bellugi, David G. Milledge, Brian A. Ebel, William E. Dietrich
2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (123)
The deep critical zone (CZ) has long been recognized for its importance in influencing shallow landslides but was not considered feasible to include in slope stability models at the watershed scale. In this study, we demonstrate that simple approximations of the CZ in a fully coupled hydrologic and soil slope...
Urban stormwater treatment using biofiltration—Variable performance across solids, nutrients, major ions, and metals
William R. Selbig, James Romano
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5143
Urban runoff from streets and parking lots carries pollutants that degrade receiving waters. Green infrastructure, such as biofilters, is increasingly used to treat this runoff by mimicking natural hydrologic processes. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, evaluated a biofilter receiving roadway runoff from an...
Regreening, restoring, and reconnecting a southwestern wetland ecosystem – the Zeedyk wetland
Roy E. Petrakis, Laura M. Norman, Maryann McGraw, Steve Carson, Craig Sponholtz, Cameron Weber, Bill D. Zeedyk
2026, Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment (42)
Alluvial wetland ecosystems are vital as biodiversity hotspots but are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic stressors and drought. These pressures are especially acute in arid and semi-arid regions, where eco-hydrologic connectivity is fragile and recovery is slow. This study quantifies the efficacy of nature-based solutions, particularly the ‘Zeedyk approach,’ which employs...
Advancing compound coastal flood modeling on aouthern O’ahu, Hawai’i: A hybrid stochastic approach
Alba Ricondo, Laura Cagigal, Curt D. Storlazzi, Mark A. Merrifield, Fernando J. Mendez, Peter R Ruggiero
Carlos Coelho, Caroline Hallin, Francisco Sancho, Paulo A. Silva, editor(s)
2026, Conference Paper
Sea-level rise and changing patterns of storminess associated with climate change are expected to increase the frequency and severity of compound coastal flooding events, posing significant challenges to coastal communities in enhancing preparedness and adaptation strategies. This work presents a hybrid stochastic approach for the probabilistic assessment of compound coastal...
Potential impacts of groundwater pumping on stream temperature are greatest in streams with substantial cold groundwater inflows
Dana A. Lapides, Sam Zipper, John C. Hammond
2026, Hydrological Processes (40)
Groundwater pumping-induced reductions in streamflow (known as ‘streamflow depletion’) have been documented worldwide, but potential impacts of streamflow depletion on stream temperature are not well understood. Here, we use two types of models to identify potential impacts of pumping on stream temperature across the conterminous United States (CONUS) to determine...
Groundwater drought in the United States: Spatial and temporal variability
Glenn Hodgkins, Caelan Simeone, Melissa A. Lombard, Todd Caldwell, John C. Hammond, Michael Wieczorek, Robert W. Dudley
2026, Journal of Hydrology (671)
Many communities and ecosystems in the United States that are dependent on groundwater are potentially adversely affected by groundwater drought. We computed yearly groundwater-drought metrics and mean groundwater levels at well locations across the conterminous United States (CONUS), using data from wells and remotely sensed and modeled Gravity Recovery and...
Small-volume tephra deposits of the May 1924 explosions from Halemaʻumaʻu, Kīlauea volcano, and their origin
Drew T. Downs, Johanne Schmith, Julie Chang, Kendra J. Lynn, Don Swanson, Ben Gaddis, Ashton F. Flinders
2026, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (473)
More than 50 explosive eruptions occurred from Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea volcano over 17 days from May 11 to 27, 1924. Ballistics weighing as much as 14,000 kg were ejected and most landed within 2 km of the vent. Fine ash made up a major component of the tephra and was dispersed...
Hydrologic variability drives environmental and geospatial relationships in Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) distribution
Sarah F. Sorensen, J. Tyler Fox, Daniel D. Magoulick
2026, Science of the Total Environment (1025)
Hydrologic variation is a primary driver of stream ecosystems. Changing hydrology can lead to assemblage shifts and alterations in suitable habitat for freshwater species. As climate change is predicted to alter flow patterns in addition to increasing water temperatures, insight into relationships between species occupancy, hydrology, and...
Seasonal and hydrologic variation influences habitat and functional structure of stream fish assemblages
Joshua D. Tevin, Daniel D. Magoulick
2026, Frontiers in Enviornmental Science (14)
Introduction: Hydrologic variability is a key driver of ecological structure in lotic systems, shaping habitat conditions, taxonomic diversity, and the functional traits that mediate species’ persistence and performance (e.g., reproductive success). While many studies examine taxonomic responses to variation in flows, few evaluate how spatiotemporal hydrologic variation influences the functional...
Satellite time series analysis to quantify changing climax ciénegas using a state and transition model approach
Laura M. Norman, Roy E. Petrakis, Natalie R. Wilson, Barry R. Middleton, Miguel L. Villarreal, Michael Pollock, Thomas A. Minckley, Dean Hendrickson
2026, Ecological Indicators (184)
Ciénegas are rare wetlands in arid landscapes of the North American Southwest, historically providing critical ecological and hydrological functions but increasingly threatened by changing climate and land use pressures. This study quantifies changes in ciénega condition and floodplain dynamics using a state-and-transition model (STM) informed by expert...
Assessing environmental drivers of denitrification in restored riverine floodplains
Danielle Winter Lay, Sara W. McMillan, Jacob D. Hosen, Sayan Dey, Gregory E. Noe
2026, Journal of Ecological Engineering Design (4)
Restoration of impaired floodplains is an increasingly prevalent strategy for alleviating water quality concerns and reducing downstream flooding at watershed scales. Floodplains temporarily store water and slow flow velocity to promote sedimentation during overbank flooding and remove inorganic nitrogen from floodwater and groundwater via denitrification. Evaluating the impacts of different...
Stream macroinvertebrate responses vary with region, land use and management practice type
Sergio A. Sabat-Bonilla, Abigail C. Belvin, Gregory E. Noe, Kelly O. Maloney, Emmanuel A. Frimpong, Paul L. Angermeier, Entrekin. Sally E.
2026, Journal of Environmental Management (403)
Intensive land use alters hydrology and water quality, threatening freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates. Over 200,000 management practices (MPs) have been implemented across the Chesapeake Bay watershed since the 1980s, yet biological responses remain inconsistent. We synthesized 29 studies from 4 physiographic provinces covering 8 MP categories and evaluated macroinvertebrate responses along MP...
Floods of June 2024 in northwestern Iowa
Mackenzie K. Marti, Padraic S. O’Shea
2026, Open-File Report 2026-1066
Following a heavy, multiday rainfall event that took place between June 20 and June 22, 2024, widespread flooding occurred in parts of northwestern Iowa. Ten U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgages with periods of record ranging from 56 to 99 years in length experienced new peaks of record, three of which...
Groundwater dependency and hydroclimatic influences on riparian and upland vegetation productivity, Upper San Pedro, Arizona, United States
Fern Bromley, Patrick Borxton, Jiaqi Zhang, Willem J.D. van Leeuwen, Pamela L. Nagler, Jia Hu
2026, Hydrological Processes (40)
In arid and semi-arid regions, groundwater sustains vegetation through subsurface water access, yet the responses of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) to changing hydroclimate and groundwater availability are relatively understudied. This study investigates seasonal and spatial patterns in vegetation greenness using Landsat Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) values across riparian and upland zones...
Urbanization alters riverine fluorescent dissolved organic matter characteristics in a forested city – metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
Shuo Chen, Rebecca Hale, Kristina G. Hopkins, Liz Ortiz Muñoz, John Kominoski, Sarah Ledford, Krista A. Capps
2026, Environmental Research (297)
Streams and rivers in urban watersheds are predicted to export more bioreactive, autochthonous dissolved organic matter (DOM) relative to forested watersheds. However, the spatial and temporal variations of DOM quality in forested urban watersheds remain uncertain, and their relationships with socioeconomic conditions, biological characteristics, and the built environment are understudied....
RoadxStr user’s guide—For collection of road-stream crossing assessment field observations
Emily Heaston, Sean Winter, Shelby Bauer, Tait Ronningen, Jason Dunham
2026, Techniques and Methods 18-B1
Intersections of drainage networks and road networks represent a critical nexus between natural waterways and human infrastructure. Managing these systems involves decisions related to management of infrastructure, hydrologic and geomorphic processes, and ecological connectivity. Interactions among these systems influence multiple values, including the intactness of transportation networks, public safety, water...
