Effects of beaver dams and ponds on the transport and deposition of suspended sediment in urban streams of the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
Micelis C. Doyle, Cassandra D. Smith, Krista L. Jones, Alexandria E. Costello
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5039-C
Significant Findings This study investigated the effects of natural beaver dams and ponds on sediment transport and deposition in two urban beaver-affected reaches in the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon. Data were collected during 2016–17 from Fanno Creek at Greenway Park (between SW Hall Boulevard and SW Pearson Court) and Bronson...
Effects of beaver dams and ponds on hydrologic and hydraulic responses of storm flows in urban streams of the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
James S. White, Krista L. Jones, Stewart A. Rounds
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5039-B
Significant Findings American beaver (Castor canadensis) dams fundamentally alter stream hydraulics and hydrology by temporarily impounding water in stream channels. Water managers are interested in how this impoundment translates to changes in hydrograph dynamics, particularly regarding the magnitude and duration of high flows, the temporary storage of storm water, and the...
Stream network capacity to support beaver dams in the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
James S. White, Cassandra D. Smith, Krista L. Jones, Stewart A. Rounds
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5039-A
Significant Findings Beaver dams can help streams connect to their floodplains. These floodplain connections can expand the range of available aquatic habitats and aid in the restoration of stream and floodplain function and processes. American beavers (Castor canadensis) occupy a wide variety of aquatic habitats; however, their ability to build dams,...
Beavers in the Tualatin River Basin, northwestern Oregon
Krista L. Jones, Cassandra D. Smith, editor(s)
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5039
Growing interest in beaver-assisted restoration in the Tualatin River Basin of northwestern Oregon motivated a series of studies by the U.S. Geological Survey to assess the capacity of the stream network to support beaver dams and to evaluate the effects of beaver dams and ponds on urban streams. This multichapter...
The role of street cleaning on the water-quality performance of a stormwater treatment pond in Madison, Wisconsin
William R. Selbig, Sean Thiboldeaux, Phillip Gaebler
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5096
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the City of Madison, evaluated how street cleaning frequency influences the pollutant removal efficiency of a stormwater treatment pond in Madison, Wisconsin (2020–24). Paired influent and effluent samples were analyzed for nutrients, sediment, and chloride under...
Channel and floodplain cross-section and bed-elevation analyses of the Green River in Echo, Island, and Rainbow Parks, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado and Utah
David J. Dean, Paul E. Grams, Shannon Leigh Sartain, Christy M. Leonard, Ronald E. Griffiths, Joel A. Unema, David J. Topping, John C. Schmidt
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5078
This report by the U.S. Geological Survey focuses on describing geomorphic changes in the alluvial segments of the Green River within Echo, Island, and Rainbow Parks of Dinosaur National Monument, between the 1990s and 2019. Substantial channel change occurred within these meandering alluvial segments following the construction and closure of...
Controls on sediment transport and storage in the Little Snake, Yampa, and Green Rivers in the vicinities of Dinosaur National Monument and Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado and Utah, with implications for fish habitat in the middle Green River
David J. Topping, Ronald E. Griffiths, Joel A. Unema, David J. Dean
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5075
The transport of sand and finer sediment in the Yampa and Green river network is typically in disequilibrium with the local sediment supply because of the partial decoupling of the sources of water and sediment: most of the water is supplied farther upstream than most of the sediment. This decoupling...
Potential risks of vegetation treatments to introduce and increase invasive annual grasses in rangelands of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota—A science synthesis to inform National Environmental Policy Act analyses
Aaron N. Johnston, David J. A. Wood, Kyle Ebenhoch, Tait K. Rutherford, Logan M. Maxwell, Sarah K. Carter
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5058
The U.S. Geological Survey is working with Federal land management agencies to develop a series of planned structured science syntheses to support environmental effects analyses that agencies conduct under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This report synthesizes science information relevant to environmental effects analyses concerned with potential increases in...
Regional hydraulic geometry characteristics of stream channels in the Boston Mountains in Arkansas
Daniel E. Kroes, Laura Suzanne Ruhl-Whittle, Allegra C. Pieri, Aaron L. Pugh
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5083
Many stream-channel infrastructure, habitat enhancement, and restoration projects are undertaken on streams throughout Arkansas by Federal, State, and local agencies as well as by private organizations and businesses with limited data on local geomorphology and streamflow conditions. Equations that relate drainage area above stable stream reaches to the basin characteristics,...
Multidecadal change in pesticide concentrations relative to human health benchmarks in the Nation’s groundwater
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Bruce D. Lindsey, Cee S. Nell
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5081
Groundwater-quality trend assessments identify aquifers that are responding to changes in pesticide use and the compounds that may pose a threat to water availability. The U.S. Geological Survey has been monitoring pesticide concentrations in groundwater for 25 principal aquifers across the conterminous United States since 1993. The groundwater well locations...
Flood-Inundation Maps of the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers including the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Southeast Missouri, 2023
David C. Heimann, Jason L. High, Allison A. Atkinson, Paul H. Rydlund Jr.
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5092
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 131.8-mile reach of the Current River and a 44.6-mile reach of the Jacks Fork River, in southeast Missouri, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission and the South Central Ozark Council of Governments. The maps...
Flood-inundation maps for Río de la Plata in and near Comerío, Puerto Rico, 2025
Chad J. Ostheimer, Legna M. Torres-Garcia
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5094
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 3.1-mile reach of Río de la Plata in and near Comerío, Puerto Rico, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Water-surface profiles were computed for the stream reach by using a one-dimensional steady-state step-backwater model. The model was calibrated to the current (2025) stage-streamflow...
Characterization of suspended sediment flux and streamflow trends in the Fountain Creek watershed, Colorado, 1998 through 2022
Myles S. Downhour, Erin K. Hennessy, Carleton R. Bern
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5089
The U.S. Geological Survey evaluated long-term suspended sediment flux and streamflow datasets for temporal trends (monotonic and step trends) at 10 streamgage sites within the Fountain Creek watershed in central Colorado using the Mann-Kendall test (monotonic trend) and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (step trend). Data were collected in cooperation with...
Earth Mapping Resources Initiative protocols—Sampling hard-rock mine waste and perpetual mine water sources
Kate M. Campbell, Robert R. Seal, Nadine M. Piatak, Jaime S. Azain, Jean M. Morrison, Sarah Jane White, Andrew H. Manning, Katherine Walton-Day, JoAnn M. Holloway, Bronwen Wang
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5068
Supporting the overarching goal to evaluate critical minerals nationwide, the mine waste characterization effort in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Mapping Resources Initiative has created a series of protocols to standardize sampling carried out under this effort by the participating State geological surveys and their cooperators. The protocols are...
Assessment of channel morphology, hydraulics, and bedload transport along the Siletz River, western Oregon
Krista L. Jones, Mackenzie K. Keith, Tessa M. Harden, James S. White, Stan van de Wetering, Jason B. Dunham
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5063
Significant FindingsChinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) are native, anadromous fish species in the Siletz River Basin, western Oregon, that face many threats to their survival in freshwater and the ocean. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon seek to mitigate freshwater threats to Chinook salmon...
Microbial source tracking in Cedar and Crane Creeks near Curtice, Ohio, 2021
Christopher M. Kephart, Lauren D. Lynch
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5079
Elevated concentrations of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria and signs of sewage lead to impairment of Cedar and Crane Creeks near the town of Curtice, Ohio. In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, collected samples and analyzed them for concentrations of E. coli and...
Methods for estimating selected low-flow statistics at gaged and ungaged stream sites in Massachusetts
Gardner C. Bent, Elizabeth A. Ahearn, Jennifer H. Fair
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5082
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Office of Water Resources, computed selected at-site streamflow statistics at U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in and near Massachusetts and developed regional regression equations for estimating selected streamflows at ungaged stream sites in Massachusetts. Two sets of...
Sources of water and salts for the Zuni Salt Lake in west-central New Mexico
Andrew J. Robertson, Jeff D. Pepin, Erin L. Gray, Jake W. Collison, Jeb E. Brown, Andre Ritchie, Grady Ball
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5057
The Zuni Salt Lake is located in a maar in west-central New Mexico and contains hypersaline water that has long been used by Native Americans for religious purposes and the collection of salt. There have been several investigations suggesting different sources for the water and salt to the lake. Springs,...
Using satellite imagery and soil data to understand occurrences and migration of soil conditions harmful to archaeological sites on Jamestown Island, Virginia
Samuel H. Caldwell
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5074
Many know Jamestown Island, Virginia, hereafter referred to as “the Island,” located near the mouth of the James River into the Chesapeake Bay, as the home of the first permanent English settlement in North America. However, the Island is home to 15,000 years’ worth of cultural artifacts and archaeological sites....
Spatiotemporal variability of algal biomass and nitrate in Owasco and Seneca Lakes in the Finger Lakes Region, New York, in 2019
Michael D.W. Stouder, Sabina R. Gifford, Kristina Gutchess, Kaitlyn M. Finkelstein, Brett D. Johnston, Karen M. Beaulieu, Joshua J. Rosen, Megan L. Essig, Guy M. Foster
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5118
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) have become increasingly common, threatening the security of water resources globally. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted high-resolution nearshore mapping surveys using boat-mounted multiparameter sondes and nitrate sensors during the summer and fall of 2019 on Owasco Lake and Seneca Lake, two lakes with documented CyanoHABs...
Effects of restoration work on Kootenai River Acipenser transmontanus (white sturgeon) critical habitat, Kootenai River, northern Idaho, 2011–22
Megan K. Kenworthy, Taylor J. Dudunake
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5071
Between 2011 and 2018, the Kootenai River Habitat Restoration Project, led by the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, implemented restoration treatments to enhance the natural recruitment of the critically endangered Acipenser transmontanus (white sturgeon) and other fish native to the Kootenai River. These restoration treatments in the Straight and Braided Reaches...
Grammar to graph—An approach for semantic transformation of annotations to triples
Dalia E. Varanka, Emily Abbott
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5064
Data annotation is the process of labeling data to show the outcome that a related data model should predict. In this study, annotation data were transformed into semantic graph triples, mainly for use with the Resource Description Framework (RDF), a type of entity-relationship-attribute data model for graph databases. The transformation...
Fluvial sediment dynamics in the Shoshone River and tributaries around Willwood Dam, Park County, Wyoming
Jason S. Alexander, Haylie Brown, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Jason Burckhardt, Laura Burckhardt, Christopher A. Ellison, Carmen McIntyre, Travis Moger, Lindsay Patterson, Chace Tavelli, David Waterstreet, Mahonri Williams
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5077
Sedimentation affects many of the aging reservoirs in the United States. Dams and water diversions from rivers have been central elements of infrastructure supporting agricultural irrigation in the arid and semiarid regions of the Western United States for more than a century. The Willwood Irrigation District diversion dam (hereafter referred...
Streamflow extents and hydraulic characteristics of Meadow Valley Wash at Stuart Ranch, near Rox, Nevada
Laura A. Dye, Christopher M. Morris, Hampton K. Childres
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5069
The former Stuart Ranch, now managed by the Bureau of Land Management, is transected by Meadow Valley Wash, where 4,600 feet of perennial stream and adjacent riparian vegetation provide critical habitat for several wildlife and aquatic species protected under the Endangered Species Act. The stream has been altered by prior...
Tracking status and trends in seven key indicators of river and stream condition in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Lindsey J. Boyle, Samuel H. Austin, Matthew J. Cashman, Zachary J. Clifton, John W. Clune, James E. Colgin, Kaitlyn E.M. Elliott, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Ellie P. Foss, Nathaniel P. Hitt, Elizabeth A. Hittle, Coral M. Howe, Emily H. Majcher, Kelly O. Maloney, Christopher A. Mason, Marina J. Metes, Douglas L. Moyer, Trevor P. Needham, Karli M. Rogers, Joshua J. Thompson, Guoxiang Yang, Tammy M. Zimmerman
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5072
Freshwater streams and rivers are recognized as vital habitats within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which has been undergoing extensive restoration efforts for more than 30 years. Resource managers need to understand stream and river condition and how these conditions are changing over time to determine whether regional long-term restoration and...
