Geomorphic survey of North Fork Eagle Creek, New Mexico, 2018
Alexander P. Graziano
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1121
About one-quarter of the water supply for the Village of Ruidoso, New Mexico, is from groundwater pumped from wells located along North Fork Eagle Creek in the National Forest System lands of the Lincoln National Forest near Alto, New Mexico. Because of concerns regarding the effects of groundwater pumping on...
Use of remote sensing tools to predict focal areas for sea turtle conservation in the Southwestern Atlantic
L. Prosdocimi, N. Teryda, G. Navarrow, Raymond Carthy
2020, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (31) 830-840
Fisheries bycatch of non-target species in the commercial fleet is a major source of anthropogenic injury and mortality for sea turtles and marine megafauna.The Río de la Plata maritime front (RLPMF) and its adjacent international waters – comprising part of the Argentine and Uruguayan exclusive economic zones, is a...
Wetland conservation in the United States: A swinging pendulum
David M. Mushet, Aram Calhoun
2020, Book chapter, Soil and water conservation: A celebration of 75 years
No abstract available....
Continuous stream discharge, salinity, and associated data collected in the lower St. Johns River and its tributaries, Florida, 2019
Patrick J. Ryan
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1140
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, is deepening the St. Johns River channel in Jacksonville, Florida, from 40 to 47 feet along 13 miles of the river channel beginning at the mouth of the river at the Atlantic Ocean, in order to accommodate larger, fully loaded cargo vessels....
Assessing native fish restoration potential in Catoctin Mountain Park
Nathaniel P. Hitt, Karmann G. Kessler, Zachary A. Kelly, Karli M. Rogers, Hannah E. Macmillan, Heather L. Walsh
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1137
Biological conservation is a fundamental purpose of the National Park system, and Catoctin Mountain Park (CATO) supports high-quality habitat for native fishes in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in eastern North America. However, native Blue Ridge sculpin (Cottus caeruleomentum) have been extirpated in Big Hunting Creek above Cunningham...
Survival of Laysan Teal Anas laysanensis differs among island populations: Role of chronic avian botulism
Michelle H Reynolds, Jeffrey Hatfield, Karen Courtot, Cynthia Vanderlip
2020, Wildfowl (70) 192-210
Monitoring demographic response over time is valuable for understanding population dynamics of endangered species. We quantified the variation in survival patterns for three small isolated island populations of endangered waterfowl in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Laysan Teal Anas laysanensis were individually marked and the fate of 1,150 individuals were followed from different cohorts...
External quality assurance project report for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program’s National Trends Network and Mercury Deposition Network, 2017–18
Gregory A. Wetherbee, RoseAnn Martin
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5084
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Precipitation Chemistry Quality Assurance project (PCQA) operated five distinct programs to provide external quality-assurance monitoring for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program’s (NADP) National Trends Network and Mercury Deposition Network during 2017–18. The National Trends Network programs included (1) a field audit program to evaluate sample...
The ghosts of propagation past: Haplotype information clarifies the relative influence of stocking history and phylogeographic processes on contemporary population structure of walleye (Sander vitreus)
Matthew L. Bootsma, Loren Miller, Greg G. Sass, Peter T. Euclide, Wesley Larson
2020, Evolutionary Applications (14) 1124-1144
Stocking of fish is an important tool for maintaining fisheries but can also significantly alter population genetic structure and erode the portfolio of within-species diversity that is important for promoting resilience and adaptability. Walleye (Sander vitreus) are a highly valued sportfish in the midwestern United States, a region characterized by...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk and Tokio and Eutaw Formations, U.S. Gulf Coast, 2019
Janet K. Pitman, Stanley T. Paxton, Scott A. Kinney, Katherine J. Whidden, Seth S. Haines, Brian A. Varela, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Christopher J. Schenk, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ofori N. Pearson, Lauri A. Burke, Phuong A. Le, Justin E. Birdwell, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Katherine L. French, Ronald M. Drake II, Thomas M. Finn, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Chilisa M. Shorten
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3045
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 6.9 billion barrels of oil and 41.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in conventional and continuous accumulations in the Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk and Tokio and Eutaw Formations onshore and in State waters...
Groundwater quality and groundwater levels in Dougherty County, Georgia, April 2019 through March 2020
Debbie W. Gordon
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1120
The Upper Floridan aquifer is the uppermost, reliable aquifer in southwest Georgia. The aquifer lies on top of the Claiborne, Clayton, and Cretaceous aquifers, all of which exhibited water level declines in the 1960s and 1970s. The U.S. Geological Survey has been working cooperatively with Albany Utilities to monitor groundwater...
Interpretation of hydrogeologic data to support groundwater management, Bazile Groundwater Management Area, northeast Nebraska, 2019—A case demonstration of the Nebraska Geocloud
Christopher M. Hobza, Gregory V. Steele
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5113
Nitrate, age tracer, and continuous groundwater-level data were interpreted in conjunction with airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey data to understand the movement of nitrate within the Bazile Groundwater Management Area (BGMA) in northeastern Nebraska. Previously published age tracer data and nitrate data indicated vertical stratification of groundwater quality. Younger groundwater sampled...
Inter-population differences in salinity tolerance of adult wild Sacramento splittail: osmoregulatory and metabolic responses to salinity
Christine E. Verhille, Theresa F. Dabruzzi, Dennis E. Cocherell, Brian Mahardja, Frederick V. Feyrer, Theodore C. Foin, Melinda R. Baerwald, Nann A. Fangue
2020, Conservation Physiology (8)
The Sacramento splittail (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus) is composed of two genetically distinct populations endemic to the San Francisco Estuary (SFE). The allopatric upstream spawning habitat of the Central Valley (CV) population connects with the sympatric rearing grounds via relatively low salinity waters, whereas the San Pablo (SP) population must pass through...
Water resources of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana
Vincent E. White
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3054
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. In 2014, 364...
Source-tracking approach for detecting and identifying sources of wastewater in waters of Hawaiʻi
Adam G. Johnson
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5112
Elevated concentrations of nutrients and the fecal-indicator bacteria enterococci are occasionally detected in Hawai‘i’s surface waters by the State of Hawai‘i Department of Health Clean Water Branch. Management efforts to improve the water quality of surface waters are complicated by the fact that nutrients and enterococci can originate from several...
Compilation of mercury data and associated risk to human and ecosystem health, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Wisconsin
Douglas A. Burns
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1095
Mercury is an environmentally ubiquitous neurotoxin, and its methylated form presents health risks to humans and other biota, primarily through dietary intake. Because methylmercury bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in living tissue, concentrations progressively increase at higher trophic positions in ecosystem food webs. Therefore, the greatest health risks are for organisms at...
Low-flow characteristics of streams from Wailua to Hanapēpē, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Chui Ling Cheng
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5128
The purpose of this study is to characterize streamflow availability under natural (unregulated) low-flow conditions for streams in southeast Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i. The nine main study-area basins, from north to south, include Wailua River, Hanamā‘ulu, Nāwiliwili, Pūʻali, Hulēʻia, Waikomo, Lāwaʻi, and Wahiawa Streams, and Hanapēpē River. The results of this study...
Quality of data from the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Network for water years 2013–17
Laura Medalie, Laura M. Bexfield
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5116
Water samples from 122 sites in the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Network were collected in 2013–17 to document ambient water-quality conditions in surface water of the United States and to determine status and trends of loads and concentrations for nutrients, contaminants, and sediment to estuaries and streams. Quality-control...
Considerations for incorporating quality control into water quality sampling strategies for the U.S. Geological Survey
Laura Medalie
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1109
This report describes considerations for incorporating routine quality-assessment and quality-control evaluations into U.S. Geological Survey discrete water-sampling programs and projects. U.S. Geological Survey water-data science in 2020 is characterized by robustness, external reproducibility, collaborative large-volume data analysis, and efficient delivery of water-quality data. Confidence in data, or robustness, can be...
Exploring the potential value of satellite remote sensing to monitor chlorophyll-a for U.S. lakes and reservoirs
Michael Papenfus, Blake Schaeffer, Amina Pollard, Keith A. Loftin
2020, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (192)
Assessment of chlorophyll-a, an algal pigment, typically measured by field and laboratory in situ analyses, is used to estimate algal abundance and trophic status in lakes and reservoirs. In situ-based monitoring programs can be expensive, may not be spatially, and temporally comprehensive and results may not...
Bioaccumulation of the pesticide imidacloprid in stream organisms and sublethal effects on salamanders
Sara M. Crayton, Petra B. Wood, Donald J. Brown, Alice R. Millikin, Terence J. McManus, Tyler J. Simpson, Kang-Mo Ku, Yong-Lak Park
2020, Global Ecology and Conservation (24) 1-15
Neonicotinoids are one of the most widely used classes of insecticides in the world. The neonicotinoid imidacloprid is commonly applied to hemlock (Tsuga spp.) stands in eastern North America to reduce tree mortality from infestations of the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae). While laboratory and mesocosm studies have determined...
Council Monitoring and Assessment Program (CMAP): User guide for the Gulf Coast Monitoring and Assessment Portal
Kevin Suir, Hana R. Thurman, Anthony Kuczynski, Philip Quibodeaux, Sumani Chimmula, Jake Howell, Heidi Burkart, Nicholas Enwright, Kari Cretini, Mark McKelvy
2020, Report
The Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act Final Rule at 31 C.F.R. Part 34) was signed into law on July 6, 2012. The RESTORE Act calls for a regional approach to restoring the long-term health of the valuable natural...
Ecological risk assessment of environmental stress and bioactive chemicals to riverine fish populations: An individual-based model of smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu
Yan Li, Vicki S. Blazer, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Megan K. Schall, Kelly Smalling, Donald E. Tillitt, Tyler Wagner
2020, Ecological Modelling (438) 1-16
Ecological risk assessments play an important role in environmental management and decision-making. Although empirical measurements of the effects of habitat changes and chemical exposure are often made at molecular and individual levels, environmental decision-making often requires the quantification of management-relevant, population-level outcomes....
USGS Telemetry Project
Brent C. Knights, Marybeth K. Brey, Jessica C. Stanton, Travis J. Harrison, Douglas Appel, Enrika Hlavacek, James J. Duncker
2020, Report, Interim summary report 2020
Telemetry of acoustically tagged bigheaded carp (i.e., bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and silver carp H. molitrix) and surrogate fish species has become an invaluable tool in management for these species in the upper Illinois Waterway Systems (i.e., upper Illinois River, lower Des Plaines River, and Chicago Area Waterway System). For...
Changing nitrogen inputs to the northern San Francisco Estuary: Potential ecosystem responses and opportunities for investigation
David Senn, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Amy Richey, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Larry R. Brown, Louise Conrad, Christopher A. Francis, Wim Kimmerer, Raphael Kudela, Timothy G. Otten, Alexander E. Parker, April Robinson, Anke Mueller-Solger, Dylan Stern, Janet Thompson
2020, SFEI Contribution 973
Anthropogenic activities have resulted in elevated ambient nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in many regions of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Bay (northern San Francisco Estuary, (nSFE). The Sacramento Regional wastewater treatment plant (SRWTP WWTP) currently acts as the largest N point source to the system, discharging 13,000-15,000...
Water levels and selected water-quality conditions in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas, 2014
Kirk D. Rodgers, Amanda R. Whaling
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5123
In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Arkansas Geological Survey and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, determined water-level altitudes in 468 wells in eastern Arkansas and collected water-quality samples from 144 wells. Water-level altitudes were calculated based on the measured depth to water in each well and...
