Groundwater chemistry, hydrogeologic properties, bioremediation potential, and three-dimensional numerical simulation of the sand and gravel aquifer at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, near Milton, Florida, 2015–20
James Landmeyer, Eric D. Swain, Carole D. Johnson, John T. Lisle, W. Scott McBride, David H. Chung, Michael A. Singletary
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5124
The U.S. Geological Survey completed a study between 2015 and 2020 of groundwater contamination in the sand and gravel aquifer at a Superfund site in northwestern Florida. Groundwater-quality samples were collected from representative monitoring wells located along a groundwater-flow pathway and analyzed in the field and laboratory. In general, ambient...
Substrate particle-size distribution, dissolved-oxygen concentrations, sediment temperatures, and groundwater/surface-water exchange in shoreline spawning habitat of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) of Lake Ozette, Western Washington
Andrew S. Gendaszek, Rich W. Sheibley
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5134
Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) spawn at beaches along Lake Ozette’s shoreline and within its tributary streams including Umbrella Creek and Big River in western Washington. The tributary-spawning aggregate of the Lake Ozette sockeye salmon population has been increasing from very low abundance through hatchery supplementation, but the beach-spawning...
The HayWired earthquake scenario—Engineering implications
Shane T. Detweiler, Anne M. Wein, editor(s)
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5013-I–Q
The HayWired Earthquake Scenario—Engineering Implications is the second volume of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5013, which describes the HayWired scenario, developed by USGS and its partners. The scenario is a hypothetical yet scientifically realistic earthquake sequence that is being used to better understand hazards for the San...
Historical changes in bed elevation and water depth within the Nehalem Bay, Oregon, 1891–2019
Mackenzie K. Keith, Krista L. Jones, Gabriel W. Gordon
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5108
Estuaries, at the nexus of rivers and the ocean, are depositional areas that respond to changes in streamflow, tides, sea level, and inputs of sediment from marine and watershed sources. Understanding changes in bed elevations, deposited and eroded sediment, and water depth throughout estuaries is relevant for understanding their...
Load estimation and trend analysis for nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment in the Eucha-Spavinaw drainage area, northeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas, 2011–18
Nicole Paizis, Carol Becker, Kayla A. Lockmiller
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5105
Lake Eucha is a source of water for public supply and recreation for the residents of Tulsa and other municipalities in northeastern Oklahoma. Beaty Creek and Spavinaw Creek flow into Lake Eucha and drain about 388 square miles of agricultural and forested land in northeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas. Beginning...
Simulation of potential water allocation changes, Cape May County, New Jersey
Glen B. Carleton
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5052
Saltwater intrusion and declining water levels have been a water-supply problem in Cape May County, New Jersey, for decades. Cape May County is surrounded by saltwater on three sides. Several communities in the county have only one aquifer from which freshwater withdrawals can be made, and that sole source is...
The water quality of selected streams in the Catskill and Delaware water-supply watersheds in New York, 1999–2009
Michael R. McHale, Jason Siemion, Peter S. Murdoch
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5049
From October 1, 1999, through September 30, 2009, water-quality samples were collected, and discharge was measured at 13 streamgages within the Catskill and Delaware watersheds of the New York City water supply system. The Catskill and Delaware watersheds supply about 90 percent of the water needed by 9 million customers....
Simulating the effects of climate-related changes to air temperature and precipitation on streamflow and water temperature in the Meduxnekeag River watershed, Maine
David M. Bjerklie, Scott A. Olson
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5104
Responsible stewardship of native fish populations and riparian plants in the Meduxnekeag River watershed in northeastern Maine is a high priority for the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians. Understanding the potential changes in hydrology and water temperature as a result of climate change is important to this priority for evaluating...
Streambed scour of salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) redds in the Sauk River, Northwestern Washington
Andrew S. Gendaszek
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5133
The autumn and winter flood season of western Washington coincides with the incubation period of many Pacific salmon (Onchorhynchus spp.) populations. During this period, salmon embryos incubating within gravel nests called “redds” are vulnerable to mobilization of surrounding sediment during floods. As overlying sediment is transported downstream, the vertical...
Continuous turbidity data used to compute constituent concentrations in the South Loup River, Nebraska, 2017–18
David L. Rus, Brenda K. Densmore
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5120
The South Loup River in central Nebraska has been impaired by bacteria since at least 2004, which has resulted in the river not meeting its intended use as a recreational waterway. As part of a strategy for reducing the bacterial load in the river, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation...
Simulation of groundwater budgets and travel times for watersheds on the north shore of Long Island Sound, with implications for nitrogen-transport studies
Janet R. Barclay, John R. Mullaney
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5116
Aquatic systems in and around the Long Island Sound (LIS) provide a variety of ecological and economic benefits, but in some areas of the LIS, aquatic ecosystems have become degraded by excess nitrogen. A substantial fraction of the nitrogen inputs to the LIS are transported through the groundwater-flow system. Because...
Numerical modeling of groundwater flow in the crystalline-rock aquifer in the vicinity of the Savage Municipal Water-Supply Well Superfund site, Milford, New Hampshire
Philip T. Harte
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5137
In 2010, tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a chlorinated volatile organic compound, was detected in groundwater from deep (more than 300 feet below land surface) fractures in monitoring wells tapping a crystalline-rock aquifer. The aquifer underlies the Milford-Souhegan glacial-drift aquifer, a high water-producing aquifer, and the Savage Municipal Water-Supply Well Superfund site in...
Depth of groundwater used for drinking-water supplies in the United States
James R. Degnan, Leon J. Kauffman, Melinda L. Erickson, Kenneth Belitz, Paul E. Stackelberg
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5069
Groundwater supplies 35 percent of drinking water in the United States. Mapping the quantity and quality of groundwater at the depths used for potable supplies requires an understanding of locational variation in the characteristics of drinking-water wells (depth and open interval). Typical depths of domestic- and public-drinking-water supply wells...
Documentation and mapping of flooding from the January and March 2018 nor’easters in coastal New England
Pamela J. Lombard, Scott A. Olson, Luke P. Sturtevant, Rena D. Kalmon
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5109
In January and March 2018, coastal Massachusetts experienced flooding from two separate nor’easters. To put the January and March floods into historical context, the USGS computed statistical stillwater elevations. Stillwater elevations recorded in January 2018 in Boston (9.66 feet relative to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988) have an...
Cyanobacteria, cyanotoxin synthetase gene, and cyanotoxin occurrence among selected large river sites of the conterminous United States, 2017–18
Robert E. Zuellig, Jennifer L. Graham, Erin A. Stelzer, Keith A. Loftin, Barry H. Rosen
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5121
The U.S. Geological Survey measured cyanobacteria, cyanotoxin synthetase genes, and cyanotoxins at 11 river sites throughout the conterminous United States in a multiyear pilot study during 2017–19 through the National Water Quality Assessment Project to better understand the occurrence of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in large inland and coastal rivers. This...
Update of the groundwater flow model for the Great Miami buried-valley aquifer in the vicinity of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio
Alexander D. Riddle
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5115
A previously constructed numerical model simulating the regional groundwater flow system in the vicinity of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, was updated to incorporate current hydrologic stresses and conditions and improve the usefulness of the model for water-supply planning and protection. The original model, which simulated conditions...
Factors affecting uncertainty of public supply, self-supplied domestic, irrigation, and thermoelectric water-use data, 1985–2015—Evaluation of information sources, estimation methods, and data variability
Carol L. Luukkonen, Kenneth Belitz, Samantha L. Sullivan, Pierre Sargent
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5082
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water-Use Program is responsible for compiling and disseminating the Nation's water-use data. Working in cooperation with local, State, and Federal agencies, the USGS has collected and published national water-use estimates every 5 years, beginning in 1950. These water-use data may vary because of actual changes...
Total phosphorus loadings for the Cedar River at Palo, Iowa, 2009–20
Jessica D. Garrett
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5127
In support of nutrient reduction efforts, total phosphorus loads and yields were computed using turbidity-surrogate and LOAD ESTimator (LOADEST) models for the Cedar River at Palo, Iowa, for January 1, 2009, to December 15, 2020. Sample data were used to create a total phosphorus concentration turbidity-surrogate model. Total phosphorus loads...
Water and sediment chemistry of selected existing and potential habitats of the Mohave tui chub, Mojave National Preserve, California, 2018
Katherine J. Earp, Angela P. Paul
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5106
The Mohave tui chub (Siphateles bicolor mohavensis) was nearly extirpated from the Mojave River drainage in California by the mid-twentieth century and was listed as endangered in 1970. A source population of Mohave tui chub exists at MC Spring in Zzyzx, California, and has been used for several re-establishment efforts...
Continuous monitoring and Bayesian estimation of nutrient and sediment loads from Illinois watersheds, for water years 2016–2020
Timothy O. Hodson, Paul J. Terrio, Colin S. Peake, David J. Fazio
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5092
The State of Illinois is one of the leading contributors of nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended sediment to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. During water years 2016–20, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, operated continuous monitoring stations on eight major rivers in...
Preliminary geohydrologic assessment of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Altar Valley, southeastern Arizona
Sandra J. Owen-Joyce, James B. Callegary, Amy Elizabeth Rosebrough
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5050
The Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge is located in the southern part of Altar Valley, southwest of Tucson in southeastern Arizona. The primary water-supply well at the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge has experienced a two-decade decrease in groundwater levels in the well, as have other wells in the southern...
Regression models for estimating sediment, nutrient concentrations and loads at School Branch at Brownsburg, Indiana, June 2015 through February 2019
Myles S. Downhour, Aubrey R. Bunch, Timothy R. Lathrop
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5099
Sediment and nutrient transport in the School Branch watershed (in central Indiana west of Indianapolis) is considered to be heavily affected by agricultural land use throughout the watershed. In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, deployed continuous water-quality monitors and began collecting...
Groundwater/surface-water interactions in the Partridge River Basin and evaluation of hypothetical future mine pits, Minnesota
Megan J. Haserodt, Randall J. Hunt, Michael N. Fienen, Daniel T. Feinstein
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5038
The Partridge River Basin (PRB) covers 156 square miles in northeastern Minnesota with headwaters in the Mesabi Iron Range. The basin is characterized by extensive wetlands, lakes, and streams in poorly drained and often thin glacial material overlying Proterozoic bedrock. To better understand the interaction between these extensive surface water...
Groundwater hydrology and chemistry of Jamestown Island, Virginia—Potential effects of tides, storm surges, and sea-level rise on archaeological, cultural, and ecological resources
Kurt J. McCoy, Karen C. Rice, Ellyn Rickles, Dave Frederick, Jennifer Cramer, Dorothy Geyer
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5117
As the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America in 1607, Jamestown Island, Colonial National Historical Park (COLO), Virginia, contains a rich archaeological record that extends from the Paleoindian period (15,000 to 8,000 years ago) through the 20th century. The island is located on the lower James...
Assessment of runoff volume reduction associated with soil amendments added to portions of highway median-strip catchments in Ohio, 2018–20
Matthew T. Whitehead, G. F. Koltun
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5114
The U.S. Geological Survey installed 10 rain gages and 12 calibrated H-flumes to measure rainfall and runoff volumes at 10 locations in Ohio Department of Transportation highway median-strip catchments. Data were collected to facilitate comparisons of rainfall and runoff volumes at study sites before and after stormwater best management practices...
