Design and methods of the U.S. Geological Survey Northeast Stream Quality Assessment (NESQA), 2016
James F. Coles, Karen Riva-Murray, Peter C. Van Metre, Daniel T. Button, Amanda H. Bell, Sharon L. Qi, Celeste A. Journey, Rich W. Sheibley
2019, Open-File Report 2018-1183
During 2016, as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project (NAWQA), the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the Northeast Stream Quality Assessment (NESQA) to investigate stream quality in the northeastern United States. The goal of the NESQA was to assess the health of wadeable streams in the region by characterizing multiple...
Landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria: Assessment of an extreme event in Puerto Rico
Erin Bessette-Kirton, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, William H. Schulz, Jeffrey A. Coe, Jason W. Kean, Jonathan W. Godt, Matthew A. Thomas, K. Stephen Hughes
2019, GSA Today (29) 4-10
Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017 and triggered more than 40,000 landslides in at least three-fourths of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities. The number of landslides that occurred during this event was two orders of magnitude greater than those reported from previous hurricanes. Landslide source...
Monitoring the pulse of our Nation's rivers and streams—The U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging network
Sandra M. Eberts, Michael D. Woodside, Mark N. Landers, Chad R. Wagner
2019, Fact Sheet 2018-3081
In the late 1800s, John Wesley Powell, second Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), proposed gaging the flow of rivers and streams in the Western United States to evaluate the potential for irrigation. Around the same time, several cities in the Eastern United States established primitive streamgages to help...
Demographic responses of least terns and piping plovers to the 2011 Missouri River flood—A large-scale case study
Michael J. Anteau, Mark H. Sherfy, Terry L. Shaffer, Rose J. Swift, Dustin L. Toy, Colin M. Dovichin
2019, Open-File Report 2018-1176
A catastrophic flood event on the Missouri River system in 2011 led to substantial changes in abundance and distribution of unvegetated sand habitat. This river system is a major component of the breeding range for interior Least terns (Sternula antillarum; “terns”) and piping plovers (Charadrius melodus; “plovers”), both of which...
Characterization and occurrence of confined and unconfined aquifers in Quaternary sediments in the glaciated conterminous United States
Richard M. Yager, Leon J. Kauffman, David R. Soller, Adel E. Haj, Paul M. Heisig, Cheryl A. Buchwald, Stephen, M. Westenbroek, James E. Reddy
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5091
The glacial aquifer system, which is a collection of aquifers within Quaternary sediments in the glaciated conterminous United States, is a principal aquifer that supplies groundwater that serves about 42 million people and accounts for about 5 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. This aquifer system (the area of maximum...
Delineation of selected lithologic units using airborne electromagnetic data near Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Joshua F. Valder, Adel E. Haj, Emilia L. Bristow, Kristen J. Valseth
2019, Scientific Investigations Map 3423
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Cedar Rapids, began a study in 2013 to better understand the effects of drought stress on the Cedar River alluvial aquifer. After an evaluation of the existing groundwater-flow models for the alluvial aquifer, a plan was begun to construct an...
Airborne bacteria in Earth’s lower stratosphere resemble taxa detected in the troposphere: results from a new NASA aircraft bioaerosol collector (ABC)
David J. Smith, Jayamary D. Ravichandar, Sunit Jain, Dale W. Griffin, Hongbin Yu, Qian Tan, James Thissen, Terry Lusby, Patrick Nicoll, Sarah Shedler, P. Martinez, Alejandro Osorio, Jason Lechniak, Samuel Choi, Kayleen Sabino, Kathryn Iverson, Luisa Chan, Crystal Jaing, John McGrath
2019, Frontiers in Microbiology (9)
Airborne microorganisms in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere remain elusive due to a lack of reliable sample collection systems. To address this problem, we designed, installed, and flight-validated a novel Aircraft Bioaerosol Collector (ABC) for NASA's C-20A that can make collections for microbiological research investigations up to altitudes of...
Hydrogeologic controls and geochemical indicators of groundwater movement in the Niles Cone and southern East Bay Plain groundwater subbasins, Alameda County, California
Nicholas F. Teague, John A. Izbicki, Jim Borchers, Justin T. Kulongoski, Bryant C. Jurgens
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5003
Beginning in the 1970s, Alameda County Water District began infiltrating imported water through ponds in repurposed gravel quarries at the Quarry Lakes Regional Park, in the Niles Cone groundwater subbasin, to recharge groundwater and to minimize intrusion of saline, San Francisco Bay water into freshwater aquifers. Hydraulic connection between distinct...
Analysis of groundwater response to tidal fluctuations, Operable Unit 1, Naval Base Kitsap, Keyport, Washington
Chad C. Opatz, Richard S. Dinicola
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1098
Chlorinated volatile organic compounds have affected groundwater beneath a former 9-acre landfill at Operable Unit 1 (OU 1) of Naval Base Kitsap (NBK) Keyport, in Keyport, Washington. The landfill was the primary disposal area for domestic and industrial waste generated by NBK Keyport from the 1930s through 1973. Naval Facilities...
Characterization of stormwater runoff from bridge decks in eastern Massachusetts, 2014–16
Kirk P. Smith, Jason R. Sorenson, Gregory E. Granato
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5033
The quality of stormwater runoff from bridge decks (hereafter referred to as “bridge-deck runoff”) was characterized in a field study from August 2014 through August 2016 in which concentrations of suspended sediment (SS) and total nutrients were monitored. These new data were collected to supplement existing highway-runoff data collected in...
A practical primer on geostatistics
Ricardo A. Olea
2018, Open-File Report 2009-1103
IntroductionThe Challenge—Most geological phenomena are extraordinarily complex in their interrelationships and vast in their geographical extension. Ordinarily, engineers and geoscientists are faced with corporate or scientific requirements to properly prepare geological models with measurements involving a small fraction of the entire area or volume of interest. Exact description of a...
Guidelines for determining flood flow frequency — Bulletin 17C
John F. England Jr., Timothy A. Cohn, Beth A. Faber, Jery R. Stedinger, Wilbert O. Thomas Jr., Andrea G. Veilleux, Julie E. Kiang, Robert R. Mason, Jr.
2018, Techniques and Methods 4-B5
Accurate estimates of flood frequency and magnitude are a key component of any effective nationwide flood risk management and flood damage abatement program. In addition to accuracy, methods for estimating flood risk must be uniformly and consistently applied because management of the Nation’s water and related land resources is a...
Interior Least Tern sandbar nesting habitat measurements from Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery
Edward A. Bulliner, Caroline M. Elliott, Robert B. Jacobson, Casey Lott
2018, Data Series 1098
Sandbars of large sand-bedded rivers of the central United States serve important ecological functions to many species, including the endangered Interior Least Tern (Sternula antillarum, ILT). The ILT is a colonial bird that feeds on fish and nests primarily on riverine sandbars during its annual breeding season of around May...
Groundwater, surface-water, and water-chemistry data, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona—2015–2016
Jon P. Mason, Jamie P. Macy
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1193
The Navajo (N) aquifer is an extensive aquifer and the primary source of groundwater in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Availability of water is an important issue in the Black Mesa area because of continued water requirements for industrial and municipal use by a growing population and...
User guide for the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator (MA SYE—version 2.0) computer program
Gregory E. Granato, Sara B. Levin
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1169
This report is a user guide for the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator (MA SYE) computer program (version 2.0). The MA SYE was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to provide a planning-level decision-support tool designed to help decision makers estimate daily mean...
Methods used to estimate daily streamflow and water availability in the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator version 2.0
Sara B. Levin, Gregory E. Granato
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5146
The Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator is a decision support tool that provides estimates of daily unaltered streamflow, water-use-adjusted streamflow, and water availability for ungaged, user-defined basins in Massachusetts. Daily streamflow at the ungaged site is estimated for unaltered (no water use) and water-use scenarios. The procedure for estimating streamflow was developed...
The Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator—A decision-support tool to estimate water availability at ungaged stream locations in Connecticut
Sara B. Levin, Scott A. Olson, Martha G. Nielsen, Gregory E. Granato
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5135
Freshwater streams in Connecticut are subject to many competing demands, including public water supply; agricultural, commercial, and industrial water use; and ecosystem and habitat needs. In recent years, drought has further stressed Connecticut’s water resources. To sustainably allocate and manage water resources among these competing uses, Federal, State, and local...
User guide for the Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator (CT SSWUE—version 1.0) computer program
Gregory E. Granato, Sara B. Levin
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1163
This report is a user guide for the Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator (CT SSWUE) computer program (version 1.0). The CT SSWUE was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to provide a planning-level decision-support tool designed to...
Land subsidence along the California Aqueduct in west-central San Joaquin Valley, California, 2003–10
Michelle Sneed, Justin T. Brandt, Michael Solt
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5144
Extensive groundwater withdrawal from the unconsolidated deposits in the San Joaquin Valley caused widespread aquifer-system compaction and resultant land subsidence from 1926 to 1970—locally exceeding 8.5 meters. The importation of surface water beginning in the early 1950s through the Delta-Mendota Canal and in the early 1970s through the California Aqueduct...
Baseline water quality of an area undergoing shale-gas development in the Muskingum River watershed, Ohio, 2015–16
S. Alex Covert, Martha L. Jagucki, Carrie A. Huitger
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5113
In 2015–16, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, led a study to assess baseline (2015–16) surface-water quality in six lake drainage basins within the Muskingum River watershed that are in the early years of shale-gas development. In 2015, 9 of the 10 most active...
Modeling hydrodynamics, water temperature, and water quality in Klamath Straits Drain, Oregon and California, 2012–15
Annett B. Sullivan, Stewart A. Rounds
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5134
Executive SummaryLocated southwest of Klamath Falls, Oregon, Klamath Straits Drain is a 10.1-mile-long canal that conveys water uphill and northward through the use of pumps before discharging to the Klamath River. Klamath Straits Drain traverses an area that historically encompassed Lower Klamath Lake. Currently, the Drain receives water from farmland...
Groundwater chemistry and water-level elevations in bedrock aquifers of the Piceance and Yellow Creek watersheds, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, 2013–16
Judith C. Thomas, Peter B. McMahon
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5142
The Piceance and Yellow Creek watersheds in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, are known to contain important energy resources (oil shale and natural gas) and mineral resources (nahcolite). The primary sources of fresh groundwater in the Piceance and Yellow Creek watersheds are bedrock aquifers in the Uinta and Green River Formations....
Flood frequency of rural streams in Mississippi, 2013
Brandon T. Anderson
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5148
To improve flood-frequency estimates at rural streams in Mississippi, annual exceedance probability flows at gaged streams and regional regression equations used to estimate annual exceedance probability flows for ungaged streams were developed by using current geospatial data, new analytical methods, and annual peak-flow data through the 2013 water year. The...
Monitoring framework for evaluating hydrogeomorphic and vegetation responses to environmental flows in the Middle Fork Willamette, McKenzie, and Santiam River Basins, Oregon
J. Rose Wallick, Leslie B. Bach, Mackenzie K. Keith, Melissa Olson, Joseph F. Mangano, Krista L. Jones
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1157
This report summarizes a framework for monitoring hydrogeomorphic and vegetation responses to environmental flows in support of the Willamette Sustainable Rivers Program (SRP). The SRP is a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to provide ecologically sustainable flows downstream of dams while still...
Revised groundwater-flow model of the glacial aquifer system north of Aberdeen, South Dakota, through water year 2015
Joshua F. Valder, William G. Eldridge, Kyle W. Davis, Colton J. Medler, Karl R. Koth
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5137
The city of Aberdeen, in northeastern South Dakota, requires an expanded and sustainable supply of water to meet current and future demands. Conceptual and numerical models of the glacial aquifer system in the area north of Aberdeen were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the City of...
