Contaminant removal by wastewater treatment plants in the Stillaguamish River Basin, Washington
Jack E. Barbash, Patrick W. Moran, Richard J. Wagner, Michael Wolanek
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3023
Human activities in most areas of the developed world typically release nutrients, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, and other contaminants into the environment, many of which reach freshwater ecosystems. In urbanized areas, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are critical facilities for collecting and reducing the amounts of wastewater contaminants (WWCs) that...
Broad-scale assessments of ecological landscapes: developing methods and applications
Natasha B. Carr, David J. A. Wood, Zachary H. Bowen, Travis S. Haby
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3007
The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing a Landscape Approach for managing multiple uses of public lands by incorporating multiscale information to quantify the effects of natural and human influences on natural resource conditions and trends. A primary goal of the approach is...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Pennsylvania
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3019
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, elevation data are critical for natural resources conservation (including the effects of drilling for oil and natural gas), agriculture and precision...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Iowa
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3018
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Iowa, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, water supply...
UCERF3: A new earthquake forecast for California's complex fault system
Edward H. Field, 2014 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3009
With innovations, fresh data, and lessons learned from recent earthquakes, scientists have developed a new earthquake forecast model for California, a region under constant threat from potentially damaging events. The new model, referred to as the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, or "UCERF" (http://www.WGCEP.org/UCERF3), provides authoritative estimates of...
Trust Species and Habitat Branch: using the innovative approaches of today to conserve biodiversity for tomorrow
Patricia Stevens, Katie D. Walters
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3071
Some of the biggest challenges facing wildlife today are changes to their environment from both natural and anthropogenic causes. Natural resource managers, planners, policy makers, industry and private landowners must make informed decisions and policies regarding management, conservation, and restoration of species, habitats, and ecosystem function in response to these...
Invasive Species Science Branch: research and management tools for controlling invasive species
Robert N. Reed, Katie D. Walters
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3076
Invasive, nonnative species of plants, animals, and disease organisms adversely affect the ecosystems they enter. Like “biological wildfires,” they can quickly spread and affect nearly all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Invasive species have become one of the greatest environmental challenges of the 21st century in economic, environmental, and human health...
National Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office
Susan E. Goplen, Jeff L. Sloan
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3013
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Project Office leads the implementation of UAS technology in the Department of the Interior (DOI). Our mission is to support the transition of UAS into DOI as a new cost-effective tool for collecting remote-sensing data to monitor environmental conditions, respond...
Aquatics Systems Branch: transdisciplinary research to address water-related environmental problems
Quan Dong, Katie D. Walters
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3073
The Aquatic Systems Branch at the Fort Collins Science Center is a group of scientists dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary science and providing science support to solve water-related environmental issues. Natural resource managers have an increasing need for scientific information and stakeholders face enormous challenges of increasing and competing demands for...
Water resources of St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
Vincent E. White, Lawrence B. Prakken, Robert B. Fendick Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3102
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in St. John the Baptist 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. Information...
Groundwater quality in the Northern Coast Ranges Basins, California
Timothy M. Mathany, Kenneth Belitz
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3114
The Northern Coast Ranges (NOCO) study unit is 633 square miles and consists of 35 groundwater basins and subbasins (California Department of Water Resources, 2003; Mathany and Belitz, 2015). These basins and subbasins were grouped into two study areas based primarily on locality. The groundwater basins and subbasins located inland,...
In-place oil shale resources of the Mahogany zone sorted by grade, overburden thickness and stripping ratio, Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado and Uinta Basin, Utah
Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier, Ronald C. Johnson, Michael E. Brownfield
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3005
A range of geological parameters relevant to mining oil shale have been examined for the Mahogany zone of the Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, and Uinta Basin, Utah, using information available in the U.S. Geological Survey Oil Shale Assessment database. Basinwide discrete and cumulative distributions of resource...
Maine StreamStats: a water-resources web application
Pamela J. Lombard
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3014
Maine StreamStats is a tool that any user with Internet access can use to delineate a basin on the fly and estimate a wide variety of streamflow statistics for ungaged sites on rivers and streams in Maine. Estimates are based on regression equations or are from data from similar gaged...
Assessment of unconventional oil and gas resources in the Jurassic Sargelu Formation of Iraq, 2014
Christopher J. Schenk, Janet K. Pitman, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Michael E. Brownfield, Heidi M. Leathers, Tracey J. Mercier, Marilyn E. Tennyson
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3006
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) quantitatively assessed the potential for unconventional (continuous) oil and gas resources within the Jurassic Sargelu Formation of Iraq. Organic-rich shales of the Jurassic Sargelu Formation are one of the main petroleum source rocks for conventional fields in the Arabian Peninsula. The Sargelu Formation consists of...
Water resources of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
Vincent E. White, Lawrence B. Prakken
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3118
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in St. Charles 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. Information on the...
Effects of water-resource development on Yellowstone River streamflow, 1928-2002
Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Katherine J. Chase
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3004
Major floods in 1996 and 1997 intensified public concern about the effects of human activities on the Yellowstone River in Montana. In 1999, the Yellowstone River Conservation District Council, whose members are primarily representatives from the conservation districts bordering the main stem of the Yellowstone River, was formed to promote...
Climate change: evaluating your local and regional water resources
Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, James H. Thorne
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3098
The BCM is a fine-scale hydrologic model that uses detailed maps of soils, geology, topography, and transient monthly or daily maps of potential evapotranspiration, air temperature, and precipitation to generate maps of recharge, runoff, snow pack, actual evapotranspiration, and climatic water deficit. With these comprehensive environmental inputs and experienced scientific...
Water resources of La Salle Parish, Louisiana
Vincent E. White, Lawrence B. Prakken
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3089
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in La Salle 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. Information on the...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for New Hampshire
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3110
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications important to New Hampshire, including flood mitigation, land development, agriculture, transportation planning and design, infrastructure asset inventory and management, and many others. For the State of New Hampshire, elevation data are critical for many business uses such as flood risk...
Flood-inundation mapping for the Blue River and selected tributaries in Kansas City, Missouri, and vicinity, 2012
David C. Heimann, Trina E. Weilert, Brian P. Kelly, Seth E. Studley
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3008
Kansas City, Missouri, has severely flooded many times, most notably in 1951, 1961, 1977, 1984, 1990, 1998, and 2010. During the past 30 years these floods resulted in damages within Kansas City costing tens of millions of dollars and more than 25 casualties. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and City of...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Utah
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3115
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Utah, elevation data are critical for infrastructure and construction management, natural resources conservation, geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation, flood risk management,...
3D Elevation Program: summary for Vermont
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3002
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Vermont, elevation data are critical for hazard mitigation, geologic resource assessment, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, flood risk management, infrastructure...
3D Elevation Program: summary for Nebraska
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3112
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Nebraska, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, infrastructure and construction management, geologic resource...
Social and Economic Analysis Branch: integrating policy, social, economic, and natural science
Rudy Schuster, Katie D. Walters
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3070
The Fort Collins Science Center's Social and Economic Analysis Branch provides unique capabilities in the U.S. Geological Survey by leading projects that integrate social, behavioral, economic, and natural science in the context of human–natural resource interactions. Our research provides scientific understanding and support for the management and conservation of our...
Organic matters: investigating the sources, transport, and fate of organic matter in Fanno Creek, Oregon
Steven Sobieszczyk, Mackenzie K. Keith, Jami H. Goldman, Stewart A. Rounds
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3003
The term organic matter refers to the remnants of all living material. This can include fallen leaves, yard waste, animal waste, downed timber, or the remains of any other plant and animal life. Organic matter is abundant both on land and in water. Investigating organic matter is necessary for understanding...
