Contaminant baselines and sediment provenance along the Puget Sound Energy Transport Corridor, 2015
Renee K. Takesue, Pamela L. Campbell
2019, Open-File Report 2018-1196
The transport of coal and oil can result in contaminated soil, water, and organisms from unintended releases. Trains carrying coal and crude oil regularly pass through Puget Sound, Washington, and an increase in the number of coal and oil trains is expected in the future. This study characterized levels of...
Optimization of salt marsh management at the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Delaware, through use of structured decision making
Hilary A. Neckles, James E. Lyons, Jessica L. Nagel, Susan C. Adamowicz, Toni Mikula, Susan T. Guiteras, Laura R. Mitchell
2019, Open-File Report 2018-1160
Structured decision making is a systematic, transparent process for improving the quality of complex decisions by identifying measurable management objectives and feasible management actions; predicting the potential consequences of management actions relative to the stated objectives; and selecting a course of action that maximizes the total benefit achieved and balances...
Establishment of a vertical control network along the St. Croix River in New Brunswick and Maine
Pamela J. Lombard
2019, Open-File Report 2013-1236
Consistent elevations at stable benchmarks, referenced to a common datum, are important for measuring and comparing water levels and for computing flows throughout a watershed. Elevations are presented for 38 control points within the St. Croix River watershed, mostly along the main stem of the St. Croix River. Vertical control...
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...
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...
Batrachochytrium salamandriovrans (Bsal) in Appalachia—Using scenario building to proactively prepare for a wildlife disease outbreak caused by an invasive amphibian chytrid fungus
M. Camille Hopkins, M. J. Adams, P.E. Super, D.H. Olson, C.R. Hickman, P. English, L. Sprague, I.B. Maska, A.B. Pennaz, K. A. Ludwig
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1150
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a pathogenic chytrid fungus, is nonnative to the United States and poses a disease threat to vulnerable amphibian hosts. The Bsal fungus may lead to increases in threatened, endangered, and sensitive status listings at State, Tribal, and Federal levels, resulting in financial costs associated with implementing the...
Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) version 5.0 user guide
Emily A. Himmelstoss, Rachel E. Henderson, Meredith G. Kratzmann, Amy S. Farris
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1179
OverviewThe Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) is a freely available software application that works within the Esri Geographic Information System (ArcGIS) software. DSAS computes rate-of-change statistics for a time series of shoreline vector data. DSAS version 5.0 (v5.0) was released in December 2018 and has been tested for compatibility with...
Geologic map and database of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, Riverside and Imperial Counties, California
Robert E. Powell, Robert J. Fleck, Pamela M. Cossette
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1191
The northwest-trending Chocolate Mountains are situated along the northeastern margin of the southern Salton Trough. The Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range occupies most of the 75-km-long part of the Chocolate Mountains that lies between Salt Creek to the north and California State Highway 78 to the south. Mapping studies in...
On the potential duration of the aftershock sequence of the 2018 Anchorage earthquake
Andrew J. Michael
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1195
Currently, an aftershock sequence is ongoing in Alaska after the magnitude 7.0 Anchorage earthquake of November 30, 2018. Using two scenarios, determined with observations as of December 14, 2018, this report estimates that it will take between 2.5 years and 3 decades before the rate of aftershocks decays...
How and why Upper Colorado River Basin land, water, and fire managers choose to use drought tools (or not)
Amanda E. Cravens
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1173
On the Western Slope of Colorado, variable climate and precipitation conditions are typical. Periods of drought—which may be defined by lack of water, high temperatures, low soil moisture, or other indicators—cause a range of impacts across sectors, including water, land, and fire management.The Western Slope’s Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB)...
Analysis of groundwater response to tidal fluctuations, Site 10 Naval Magazine Indian Island, Port Hadlock, Washington
Chad C. Opatz, Richard S. Dinicola
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1192
Site 10 at Naval Magazine Indian Island is an approximately 3.7-acre inactive landfill. The site was used as the primary landfill for the island from about 1945 until the mid-1970s, receiving paints, batteries, trash, and materials. In a memorandum to Washington State Department of Ecology, Naval Facilities Engineering Command...
Map of sand and gravel mines, prospects, and occurrences, and the geologic units that host them in the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) study area, southwestern Wyoming
Anna B. Wilson
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1139
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) is a long-term science based effort to assess and enhance aquatic and terrestrial habitats at a landscape scale in southwest Wyoming, while facilitating responsible development through local collaboration and partnerships. The role of the U.S. Geological Survey is to build the scientifically defensible foundation...
Changes in aquatic prey resources in response to estuary restoration in Willapa Bay, southwestern Washington
Isa Woo, Melanie J. Davis, Susan E.W. De La Cruz
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1194
Executive SummaryThe ongoing restoration of more than 200 hectares of estuarine habitat at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, southwestern Washington, is expected to benefit a variety of species, including salmonids that use estuarine and tidal marshes as rearing and feeding areas as well as migratory waterbirds. During March–June 2014 and 2015,...
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...
Sediment transport monitoring of the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River near Stanley, Idaho, 2012–15
James W. Johnsen
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1189
The Yankee Fork of the Salmon River is one of the larger watersheds in the upper Salmon River subbasin of central Idaho. Mining activities since the late 19th century, specifically placer mining and associated dredging from 1940 to 1953, have left the fluvial system in a highly altered and unnatural...
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...
Development of new information to inform fish passage decisions at the Yale and Merwin hydro projects on the Lewis River, Washington—Final report, 2018
Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Christopher L. Clark, Mark H. Sorel, David A. Beauchamp
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1190
The reintroduction of extirpated salmonids to historically occupied areas is becoming increasingly common as a conservation and recovery strategy. Often, reintroductions are implemented after the factors that originally led to species extirpation have been reduced, eliminated, or mitigated. For anadromous Oncorhynchus spp. (Pacific salmon) and O. mykiss (steelhead), addressing barriers...
Lithostratigraphic framework in boreholes from Goldstone Lake and Nelson Lake Basins, Fort Irwin, California
David C. Buesch
David C. Buesch, editor(s)
2018, Open-File Report 2013-1024-D
In 2011 and 2012, the sedimentary basins in the Fort Irwin National Training Center, California, were evaluated for groundwater resources using a variety of techniques, including drilling of boreholes. This study summarizes lithostratigraphic features and deposits in 8 of 10 boreholes drilled in 2 basins located in the western part...
Cenozoic geology of Fort Irwin and vicinity, California
David C. Buesch, David M. Miller, Christopher M. Menges
David C. Buesch, editor(s)
2018, Open-File Report 2013-1024-C
The geology of the Fort Irwin National Training Center in the north-central Mojave Desert, California, provides insights into the hydrology and water resources of the area. The Fort Irwin area is underlain by rocks ranging in age from Proterozoic to Quaternary that have been deformed by faults as young as...
Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment—Volume II. Species and assemblages
Gordon C. Reese, Natasha B. Carr, Lucy E. Burris
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1109
The Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment was conducted in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The overall goal of the Rapid Ecoregional Assessments (REAs) is to compile and synthesize regional datasets to facilitate evaluation of the cumulative effects of change...
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...
Indicators of ecosystem structure and function for the Upper Mississippi River System
Nathan R. De Jager, James T. Rogala, Jason J. Rohweder, Molly Van Appledorn, Kristen L. Bouska, Jeffrey N. Houser, Kathi Jo Jankowski
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1143
This report documents the development of quantitative measures (indicators) of ecosystem structure and function for use in a Habitat Needs Assessment (HNA) for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). HNAs are led periodically by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program, which is the primary...
An integrated population model for greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the bi-state distinct population segment, California and Nevada, 2003–17
Steven R. Mathews, Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Mark A. Ricca, Mary B. Meyerpeter, Shawn P. Espinosa, Sherri Lisius, Scott C. Gardner, David J. Delehanty
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1177
The Bi-State Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereinafter “sage-grouse”) occupies parts of Alpine, Mono, and Inyo Counties in California, and parts of Douglas, Esmeralda, Lyon, Carson City, and Mineral Counties in Nevada and was proposed for listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by...
Effects of transmitter type, tagging method, body size, and temperature on behavior, physiology, and swimming performance of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
Russell W. Perry, Theresa L. Liedtke, editor(s)
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1186
The objective of this study was to assess the impact of different tagging methods and transmitter types on juvenile salmonid behavior, mortality, physiology, and swimming performance over a range of water temperatures and fish sizes.In Chapter 1, two laboratory experiments were conducted to assess maximum burst-swimming speeds, the probability of...
Interactive tool to estimate groundwater elevations in central and eastern North Dakota
Rochelle A. Nustad, William C. Damschen, Aldo V. Vecchia
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1185
This report describes an interactive tool (NDakGWtool) in which a statistical model is developed using locally weighted regression to estimate monthly mean groundwater elevations for a specified latitude and longitude, referred to as the “user-specified location.” For each user-specified location, seven models are developed for each month from April through...
