How hunter perceptions of wildlife regulations, agency trust, and satisfaction affect attitudes about duck bag limits
Susan A. Schroeder, David C. Fulton, Jeffrey S. Lawrence, Steven D. Cordts
2017, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (22) 454-475
This study explored how factors, including the function of bag limits, agency trust, satisfaction, hunting participation, and demographics, related to opinions about duck bag limits. The results are from a survey of 2014 Minnesota resident waterfowl hunters. Analyses identified four dimensions of attitudes about functions of bag limits, including that...
Automated quantification of surface water inundation in wetlands using optical satellite imagery
Ben DeVries, Chengquan Huang, Megan W. Lang, John W. Jones, Wenli Huang, Irena F. Creed, Mark L. Carroll
2017, Remote Sensing (9)
We present a fully automated and scalable algorithm for quantifying surface water inundation in wetlands. Requiring no external training data, our algorithm estimates sub-pixel water fraction (SWF) over large areas and long time periods using Landsat data. We tested our SWF algorithm over three wetland sites across North America, including...
Simulated groundwater flow paths, travel time, and advective transport of nitrogen in the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, Barnegat Bay–Little Egg Harbor Watershed, New Jersey
Lois M. Voronin, Stephen J. Cauller
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5169
Elevated concentrations of nitrogen in groundwater that discharges to surface-water bodies can degrade surface-water quality and habitats in the New Jersey Coastal Plain. An analysis of groundwater flow in the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system and deeper confined aquifers that underlie the Barnegat Bay–Little Egg Harbor (BB-LEH) watershed and estuary was conducted...
Water quality in the surficial aquifer near agricultural areas in the Delaware Coastal Plain, 2014
Brandon J. Fleming, Laura L. Mensch, Judith M. Denver, Roberto M. Cruz, Mark R. Nardi
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5054
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Delaware Department of Agriculture, developed a network of wells to monitor groundwater quality in the surficial aquifer of the Delaware Coastal Plain. Well-drained soils, a flat landscape, and accessible water in the Delaware Coastal Plain make for a productive agricultural setting. As...
Determining the sources of fine-grained sediment using the Sediment Source Assessment Tool (Sed_SAT)
Lillian E. Gorman Sanisaca, Allen C. Gellis, David L. Lorenz
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1062
A sound understanding of sources contributing to instream sediment flux in a watershed is important when developing total maximum daily load (TMDL) management strategies designed to reduce suspended sediment in streams. Sediment fingerprinting and sediment budget approaches are two techniques that, when used jointly, can qualify and quantify the major...
Evapotranspiration by remote sensing: An analysis of the Colorado River Delta before and after the Minute 319 pulse flow to Mexico
Christopher J. Jarchow, Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. Glenn, Jorge Ramirez-Hernandez, Eliana Rodriguez-Burgueno
2017, Ecological Engineering (106) 725-732
The unique hydrologic conditions characterizing riparian ecosystems in dryland (arid and semi-arid) areas help maintain high biodiversity and support high levels of primary productivity compared to associated uplands. In western North America, many riparian ecosystems have been damaged by altered flow regimes (e.g., impoundments and diversions) and over utilization of...
Drilling, construction, geophysical log data, and lithologic log for boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Brian V. Twining, Mary K.V. Hodges, Kyle Schusler, Christopher Mudge
2017, Data Series 1058
Starting in 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, drilled and constructed boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory in southeast Idaho. Borehole USGS...
Greenup and evapotranspiration following the Minute 319 pulse flow to Mexico: An analysis using Landsat 8 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data
Christopher J. Jarchow, Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. Glenn
2017, Ecological Engineering (106) 776-783
In the southwestern U.S., many riparian ecosystems have been altered by dams, water diversions, and other anthropogenic activities. This is particularly true of the Colorado River, where numerous dams and agricultural diversions have affected this water course, especially south of the U.S.–Mexico border. In the spring of 2014, 130 million...
Streamflow investigations on a reach of Hobble Creek near Springville, Utah
Steven J. Gerner
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1084
The Central Utah Water Conservancy District (CUWCD) is proposing to deliver supplemental flow to Hobble Creek from Strawberry Reservoir through the Mapleton-Springville Lateral pipeline. A substantial portion of the supplemental water is intended to benefit June Sucker recovery and other fish and wildlife along Hobble Creek. The objective of this...
The use of passive membrane samplers to assess organic contaminant inputs at five coastal sites in west Maui, Hawaii
Pamela L. Campbell, Nancy G. Prouty, Curt D. Storlazzi, Nicole D’antonio
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1097
Five passive membrane samplers were deployed for 28 continuous days at select sites along and near the west Maui coastline to assess organic compounds and contaminant inputs to diverse, shallow coral reef ecosystems. Daily and weekly fluctuations in such inputs were captured on the membranes using integrative sampling. The distribution...
Shallow marine response to global climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Salisbury Embayment, USA
Jean Self-Trail, Marci M. Robinson, Timothy J. Bralower, Jocelyn A. Sessa, Elizabeth A. Hajek, Lee R. Kump, Sheila M. Trampush, Debra A. Willard, Lucy E. Edwards, David S. Powars, Gregory A. Wandless
2017, Paleoceanography (32) 710-728
The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was an interval of extreme warmth that caused disruption of marine and terrestrial ecosystems on a global scale. Here we examine the sediments, flora, and fauna from an expanded section at Mattawoman Creek-Billingsley Road (MCBR) in Maryland and explore the impact of warming at a...
Topographic, edaphic, and vegetative controls on plant-available water
Salli F. Dymond, John B. Bradford, Paul V. Bolstad, Randall K. Kolka, Stephen D. Sebestyen, Thomas S. DeSutter
2017, Ecohydrology (10) 1-12
Soil moisture varies within landscapes in response to vegetative, physiographic, and climatic drivers, which makes quantifying soil moisture over time and space difficult. Nevertheless, understanding soil moisture dynamics for different ecosystems is critical, as the amount of water in a soil determines a myriad ecosystem services and processes such as...
It takes more than water: Restoring the Colorado River Delta
Jennifer Pitt, Eloise Kendy, Karen Schlatter, Osvel Hinojosa-Huerta, Karl W. Flessa, Patrick B. Shafroth, Jorge Ramirez-Hernandez, Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. Glenn
2017, Ecological Engineering (106) 629-632
Environmental flows have become important tools for restoring rivers and associated riparian ecosystems (Arthington, 2012; Glenn et al., 2017). In March 2014, the United States and Mexico initiated a bold effort in restoration, delivering from Morelos Dam a “pulse flow” of water into the Colorado River in its delta for...
Climate and soil texture influence patterns of forb species richness and composition in big sagebrush plant communities across their spatial extent in the western US
Victoria E. Pennington, Kyle A. Palmquist, John B. Bradford, William K. Lauenroth
2017, Plant Ecology (218) 957-970
Article for outlet: Plant Ecology. Abstract: Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) plant communities are widespread non-forested drylands in western North American and similar to all shrub steppe ecosystems world-wide are composed of a shrub overstory layer and a forb and graminoid understory layer. Forbs account for the majority of plant...
Knowing requires data
Ramon C. Naranjo
2017, Groundwater (55) 674-677
Groundwater-flow models are often calibrated using a limited number of observations relative to the unknown inputs required for the model. This is especially true for models that simulate groundwater surface-water interactions. In this case, subsurface temperature sensors can be an efficient means for collecting long-term data that capture the...
A method for addressing differences in concentrations of fipronil and three degradates obtained by two different laboratory methods
Charles G. Crawford, Jeffrey D. Martin
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1056
In October 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began measuring the concentration of the pesticide fipronil and three of its degradates (desulfinylfipronil, fipronil sulfide, and fipronil sulfone) by a new laboratory method using direct aqueous-injection liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (DAI LC–MS/MS). This method replaced the previous method—in use since...
Partitioning evapotranspiration into green and blue water sources in the conterminous United States
Naga Manohar Velpuri, Gabriel B. Senay
2017, Scientific Reports (7)
In this study, we combined two 1 km actual evapotranspiration datasets (ET), one obtained from a root zone water balance model and another from an energy balance model, to partition annual ET into green (rainfall-based) and blue (surface water/groundwater) sources. Time series maps of green water ET...
Optimization of decision rules for hydroelectric operation to reduce both eel mortality and unnecessary turbine shutdown: A search for a win-win solution
David R. Smith, Paul L. Fackler, Sheila M. Eyler, Laura Villegas, Stuart A. Welsh
2017, Rivers Research and Applications (33) 1279-1285
Worldwide populations of freshwater eels have declined with one of the contributing causes related to mortality during passage through hydropower turbines. An inherent trade‐off underlies turbine management where the competing demand for more hydropower comes at the expense of eel survival. A win–win solution exists when an option performs better...
Hydrologic impacts of changes in climate and glacier extent in the Gulf of Alaska watershed
Jordan Beamer, Dave Hill, Daniel Mcgrath, Anthony A. Arendt, Christian Kienholz
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 7502-7520
High‐resolution regional‐scale hydrologic models were used to quantify the response of late 21st century runoff from the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) watershed to changes in regional climate and glacier extent. NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis data were combined with five Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 general circulation models (GCMs)...
Water-quality models to assess algal community dynamics, water quality, and fish habitat suitability for two agricultural land-use dominated lakes in Minnesota, 2014
Erik A. Smith, Richard L. Kiesling, Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5056
Fish habitat can degrade in many lakes due to summer blue-green algal blooms. Predictive models are needed to better manage and mitigate loss of fish habitat due to these changes. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, developed predictive water-quality models for two...
The saltiest springs in the Sierra Nevada, California
James G. Moore, Michael F. Diggles, William C. Evans, Karin Klemic
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5053
The five saltiest springs in the Sierra Nevada in California are found between 38.5° and 38.8° N. latitude, on the South Fork American River; on Caples Creek, a tributary of the Silver Fork American River; and on the North Fork Mokelumne River. The springs issue from Cretaceous granitic rocks in...
Physical characteristics of the lower San Joaquin River, California, in relation to white sturgeon spawning habitat, 2011–14
Mathieu D. Marineau, Scott Wright, Daniel R. Whealdon-Haught, Paul J. Kinzel
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5069
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) recently spawned in the lower San Joaquin River, California. Decreases in the San Francisco Bay estuary white sturgeon population have led to an increased effort to understand their migration behavior and habitat preferences. The preferred spawning habitat of...
Biological and ecological science for Montana—The Treasure State
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3052
Montana is rich in minerals, energy, and soils, as well as prairies, forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, fish, and wildlife. Many enterprises that drive the economy are based on natural resources, including tourism, hunting, fishing, agriculture, and energy development. The outdoor-recreation economy alone supports 64,000 Montana jobs and generates nearly...
Land subsidence in the southwestern Mojave Desert, California, 1992–2009
Justin T. Brandt, Michelle Sneed
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3053
Groundwater has been the primary source of domestic, agricultural, and municipal water supplies in the southwestern Mojave Desert, California, since the early 1900s. Increased demands on water supplies have caused groundwater-level declines of more than 100 feet (ft) in some areas of this desert between the 1950s and the...
Preliminary hydrogeologic assessment near the boundary of the Antelope Valley and El Mirage Valley groundwater basins, California
Christina L. Stamos, Allen H. Christensen, Victoria E. Langenheim
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5065
The increasing demands on groundwater for water supply in desert areas in California and the western United States have resulted in the need to better understand groundwater sources, availability, and sustainability. This is true for a 650-square-mile area that encompasses the Antelope Valley, El Mirage Valley, and Upper Mojave River...
