The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Virginia
William J. Carswell Jr.
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3052
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 Virginia, elevation data are critical for urban and regional planning, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, agriculture and precision farming, resource mining,...
Monitoring of green infrastructure at The Grove in Bloomington, Illinois
Donald P. Roseboom, Timothy D. Straub
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3048
The City of Bloomington, Illinois, restored Kickapoo Creek to a more natural state by incorporating green infrastructure—specifically flood-plain reconnection, riparian wetlands, meanders, and rock riffles—at a 90-acre park within The Grove residential development. A team of State and Federal agencies and contractors are collecting data to monitor the effectiveness of...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Washington
William J. Carswell Jr.
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3057
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 Washington, elevation data are critical for natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, flood risk management, geologic resource...
U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Strategy
Eric J. Evenson, Randall C. Orndorff
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3064
This fact sheet describes the Water Science Strategy, presented in detail in Circular 1383-G, "U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Strategy--Observing, Understanding, Predicting, and Delivering Water Science to the Nation." This fact sheet looks at the relevant issues facing society and describes the strategy built around observing, understanding, predicting, and delivering...
Groundwater recharge to the Gulf Coast aquifer system in Montgomery and Adjacent Counties, Texas
Timothy D. Oden, Geoffrey N. Delin
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3043
Simply stated, groundwater recharge is the addition of water to the groundwater system. Most of the water that is potentially available for recharging the groundwater system in Montgomery and adjacent counties in southeast Texas moves relatively rapidly from land surface to surface-water bodies and sustains streamflow, lake levels, and wetlands....
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Rhode Island
William J. Carswell Jr.
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3040
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 Rhode Island, elevation data are critical for flood risk management, natural resources conservation, coastal zone management, sea level rise and subsidence, agriculture...
New service interface for River Forecasting Center derived quantitative precipitation estimates
David L. Blodgett
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3035
For more than a decade, the National Weather Service (NWS) River Forecast Centers (RFCs) have been estimating spatially distributed rainfall by applying quality-control procedures to radar-indicated rainfall estimates in the eastern United States and other best practices in the western United States to producea national Quantitative Precipitation Estimate (QPE) (National...
National assessment of geologic carbon dioxide storage resources: summary
U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Carbon Dioxide Storage Resources Assessment Team
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3020
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an evaluation of the technically accessible storage resource (TASR) for carbon dioxide (CO2) for 36 sedimentary basins in the onshore areas and State waters of the United States. The TASR is an estimate of the geologic storage resource that may be available for...
Reproductive health of yellow perch, Perca flavescens, in Chesapeake Bay Tributaries
Vicki Blazer, A.E. Pinkney, James H. Uphoff
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3055
Yellow perch live in creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes, and estuaries across the central and eastern United States and Canada. In Chesapeake Bay, they tolerate salinities up to one-third that of seawater. The adults reside in the brackish waters of the bay’s tributaries and migrate upstream to spawn. Yellow perch are...
Relationships between the health of Alaska Native communities and our environment -- phase 1, exploring and communicating
Durelle Smith
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3066
Alaska Natives depend on local natural resources for nutritional and, for many, spiritual health. As a result, public health in Alaska is strongly influenced by the relationship between people and their surrounding physical, chemical, and biological environments. Alaska is vast with diverse wildlife and plant communities that are valued as...
Tallgrass prairie restoration: seeding for success
Diane L. Larson
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3049
Tallgrass prairie is one of the most imperiled ecosystems on Earth. A 2004 estimate indicated that only 2.4 percent of the original northern tallgrass prairie remained in the United States. If tallgrass prairie and the species dependent on it are to survive, management must include restoration of cropland and degraded...
Changing Arctic ecosystems--the role of ecosystem changes across the Boreal-Arctic transition zone on the distribution and abundance of wildlife populations
Lance McNew, Colleen M. Handel, John M. Pearce, Anthony R. DeGange, Leslie Holland-Bartels, Mary E. Whalen
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3054
Arctic and boreal ecosystems provide important breeding habitat for more than half of North America’s migratory birds as well as many resident species. Northern landscapes are projected to experience more pronounced climate-related changes in habitat than most other regions. These changes include increases in shrub growth, conversion of tundra to...
Land-use change, economics, and rural well-being in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States
William R. Gascoigne, Dana L.K. Hoag, Rex R. Johnson, Lynne M. Koontz, Catherine Cullinane Thomas
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3046
This fact sheet highlights findings included in a comprehensive new report (see USGS Professional Paper 1800) which investigated land-use change, economic characteristics, and rural community well-being in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States. Once one of the largest grassland-wetlands ecosystems on earth, the North American prairie has experienced...
Development of a geodatabase for springs within and surrounding outcrops of the Trinity aquifer in northern Bexar County, Texas, 2010-11
Allan K. Clark, Diane E. Pedraza
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3044
The Trinity aquifer is an important source of groundwater in central Texas, including Bexar County, where population growth has resulted in an increased demand for water (Ashworth, 1983; Mace and others, 2000). Numerous springs issue from rock outcrops within and surrounding the Trinity aquifer in northern Bexar County (fig. 1)....
The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program planned monitoring and modeling activities for Texas, 2013–23
Patricia Ging
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3038
The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program was established by Congress in 1992 to answer the following question: What is the status of the Nation’s water quality and is it getting better or worse? Since 1992, NAWQA has been a primary source of nationally consistent data and...
Culvert Analysis Program Graphical User Interface 1.0--A preprocessing and postprocessing tool for estimating flow through culvert
D. Nathan Bradley
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3045
The peak discharge of a flood can be estimated from the elevation of high-water marks near the inlet and outlet of a culvert after the flood has occurred. This type of discharge estimate is called an “indirect measurement” because it relies on evidence left behind by the flood, such as...
Water resources of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Robert B. Fendick Jr., Lawrence B. Prakken, Jason M. Griffith
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3029
This fact sheet summarizes basic information on the water resources of Claiborne Parish. Information on groundwater and surface-water availability, quality, development, use, and trends is based on previously published reports listed in the Cited References section. In 2010, about 2.60 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in...
Ecological health in the Nation's streams
Daren M. Carlisle, Michael D. Woodside
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3033
Aquatic biological communities, which are collections of organisms, are a direct measure of stream health because they indicate the ability of a stream to support life. This fact sheet highlights selected findings of a national assessment of stream health by the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological...
Native and nonnative fish populations of the Colorado River are food limited--evidence from new food web analyses
Theodore A. Kennedy, Wyatt F. Cross, Robert O. Hall Jr., Colden V. Baxter, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3039
Fish populations in the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam appear to be limited by the availability of high-quality invertebrate prey. Midge and blackfly production is low and nonnative rainbow trout in Glen Canyon and native fishes in Grand Canyon consume virtually all of the midge and blackfly biomass...
Environmental health science at the U.S. Geological Survey
Herbert T. Buxton, Patricia R. Bright
2013, Fact Sheet 2012-3142
USGS environmental health science focuses on the environment-health interface. Research characterizes the processes that affect the interaction among the physical environment, the living environment, and people, as well as the factors that affect ecological and human exposure to disease agents and the resulting toxicologic or infectious disease. The mission of...
Modeled future peak streamflows in four coastal Maine rivers
Glenn A. Hodgkins, Robert W. Dudley
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3021
To safely and economically design bridges and culverts, it is necessary to compute the magnitude of peak streamflows that have specified annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs). These peak flows are also needed for effective floodplain management. Annual precipitation and air temperature in the northeastern United States are in general projected to...
Water resources of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
Larry B. Prakken
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3030
In 2010, about 261 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, almost entirely from surface-water sources. Industrial use accounted for about 97 percent (253 Mgal/d) of the total water withdrawn. Other categories of use included public supply, rural domestic, and livestock. Water-use data...
Water resources of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Robert B. Fendick Jr., Larry B. Prakken, Jason M. Griffith
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3012
In 2005, about 33.8 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) was withdrawn from water sources in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Surface water sources accounted for about 86 percent (29.2 Mgal/d) of all withdrawals whereas groundwater sources accounted for about 14 percent (4.62 Mgal/d). Withdrawals for industrial use accounted for about 42 percent...
Water resources of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
Larry B. Prakken
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3031
In 2010, about 85.1 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Surface-water sources accounted for almost all withdrawals; groundwater sources accounted for only 0.04 Mgal/d. Industrial use accounted for about 92 percent of the total water withdrawn. Other categories of use included public supply,...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Wisconsin
William J. Carswell Jr.
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3032
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 Wisconsin, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, infrastructure and construction management, water supply...
