Estimated water use in Puerto Rico, 2010
Wanda L. Molina-Rivera
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1117
Water-use data were aggregated for the 78 municipios of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for 2010. Five major offstream categories were considered: public-supply water withdrawals and deliveries, domestic and industrial self-supplied water use, crop-irrigation water use, and thermoelectric-power freshwater use. One instream water-use category also was compiled: power-generation instream water...
A nuclear DNA perspective on delineating evolutionarily significant lineages in polyploids: the case of the endangered shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum)
Tim L. King, Anne P. Henderson, Boyd E. Kynard, Micah C. Kieffer, Douglas L. Peterson, Aaron W. Aunins, Bonnie L. Brown
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
The shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum, oft considered a phylogenetic relic, is listed as an “endangered species threatened with extinction” in the US and “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. Effective conservation of A. brevirostrum depends on understanding its diversity and evolutionary processes, yet challenges associated with the polyploid nature of...
Freshwater mussel population status and habitat quality in the Clinch River, Virginia and Tennessee, USA: a featured collection
Carl E. Zipper, Braven Beaty, Gregory C. Johnson, Jess W. Jones, Jennifer Lynn Krstolic, Brett J.K. Ostby, William J. Wolfe, Patricia Donovan
2014, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (50) 807-819
The Clinch River of southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee is arguably the most important river for freshwater mussel conservation in the United States. This featured collection presents investigations of mussel population status and habitat quality in the Clinch River. Analyses of historic water- and sediment-quality data suggest that water column...
Can air temperature be used to project influences of climate change on stream temperature?
Ivan Arismendi, Mohammad Safeeq, Jason B. Dunham, Sherri L. Johnson
2014, Environmental Research Letters (9)
Worldwide, lack of data on stream temperature has motivated the use of regression-based statistical models to predict stream temperatures based on more widely available data on air temperatures. Such models have been widely applied to project responses of stream temperatures under climate change, but the performance of these models has...
Hydrology and numerical simulation of groundwater movement and heat transport in Snake Valley and surrounding areas, Juab, Miller, and Beaver Counties, Utah, and White Pine and Lincoln Counties, Nevada
Melissa D. Masbruch, Philip M. Gardner, Lynette E. Brooks
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5103
Snake Valley and surrounding areas, along the Utah-Nevada state border, are part of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system. The groundwater system in the study area consists of water in unconsolidated deposits in basins and water in consolidated rock underlying the basins and in the adjacent mountain blocks....
Guidelines for the collection of continuous stream water-temperature data in Alaska
Ryan C. Toohey, Edward G. Neal, Gary L. Solin
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1182
Objectives of stream monitoring programs differ considerably among many of the academic, Federal, state, tribal, and non-profit organizations in the state of Alaska. Broad inclusion of stream-temperature monitoring can provide an opportunity for collaboration in the development of a statewide stream-temperature database. Statewide and regional coordination could reduce overall monitoring...
Water resources of Sabine Parish, Louisiana
Lawrence B. Prakken, Vincent E. White, John K. Lovelace
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3040
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Sabine 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 availability,...
Widespread methane leakage from the sea floor on the northern US Atlantic margin
Adam Skarke, Carolyn Ruppel, Mali’o Kodis, Daniel S. Brothers, Elizabeth A. Lobecker
2014, Nature Geoscience (7) 657-661
Methane emissions from the sea floor affect methane inputs into the atmosphere, ocean acidification and de-oxygenation, the distribution of chemosynthetic communities and energy resources. Global methane flux from seabed cold seeps has only been estimated for continental shelves, at 8 to 65 Tg CH4 yr−1, yet other parts of marine...
Dissolved pesticide concentrations entering the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, California, 2012-13
James L. Orlando, Megan McWayne, Corey Sanders, Michelle Hladik
2014, Data Series 876
Surface-water samples were collected from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers where they enter the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey for a suite of 99 current-use pesticides and pesticide degradates. Samples were collected twice per month from May 2012 through July 2013 and from May...
Influence of septic systems on stream base flow in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin near Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, 2012
John S. Clarke, Jaime A. Painter
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5144
Septic systems were identified at 241,733 locations in a 2,539-square-mile (mi2) study area that includes all or parts of 12 counties in the Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, area. Septic system percolation may locally be an important component of streamflow in small drainage basins where it augments natural groundwater recharge, especially during...
Analysis of water quality in the Blue River watershed, Colorado, 1984 through 2007
Nancy J. Bauch, Lisa D. Miller, Sharon Yacob
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5129
Water quality of streams, reservoirs, and groundwater in the Blue River watershed in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado has been affected by local geologic conditions, historical hard-rock metal mining, and recent urban development. With these considerations, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Summit Water Quality Committee, conducted...
High-resolution topography and geomorphology of select archeological sites in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
Brian D. Collins, Skye C. Corbett, Joel B. Sankey, Helen C. Fairley
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5126
Along the Colorado River corridor between Glen Canyon Dam and Lees Ferry, Arizona, located some 25 km downstream from the dam, archaeological sites dating from 8,000 years before present through the modern era are located within and on top of fluvial and alluvial terraces of the prehistorically undammed river. These...
Integration of seismic-reflection and well data to assess the potential impact of stratigraphic and structural features on sustainable water supply from the Floridan aquifer system, Broward County, Florida
Kevin J. Cunningham
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1136
The U.S. Geological Survey and Broward County water managers commenced a 3.5-year cooperative study in July 2012 to refine the geologic and hydrogeologic framework of the Floridan aquifer system (FAS) in Broward County. A lack of advanced stratigraphic knowledge of the physical system and structural geologic anomalies (faults and fractures...
Construction, water-level, and water-quality data for multiple-well monitoring sites and test wells, Fort Irwin National Training Center, San Bernardino County, California, 2009-12
Adam R. Kjos, Jill N. Densmore, Joseph M. Nawikas, Anthony A. Brown
2014, Data Series 788
Because of increasing water demands at the U.S. Army Fort Irwin National Training Center, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Army carried out a study to evaluate the water quality and potential groundwater supply of undeveloped basins within the U.S. Army Fort Irwin National Training Center. In...
SAHM:VisTrails (Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling for VisTrails): training course
Tracy Holcombe
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3007
VisTrails is an open-source management and scientific workflow system designed to integrate the best of both scientific workflow and scientific visualization systems. Developers can extend the functionality of the VisTrails system by creating custom modules for bundled VisTrails packages. The Invasive Species Science Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)...
Simulating water-quality trends in public-supply wells in transient flow systems
J. Jeffrey Starn, Christopher T. Green, Stephen R. Hinkle, Amvrossios C. Bagtzoglou, Bernard J. Stolp
2014, Ground Water (52) 53-62
Models need not be complex to be useful. An existing groundwater-flow model of Salt Lake Valley, Utah, was adapted for use with convolution-based advective particle tracking to explain broad spatial trends in dissolved solids. This model supports the hypothesis that water produced from wells is increasingly younger with higher proportions...
Generating nested wetland catchments with readily-available digital elevation data may improve evaluations of land-use change on wetlands
Lisa A. McCauley, Michael J. Anteau
2014, Wetlands (34) 1123-1132
The important ecosystem functions wetlands perform are influenced by land-use changes in their surrounding uplands and thus, identifying the upland area that flows into a wetland is important. We provide a method to define wetland catchments as the portion of the landscape that flows into a wetland; we allowed catchments...
Description of landscape features, summary of existing hydrologic data, and identification of data gaps for the Osage Nation, northeastern Oklahoma, 1890-2012
William J. Andrews, S. Jerrod Smith
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5134
The Osage Nation of northeastern Oklahoma, conterminous with Osage County, is characterized by gently rolling uplands and incised stream valleys that have downcut into underlying sedimentary rock units of Pennsylvanian through Permian age. Cattle ranching and petroleum and natural-gas extraction are the principal land uses in this rural area. Freshwater...
Water resources of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
Lawrence B. Prakken, John K. Lovelace, Dan J. Tomaszewski, Jason M. Griffith
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3039
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in West Feliciana 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...
Hydrosalinity studies of the Virgin River, Dixie Hot Springs, and Littlefield Springs, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada
Steven J. Gerner, Susan A. Thiros
Steven J. Gerner, Susan A. Thiros, editor(s)
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5093
The Virgin River contributes a substantial amount of dissolved solids (salt) to the Colorado River at Lake Mead in the lower Colorado River Basin. Degradation of Colorado River water by the addition of dissolved solids from the Virgin River affects the suitability of the water for municipal, industrial, and agricultural...
Baseline coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Dauphin Island, Alabama, to Breton Island, Louisiana, August 8, 2012
Karen L.M. Morgan, Karen A. Westphal
2014, Data Series 860
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts baseline and storm response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms. On August 8, 2012, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial photographic survey from Dauphin Island, Alabama, to Breton Island, Louisiana, aboard a Cessna...
Book review: Spatial capture-recapture
Robin E. Russell
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 1319-1320
Understanding how animals use space is a vital aspect of conservation planning and wildlife management. Technological developments (e.g., increased computer power and desktop geographic information system [GIS] applications) are bringing the ability to analyze spatial data sets to the individual biologist. Therefore, it is not surprising that methodologies have been...
Baseline coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Breton Island, Louisiana, to the Alabama-Florida border, July 13, 2013
Karen L.M. Morgan, Karen A. Westphal
2014, Data Series 857
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts baseline and storm response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms. On July 13, 2013, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial photographic survey from Breton Island, Louisiana, to the Alabama-Florida border, aboard a Cessna...
Water resources of Caldwell Parish, Louisiana
Lawrence B. Prakken, Vincent E. White
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3044
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Caldwell 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 availability,...
Utilizing hunter harvest effort to survey for wildlife disease: a case study of West Nile virus in greater sage-grouse
Robert J. Dusek, Christian A. Hagen, J. Christian Franson, David A. Budeau, Erik K. Hofmeister
2014, Wildlife Society Bulletin (38) 721-727
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) are highly susceptible to infection with West Nile virus (WNV), with substantial mortality reported in wild populations and in experimentally infected birds. Although sage-grouse are hunted throughout much of their range, they have also recently been considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act. We...
