Modeling the Water - Quality Effects of Changes to the Klamath River Upstream of Keno Dam, Oregon
Annett B. Sullivan, I. Ertugrul Sogutlugil, Stewart A. Rounds, Michael L. Deas
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5135
The Link River to Keno Dam (Link-Keno) reach of the Klamath River, Oregon, generally has periods of water-quality impairment during summer, including low dissolved oxygen, elevated concentrations of ammonia and algae, and high pH. Efforts are underway to improve water quality in this reach through a Total Maximum Daily Load...
Water and sediment temperatures at mussel beds in the upper Mississippi River basin
Teresa J. Newton, Jennifer Sauer, Byron Karns
2013, Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation (16) 53-62
Native freshwater mussels are in global decline and urgently need protection and conservation. Declines in the abundance and diversity of North American mussels have been attributed to human activities that cause pollution, waterquality degradation, and habitat destruction. Recent studies suggest that effects of climate change may also endanger native mussel...
Optimization of water-level monitoring networks in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer using a kriging-based genetic algorithm method
Jason C. Fisher
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5120
Long-term groundwater monitoring networks can provide essential information for the planning and management of water resources. Budget constraints in water resource management agencies often mean a reduction in the number of observation wells included in a monitoring network. A network design tool, distributed as an R package, was developed to...
Geohydrology, water quality, and simulation of groundwater flow in the stratified-drift aquifer system in Virgil Creek and Dryden Lake Valleys, Town of Dryden, Tompkins County, New York
Todd S. Miller, Edward F. Bugliosi
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5070
In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Tompkins County Planning Department and the Town of Dryden, New York, began a study of the stratified-drift aquifer system in the Virgil Creek and Dryden Lake Valleys in the Town of Dryden, Tompkins County. The study provided geohydrologic data needed...
Advective transport observations with MODPATH-OBS--documentation of the MODPATH observation process
R. T. Hanson, L.K. Kauffman, M. C. Hill, J.E. Dickinson, S.W. Mehl
2013, Techniques and Methods 6-A42
The MODPATH-OBS computer program described in this report is designed to calculate simulated equivalents for observations related to advective groundwater transport that can be represented in a quantitative way by using simulated particle-tracking data. The simulated equivalents supported by MODPATH-OBS are (1) distance from a source location at a defined...
Quantity and quality of stormwater collected from selected stormwater outfalls at industrial sites, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2012
Doug D. Nagle
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1140
An assessment of the quantity and quality of stormwater runoff associated with industrial activities at Fort Gordon was conducted from January through August 2012. The assessment was provided to satisfy the requirements from a general permit that authorizes the discharge of stormwater under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System from...
Hydrologic drought of water year 2011 compared to four major drought periods of the 20th century in Oklahoma
Molly J. Shivers, William J. Andrews
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5018
Water year 2011 (October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011) was a year of hydrologic drought (based on streamflow) in Oklahoma and the second-driest year to date (based on precipitation) since 1925. Drought conditions worsened substantially in the summer, with the highest monthly average temperature record for all States being...
Hydrogeology of the Little Spokane River basin, Spokane, Stevens, and Pend Oreille Counties, Washington
Sue C. Kahle, Theresa D. Olsen, Elisabeth T. Fasser
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5124
A study of the hydrogeologic framework of the Little Spokane River Basin was conducted to identify and describe the principal hydrogeologic units in the study area, their hydraulic characteristics, and general directions of groundwater movement. The Little Spokane River Basin includes an area of 679 square miles in northeastern Washington...
U.S. Department of the Interior South Central Climate Science Center strategic science plan, 2013--18
Kim T. Winton, Melinda S. Dalton, Allison A. Shipp
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1143
The Department of the Interior (DOI) recognizes and embraces the unprecedented challenges of maintaining our Nation’s rich natural and cultural resources in the 21st century. The magnitude of these challenges demands that the conservation community work together to develop integrated adaptation and mitigation strategies that collectively address the impacts of...
Actual evapotranspiration modeling using the operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) approach
Mark E. Savoca, Gabriel B. Senay, Molly A. Maupin, Joan F. Kenny, Charles A. Perry
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5126
Remote-sensing technology and surface-energy-balance methods can provide accurate and repeatable estimates of actual evapotranspiration (ETa) when used in combination with local weather datasets over irrigated lands. Estimates of ETa may be used to provide a consistent, accurate, and efficient approach for estimating regional water withdrawals for irrigation and associated consumptive...
Monitoring of stage and velocity, for computation of discharge in the Summit Conduit near Summit, Illinois, 2010-2012
Kevin K. Johnson, Greg E. Goodwin
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1244
Lake Michigan diversion accounting is the process used by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to quantify the amount of water that is diverted from the Lake Michigan watershed into the Illinois and Mississippi River Basins. A network of streamgages within the Chicago area waterway system monitor tributary river...
Relationships between nutrient enrichment, pleurocerid snail density and trematode infection rate in streams
Serena Ciparis, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, J. Reese Voshell Jr.
2013, Freshwater Biology (58) 1392-1404
Summary 1. Nutrient enrichment is a widespread environmental problem in freshwater ecosystems. Eutrophic conditions caused by nutrient enrichment may result in a higher prevalence of infection by trematode parasites in host populations, due to greater resource availability for the molluscan first intermediate hosts. 2. This study examined relationships among land use, environmental...
Modeling the colonization of Hawaii by hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus)
Frank J. Bonaccorso, Liam P. McGuire
2013, Book chapter, Bat Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation
The Hawaiian archipelago, the most isolated cluster of islands on Earth, has been colonized successfully twice by bats. The putative “lava tube bat” of Hawaii is extinct, whereas the Hawaiian Hoary Bat, Lasiurus cinereus semotus, survives as an endangered species. We conducted a three-stage analysis to identify conditions under which...
Dynamics of fecal indicator bacteria, bacterial pathogen genes, and organic wastewater contaminants in the Little Calumet River: Portage Burns Waterway, Indiana
Sheridan K. Haack, Joseph W. Duris
2013, Journal of Great Lakes Research (39) 317-326
Little information exists on the co-occurrence of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), bacterial pathogens, and organic wastewater-associated chemicals (OWCs) within Great Lakes tributaries. Fifteen watershed sites and one beach site adjacent to the Little Calumet River–Portage Burns Waterway (LCRPBW) on Lake Michigan were tested on four dates for pH, dissolved oxygen,...
Ecosystem services: developing sustainable management paradigms based on wetland functions and processes
Ned H. Euliss Jr., David M. Mushet, Loren M. Smith, William H. Conner, Virginia R. Burkett, Douglas A. Wilcox, Mark W. Hester, Haochi Zheng
2013, Book chapter, Wetland Techniques
In the late nineteenth century and twentieth century, there was considerable interest and activity to develop the United States for agricultural, mining, and many other purposes to improve the quality of human life standards and prosperity. Most of the work to support this development was focused along disciplinary lines with...
Field calibration and validation of remote-sensing surveys
Shachak Pe’eri, Andy McLeod, Paul Lavoie, Seth D. Ackerman, James Gardner, Christopher Parrish
2013, International Journal of Remote Sensing (34) 6423-6436
The Optical Collection Suite (OCS) is a ground-truth sampling system designed to perform in situ measurements that help calibrate and validate optical remote-sensing and swath-sonar surveys for mapping and monitoring coastal ecosystems and ocean planning. The OCS system enables researchers to collect underwater imagery with real-time feedback, measure the spectral...
Uncertainty in simulated groundwater-quality trends in transient flow
J. Jeffrey Starn, Amvrossios Bagtzoglou, Gary A. Robbins
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 813-827
In numerical modeling of groundwater flow, the result of a given solution method is affected by the way in which transient flow conditions and geologic heterogeneity are simulated. An algorithm is demonstrated that simulates breakthrough curves at a pumping well by convolution-based particle tracking in a transient flow field for...
A long-term comparison of carbon sequestration rates in impounded and naturally tidal freshwater marshes along the lower Waccamaw River, South Carolina
Judith Z. Drexler, Ken W. Krauss, M. Craig Sasser, Christopher C. Fuller, Christopher M. Swarzenski, Amber Powell, Kathleen M. Swanson, James L. Orlando
2013, Wetlands
Carbon storage was compared between impounded and naturally tidal freshwater marshes along the Lower Waccamaw River in South Carolina, USA. Soil cores were collected in (1) naturally tidal, (2) moist soil (impounded, seasonally drained since ~1970), and (3) deeply flooded “treatments” (impounded, flooded to ~90 cm since ~2002). Cores were...
Impacts on groundwater recharge areas of megacity pumping: analysis of potential contamination of Kolkata, India, water supply
Paulami Sahu, Holly A. Michael, Clifford I. Voss, Pradip K. Sikdar
2013, Hydrological Sciences Journal (58) 1340-1360
Water supply to the world's megacities is a problem of quantity and quality that will be a priority in the coming decades. Heavy pumping of groundwater beneath these urban centres, particularly in regions with low natural topographic gradients, such as deltas and floodplains, can fundamentally alter the hydrological system. These...
Rivermouth alteration of agricultural impacts on consumer tissue δ15N
James H. Larson, William B. Richardson, Jonathan M. Vallazza, J. C. Nelson
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Terrestrial agricultural activities strongly influence riverine nitrogen (N) dynamics, which is reflected in the δ15N of riverine consumer tissues. However, processes within aquatic ecosystems also influence consumer tissue δ15N. As aquatic processes become more important terrestrial inputs may become a weaker predictor of consumer tissue δ15N. In a previous study,...
Optimal placement of off-stream water sources for ephemeral stream recovery
Matthew B. Rigge, Alexander Smart, Bruce Wylie
2013, Rangeland Ecology and Management (66) 479-486
Uneven and/or inefficient livestock distribution is often a product of an inadequate number and distribution of watering points. Placement of off-stream water practices (OSWP) in pastures is a key consideration in rangeland management plans and is critical to achieving riparian recovery by improving grazing evenness, while improving livestock performance. Effective...
Movements and habitat-use of loggerhead sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the reproductive period
Kristen M. Hart, Margaret M. Lamont, Autumn R. Sartain-Iverson, Ikuko Fujisaki, Brail S. Stephens
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Nesting strategies and use of important in-water habitats for far-ranging marine turtles can be determined using satellite telemetry. Because of a lack of information on habitat-use by marine turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico, we used satellite transmitters in 2010 through 2012 to track movements of 39 adult female...
Potential climate change impacts on temperate forest ecosystem processes
Emily B. Peters, Kirk R. Wythers, Shuxia Zhang, John B. Bradford, Peter B. Reich
2013, Canadian Journal of Forest Research
Large changes in atmospheric CO2, temperature and precipitation are predicted by 2100, yet the long-term consequences for carbon, water, and nitrogen cycling in forests are poorly understood. We applied the PnET-CN ecosystem model to compare the long-term effects of changing climate and atmospheric CO2 on productivity, evapotranspiration, runoff, and net...
Rapid fluctuations in flow and water-column properties in Asan Bay, Guam: implications for selective resilience of coral reefs in warming seas
Curt D. Storlazzi, Michael E. Field, Olivia M. Cheriton, M.K. Presto, J.B. Logan
2013, Coral Reefs (32) 949-961
Hydrodynamics and water-column properties were investigated off west-central Guam from July 2007 through January 2008. Rapid fluctuations, on time scales of 10s of min, in currents, temperature, salinity, and acoustic backscatter were observed to occur on sub-diurnal frequencies along more than 2 km of the fore reef but not at...
Meeting the Science Needs of the Nation in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy-- A U.S. Geological Survey Science Plan for Support of Restoration and Recovery
Herbert T. Buxton, Matthew E. Andersen, Michael J. Focazio, John W. Haines, Robert A. Hainly, Daniel J. Hippe, Larry J. Sugarbaker
2013, Circular 1390
n late October 2012, Hurricane Sandy came ashore during a spring high tide on the New Jersey coastline, delivering hurricane-force winds, storm tides exceeding 19 feet, driving rain, and plummeting temperatures. Hurricane Sandy resulted in 72 direct fatalities in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States, and widespread and substantial physical,...
