Evidence for occurrence, persistence, and growth potential of Escherichia coli and enterococci in Hawaii’s soil environments
Muruleedhara N. Byappanahalli, Bruce M. Roll, Roger S. Fujioka
2012, Microbes and Environments (27) 164-170
High densities of Escherichia coli and enterococci are common in freshwaters on Oahu and other Hawaiian Islands. Soil along stream banks has long been suspected as the likely source of these bacteria; however, the extent of their occurrence and distribution in a wide range of soils remained unknown until the...
Using spatially detailed water-quality data and solute-transport modeling to improve support total maximum daily load development
Katherine Walton-Day, Robert L. Runkel, Briant A. Kimball
2012, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (48) 949-969
Spatially detailed mass-loading studies and solute-transport modeling using OTIS (One-dimensional Transport with Inflow and Storage) demonstrate how natural attenuation and loading from distinct and diffuse sources control stream water quality and affect load reductions predicted in total maximum daily loads (TMDLs). Mass-loading data collected during low-flow from Cement Creek (a...
Availability and distribution of low flow in Anahola Stream, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Chui Ling Cheng, Reuben H. Wolff
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5264
Anahola Stream is a perennial stream in northeast Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, that supports agricultural, domestic, and cultural uses within its drainage basin. Beginning in the late 19th century, Anahola streamflow was diverted by Makee Sugar Company at altitudes of 840 feet (upper intake) and 280 feet (lower intake) for irrigating sugarcane...
Changing Arctic ecosystems - measuring and forecasting the response of Alaska's terrestrial ecosystem to a warming climate
John M. Pearce, Anthony R. DeGange, Paul L. Flint, Tom F. Fondell, David D. Gustine, Leslie E. Holland-Bartels, Andrew G. Hope, Jerry W. Hupp, Joshua C. Koch, Joel A. Schmutz, Sandra L. Talbot, David H. Ward, Mary E. Whalen
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3144
The Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska is a complex landscape of lakes, streams, and wetlands scattered across low relief tundra that is underlain by permafrost. This region of the Arctic has experienced a warming trend over the past three decades, leading to thawing of on-shore permafrost and the disappearance...
Reversion to virulence and efficacy of an attenuated canarypox vaccine in Hawai'i 'Amakihi (Hemignathus Virens)
Carter T. Atkinson, Kimberly C. Wiegand, Dennis Triglia, Susan I. Jarvi
2012, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (Vol. 43) 808-819
Vaccines may be effective tools for protecting small populations of highly susceptible endangered, captive-reared, or translocated Hawaiian honeycreepers from introduced Avipoxvirus, but their efficacy has not been evaluated. An attenuated Canarypox vaccine that is genetically similar to one of two passerine Avipoxvirus isolates from Hawai‘i and distinct from Fowlpox was tested to evaluate...
Thermal and hydrologic suitability of Lake Erie and its major tributaries for spawning of Asian carps
Patrick M. Kocovsky, Duane Chapman, James E. McKenna
2012, Journal of Great Lakes Research (38) 159-166
Bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, silver carp H. molitrix, and grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella (hereafter Asian carps) have expanded throughout the Mississippi River basin and threaten to invade Lakes Michigan and Erie. Adult bighead carp and grass carp have been captured in Lake Erie, but self-sustaining populations probably do not exist....
Wave-induced mass transport affects daily Escherichia coli fluctuations in nearshore water
Zhongfu Ge, Richard L. Whitman, Meredith B. Nevers, Mantha S. Phanikumar
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 2204-2211
Characterization of diel variability of fecal indicator bacteria concentration in nearshore waters is of particular importance for development of water sampling standards and protection of public health. Significant nighttime increase in Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentration in beach water, previously observed at marine sites, has also been identified in summer...
Characterizing invertebrate traits in wadeable streams of the contiguous US: differences among ecoregions and land uses
Robert E. Zuellig, Travis S. Schmidt
2012, Freshwater Science (31) 1042-1056
Much is known about invertebrate community traits in basins across Europe, but no comprehensive description of traits exists for the continental US. Little is known about the trait composition of invertebrates in reference or least-disturbed basins of the US, how trait composition varies among ecoregions, or how consistently traits respond...
Thiamine status of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) eggs in the Great Lakes, USA
Marc A. Chalupnicki, H. George Ketola, Micheal H. Zehfus, Jonathan R. Crosswait, Jacques Rinchard
2012, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (27) 31-39
During spring 2006–2009, eggs were collected for analysis of total thiamine from gravid rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) captured in each of the Great Lakes and two other waters as references for comparison. Mean standard length (mm ± standard error) of gravid females significantly differed between sample waters, with the Atlantic Ocean population...
Surface-water quality in the upper San Antonio River Basin, Bexar County, Texas, 1992-98
J. Ryan Banta, Richard N. Slattery, Cassi L. Crow
2012, Data Series 738
The potential effects of chemicals in rivers and streams on human health or the ecology have long been a source of concern to water managers. Chemicals in rivers may result from natural or anthropogenic sources (such as industrial or residential practices) which are commonly associated with urbanized watersheds. The U.S....
Low prevalence of VHSV detected in round goby collected in offshore regions of Lake Ontario
Emily R. Cornwell, Rodman G. Getchell, Geoffrey H. Groocock, Maureen G. Walsh, Paul R. Bowser
2012, Journal of Great Lakes Research (38) 575-579
Since the first reports of mortalities due to viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) type IVb in the Laurentian Great Lakes basin during 2005 (Lake St. Clair, USA and Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario, Canada), many groups have conducted surveillance efforts for the virus, primarily in nearshore areas. The round goby...
Passage probabilities of juvenile Chinook salmon through the powerhouse and regulating outlet at Cougar Dam, Oregon, 2011
John W. Beeman, Amy C. Hansen, Scott D. Evans, Philip V. Haner, Hal C. Hansel, Collin D. Smith
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1250
Cougar Dam near Springfield, Oregon, is one of several federally owned and operated flood-control projects within the Willamette Valley of western Oregon that were determined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service in 2008 to impact the long-term viability of several salmonid stocks. In response to...
Advanced methods for modeling water-levels and estimating drawdowns with SeriesSEE, an Excel add-in
Keith Halford, C. Amanda Garcia, Joe Fenelon, Benjamin B. Mirus
2012, Techniques and Methods 4-F4
Water-level modeling is used for multiple-well aquifer tests to reliably differentiate pumping responses from natural water-level changes in wells, or “environmental fluctuations.” Synthetic water levels are created during water-level modeling and represent the summation of multiple component fluctuations, including those caused by environmental forcing and pumping. Pumping signals are modeled...
Establishing water body areal extent trends in interior Alaska from multi-temporal Landsat data
Jennifer R. Rover, Lei Ji, Bruce K. Wylie, Larry L. Tieszen
2012, Remote Sensing Letters (3) 595-604
An accurate approach is needed for monitoring, quantifying and understanding surface water variability due to climate change. Separating inter- and intra-annual variances from longer-term shifts in surface water extents due to contemporary climate warming requires repeat measurements spanning a several-decade period. Here, we show that trends developed from multi-date measurements...
Estimating seasonal evapotranspiration from temporal satellite images
Ramesh K. Singh, Shu-Guang Liu, Larry L. Tieszen, Andrew E. Suyker, Shashi B. Verma
2012, Irrigation Science (30) 303-313
Estimating seasonal evapotranspiration (ET) has many applications in water resources planning and management, including hydrological and ecological modeling. Availability of satellite remote sensing images is limited due to repeat cycle of satellite or cloud cover. This study was conducted to determine the suitability of different methods namely cubic spline, fixed,...
Mercury dynamics in a San Francisco estuary tidal wetland: assessing dynamics using in situ measurements
Brian A. Bergamaschi, Jacob A. Fleck, Bryan D. Downing, Emmanuel Boss, Brian A. Pellerin, Neil K. Ganju, David H. Schoellhamer, Amy A. Byington, Wesley A. Heim, Mark Stephenson, Roger Fujii
2012, Estuaries and Coasts (35) 1036-1048
We used high-resolution in situ measurements of turbidity and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) to quantitatively estimate the tidally driven exchange of mercury (Hg) between the waters of the San Francisco estuary and Browns Island, a tidal wetland. Turbidity and FDOM—representative of particle-associated and filter-passing Hg, respectively—together predicted 94 %...
Quality of surface-water runoff in selected streams in the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer recharge zone, Bexar County, Texas, 1997-2012
Stephen P. Opsahl
2012, Data Series 740
During 1997–2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System, collected and analyzed water-quality constituents in surface-water runoff from five ephemeral stream sites near San Antonio in northern Bexar County, Texas. The data were collected to assess the quality of surface water that recharges the Edwards...
Groundwater levels and water-quality observations pertaining to the Austin Group, Bexar County, Texas, 2009-11
J.R. Banta, Allan K. Clark
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5278
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System, examined groundwater-level altitudes (groundwater levels) and water-quality data pertaining to the Austin Group in Bexar County, Texas, during 2009–11. Hydrologic data collected included daily mean groundwater levels collected at seven sites in the study area. Water-quality samples were...
Multilevel groundwater monitoring of hydraulic head and temperature in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2009–10
Brian V. Twining, Jason C. Fisher
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5259
During 2009 and 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Idaho National Laboratory Project Office, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, collected quarterly, depth-discrete measurements of fluid pressure and temperature in nine boreholes located in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. Each borehole was instrumented with a multilevel monitoring system...
Sources and sinks of filtered total mercury and concentrations of total mercury of solids and of filtered methylmercury, Sinclair Inlet, Kitsap County, Washington, 2007-10
Anthony J. Paulson, Richard S. Dinicola, Marlene A. Noble, Richard J. Wagner, Raegan L. Huffman, Patrick W. Moran, John F. DeWild
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5223
The majority of filtered total mercury in the marine water of Sinclair Inlet originates from salt water flowing from Puget Sound. About 420 grams of filtered total mercury are added to Sinclair Inlet each year from atmospheric, terrestrial, and sedimentary sources, which has increased filtered total mercury concentrations in Sinclair...
Fish population and habitat analysis in Buck Creek, Washington, prior to recolonization by anadromous salmonids after the removal of Condit Dam
M. Brady Allen, Jeanette Burkhardt, Carrie Munz, Patrick J. Connolly
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1270
We assessed the physical and biotic conditions in the part of Buck Creek, Washington, potentially accessible to anadromous fishes. This creek is a major tributary to the White Salmon River upstream of Condit Dam, which was breached in October 2011. Habitat and fish populations were characterized in four stream reaches....
Approaches in highly parameterized inversion: TSPROC, a general time-series processor to assist in model calibration and result summarization
Stephen M. Westenbroek, John Doherty, John F. Walker, Victor A. Kelson, Randall J. Hunt, Timothy B. Cera
2012, Techniques and Methods 7-C7
The TSPROC (Time Series PROCessor) computer software uses a simple scripting language to process and analyze time series. It was developed primarily to assist in the calibration of environmental models. The software is designed to perform calculations on time-series data commonly associated with surface-water models, including calculation of flow volumes,...
Chemicals of emerging concern in water and bottom sediment in Great Lakes areas of concern, 2010 to 2011-Collection methods, analyses methods, quality assurance, and data
Kathy Lee, Susan K. Langer, Michael A. Menheer, William T. Foreman, Edward T. Furlong, Steven G. Smith
2012, Data Series 723
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cooperated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a study to identify the occurrence of chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) in water and bottom-sediment samples collected during 2010–11 at sites in seven areas of concern (AOCs) throughout the...
Numerical model simulations of nitrate concentrations in groundwater using various nitrogen input scenarios, mid-Snake region, south-central Idaho
Kenneth D. Skinner, Michael G. Rupert
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5237
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program nitrate transport in groundwater was modeled in the mid-Snake River region in south-central Idaho to project future concentrations of nitrate. Model simulation results indicated that nitrate concentrations would continue to increase over time, eventually exceeding the U.S....
Use of classes based on redox and groundwater age to characterize the susceptibility of principal aquifers to changes in nitrate concentrations, 1991 to 2010
P.B. McMahon
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5220
The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey is using multiple approaches to measure and explain trends in concentrations of nitrate in principal aquifers of the United States. Near decadal sampling of selected well networks is providing information on where long-term changes in nitrate concentrations have occurred....
