Groundwater status and trends for the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho
Erick R. Burns, Daniel T. Snyder, Jonathan V. Haynes, Michael S. Waibel
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5261
Well information and groundwater-level measurements for the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, were compiled from data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey and seven other organizations. From the full set of about 60,000 wells and 450,000 water-level measurements a subset of 761 wells within the...
Total nitrogen and suspended-sediment loads and identification of suspended-sediment sources in the Laurel Hill Creek watershed, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, water years 2010-11
Ronald A. Sloto, Allen C. Gellis, Daniel G. Galeone
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5250
Laurel Hill Creek is a watershed of 125 square miles located mostly in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, with small areas extending into Fayette and Westmoreland Counties. The upper part of the watershed is on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 303(d) list of impaired streams because of siltation, nutrients, and low...
Comparison of two regression-based approaches for determining nutrient and sediment fluxes and trends in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Douglas Moyer, Robert M. Hirsch, Kenneth Hyer
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5244
Nutrient and sediment fluxes and changes in fluxes over time are key indicators that water resource managers can use to assess the progress being made in improving the structure and function of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The U.S. Geological Survey collects annual nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment flux data...
An economic value of remote-sensing information—Application to agricultural production and maintaining groundwater quality
William M. Forney, Ronald P. Raunikar, Richard L. Bernknopf, Shruti K. Mishra
2012, Professional Paper 1796
Does remote-sensing information provide economic benefits to society, and can a value be assigned to those benefits? Can resource management and policy decisions be better informed by coupling past and present Earth observations with groundwater nitrate measurements? Using an integrated assessment approach, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) applied an established...
Groundwater quality in the Owens Valley, California
Barbara J. Milby Dawson, Kenneth Belitz
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3032
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to...
Groundwater quality in Coachella Valley, California
Barbara J. Milby Dawson, Kenneth Belitz
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3098
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to...
Groundwater quality in the Colorado River basins, California
Barbara J. Milby Dawson, Kenneth Belitz
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3034
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to...
Quality of surface water in Missouri, water year 2011
Miya N. Barr
2012, Data Series 734
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2011 water year (October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011), data were collected at 75 stations—72...
Land Capability Potential Index (LCPI) and geodatabase for the Lower Missouri River Valley
Kimberly A. Chojnacki, Matthew A. Struckhoff, Robert B. Jacobson
2012, Data Series 736
The Land Capacity Potential Index (LCPI) is a coarse-scale index intended to delineate broad land-capability classes in the Lower Missouri River valley bottom from the Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, South Dakota to the mouth of the Missouri River near St. Louis, Missouri (river miles 811–0). The LCPI provides a...
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources
Peter D. Warwick, M.D. Corum, editor(s)
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1024
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (Public Law 110–140) directs the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of potential geologic storage resources for carbon dioxide (CO2) and to consult with other Federal and State agencies to locate the pertinent geological data needed for the assessment. The...
Quality of streams in Johnson County, Kansas, 2002--10
Teresa J. Rasmussen, Mandy S. Stone, Barry C. Poulton, Jennifer L. Graham
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5279
Stream quality in Johnson County, northeastern Kansas, was assessed on the basis of land use, hydrology, stream-water and streambed-sediment chemistry, riparian and in-stream habitat, and periphyton and macroinvertebrate community data collected from 22 sites during 2002 through 2010. Stream conditions at the end of the study period are evaluated and...
Genetic variation reveals influence of landscape connectivity on population dynamics and resiliency of western trout in disturbance-prone habitats
Helen M. Neville, Robert E. Gresswell, Jason B. Dunham
2012, Technical Report RMRS-GTR-290
Salmonid fishes have evolved and persisted in dynamic ecosystems where disturbance events vary in frequency, magnitude, timing, and duration, as well as the specific nature of associated effects (e.g., changes in thermal or flow regimes, geomorphology, or water chemistry). In the western United States, one of the major drivers of...
Assessing potential effects of changes in water use with a numerical groundwater-flow model of Carson Valley, Douglas County, Nevada, and Alpine County, California
Richard M. Yager, Douglas K. Maurer, C.J. Mayers
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5262
Rapid growth and development within Carson Valley in Douglas County, Nevada, and Alpine County, California, has caused concern over the continued availability of groundwater, and whether the increased municipal demand could either impact the availability of water or result in decreased flow in the Carson River. Annual pumpage of groundwater...
Borehole geophysical, fluid, and hydraulic properties within and surrounding the freshwater/saline-water transition zone, San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer, south-central Texas, 2010-11
Jonathan V. Thomas, Gregory P. Stanton, Rebecca B. Lambert
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5285
The freshwater zone of the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer is used by residents of San Antonio and numerous other rapidly growing communities in south-central Texas as their primary water supply source. This freshwater zone is bounded to the south and southeast by a saline-water zone with an...
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...
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...
Use of raw materials in the United States from 1900 through 2010
Grecia R. Matos
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3140
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the types and quantities of raw materials used by U.S. manufacturers and consumers have changed over time. This fact sheet quantifies the amounts of those materials (other than food and fuel) that have been input into the U.S. economy annually for a period...
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...
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,...
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....
Simulation of groundwater flow and hydrologic effects of groundwater withdrawals from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system in the Pinelands of southern New Jersey
Emmanuel G. Charles, Robert S. Nicholson
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5122
The Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system is an important source of present and future water supply in southern New Jersey. Because this unconfined aquifer system also supports sensitive wetland and aquatic habitats within the New Jersey Pinelands (Pinelands), water managers and policy makers need up-to-date information, data, and projections that show the...
Numerical simulation of groundwater movement and managed aquifer recharge from Sand Hollow Reservoir, Hurricane Bench area, Washington County, Utah
Thomas M. Marston, Victor M. Heilweil
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5236
The Hurricane Bench area of Washington County, Utah, is a 70 square-mile area extending south from the Virgin River and encompassing Sand Hollow basin. Sand Hollow Reservoir, located on Hurricane Bench, was completed in March 2002 and is operated primarily as a managed aquifer recharge project by the Washington County...
Hydrologic and geochemical data collected near Skewed Reservoir, an impoundment for coal-bed natural gas produced water, Powder River Basin, Wyoming
Richard W. Healy, Cynthia A. Rice, Timothy T. Bartos
2012, Data Series 715
The Powder River Structural Basin is one of the largest producers of coal-bed natural gas (CBNG) in the United States. An important environmental concern in the Basin is the fate of groundwater that is extracted during CBNG production. Most of this produced water is disposed of in unlined surface impoundments....
Groundwater, surface-water, and water-chemistry data from C-aquifer monitoring program, northeastern Arizona, 2005-11
Christopher R. Brown, Jamie P. Macy
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1196
The C aquifer is a regionally extensive multiple-aquifer system supplying water for municipal, agricultural, and industrial use in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. An increase in groundwater withdrawals from the C aquifer coupled with ongoing drought conditions in the study area increase the potential for drawdown within...
