Report of the River Master of the Delaware River for the period December 1, 2014–November 30, 2015
Kendra L. Russell, William J. Andrews, Vincent J. DiFrenna, J. Michael Norris, Robert R. Mason, Jr.
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1010
Executive SummaryA Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States, entered June 7, 1954 (New Jersey v. New York, 347 U.S. 995), established the position of Delaware River Master within the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition, the Decree authorizes the diversion of water from the Delaware River Basin and...
Land-use interactions, Oil-Field infrastructure, and natural processes control hydrocarbon and arsenic concentrations in groundwater, Poso Creek Oil Field, California, USA
Peter B. McMahon, Matthew K. Landon, Michael J. Stephens, Kimberly A. Taylor, Michael Wright, Angela Hansen, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, David H. Shimabukuro, Theron A. Sowers, Justin T. Kulongoski, Andrew G. Hunt, Ruta Karolyte, Darren J. Hillegonds, Chris J. Ballentine
2024, Applied Geochemistry (168)
Like many hydrocarbon production areas in the U.S., the Poso Creek Oil Field in California includes and is adjacent to other land uses (agricultural and other developed lands) that affect the hydrology and geochemistry of the aquifer overlying and adjacent to oil development. We...
Assessment and characterization of ephemeral stream channel stability and mechanisms affecting erosion in Grand Valley, western Colorado, 2018–21
Joel William Homan
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5145
The Grand Valley in western Colorado is in the semiarid Southwest United States. The north side of the Grand Valley has many ungaged ephemeral streams, which are of particular interest because (1) the underlying bedrock geology, Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale, is a sedimentary rock deposit identified as a major salinity...
Impounded sediment and dam removal: Erosion rates and proximal downstream fate
Matthias J. Collins, Matthew E. Baker, Matthew J. Cashman, Andrew Miller, Stephen Van Ryswick
2024, Earth Systems Processes and Landforms (49) 2690-2703
Sediment management is an important aspect of dam removal projects, often driving costs and influencing community acceptance. For dams storing uncontaminated sediments, downstream release is often the cheapest and most practical approach and can be ecologically beneficial to downstream areas deprived of sediment for years. To employ this option, project...
Modeling nearshore total phosphorus in Lake Michigan using linked hydrodynamic and water quality models
James P. Pauer, Mark D. Rowe, WIlson Melendez, Thomas P Hollenhorst, Lisa L Lowe, Peter J. Alsip, Dale M. Robertson, Steven A. Pothoven
2024, Ecological Modelling (493)
Although the offshore water of Lake Michigan has been below the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) total phosphorus (TP) spring target concentration of 7 µg L−1 for several decades, higher TP concentrations occur in the nearshore, contributing to the resurgence...
Streamflow depletion caused by groundwater pumping: Fundamental research priorities for management-relevant science
Samuel Zipper, Andrea E. Brookfield, Hoori Ajami, Jessica R. Ayers, Chris Beightel, Michael N. Fienen, Tom Gleeson, John C. Hammond, Mary C Hill, Anthony D Kendall, Benjamin Kerr, Dana A. Lapides, Misty Porter, S. Parimalarenganayaki, Melissa Rohde, Chloe Wardropper
2024, Water Resource Research (60)
Reductions in streamflow caused by groundwater pumping, known as “streamflow depletion,” link the hydrologic process of stream-aquifer interactions to human modifications of the water cycle. Isolating the impacts of groundwater pumping on streamflow is challenging because other climate and human activities concurrently impact streamflow, making it difficult...
Lessons learned from using wild-caught and captive-reared lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) in captive experiments
C.R Beach, C.N Jacques, J.D. Lancaster, D.C. Osborne, A.P. Yetter, Rebecca A. Cole, H.M. Hagy, A.M.V. Fournier
2024, Translational Animal Science (8)
Waterfowl are housed in captivity for research studies that are infeasible in the wild. Accommodating the unique requirements of semi-aquatic species in captivity while meeting experimental design criteria for research questions can be challenging and may have unknown effects on animal health. Thus, testing and standardizing best husbandry and...
Combining terrestrial lidar with single line transects to investigate geomorphic change: A case study on the Upper Verde River, Arizona
Lauren Lynn Tango, Temuulen Ts. Sankey, Jackson Leonard, Joel B. Sankey, Alan Kasprak
2024, Geomorphology (457)
The Upper Verde River in northern Arizona, USA is a vital resource for the wildlife and humans that rely on its waters. We characterize the riparian corridor topography using terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) data from 2021 to 2022. We also...
Linking dissolved organic matter composition to landscape properties in wetlands across the United States of America
Martin R. Kurek, Kimberly Wickland, Natalie A. Nichols, Amy M. McKenna, Steven M. Anderson, Mark M. Dornblaser, Nikaan Koupaie-Abyazani, Brett A. Poulin, Sheel Bansal, Jason B. Fellman, Gregory K. Druschel, Emily S. Bernhardt, Robert G.M. Spencer
2024, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (38)
Wetlands are integral to the global carbon cycle, serving as both a source and a sink for organic carbon. Their potential for carbon storage will likely change in the coming decades in response to higher temperatures and variable precipitation patterns. We characterized the dissolved organic carbon (DOC)...
Deep-water first occurrences of Ediacara biota prior to the Shuram carbon isotope excursion in the Wernecke Mountains, Yukon, Canada
Thomas H. Boag, James F. Busch, Jared T. Gooley, Justin Strauss, Erik A Sperling
2024, Geobiology (22)
Ediacara-type macrofossils appear as early as ~575 Ma in deep-water facies of the Drook Formation of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland, and the Nadaleen Formation of Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada. Our ability to assess whether a deep-water origination of the Ediacara biota is a...
Integrated science for the study of microplastics in the environment—A strategic science vision for the U.S. Geological Survey
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Austin K. Baldwin, Larry B. Barber, Vicki S. Blazer, Steven R. Corsi, Joseph W. Duris, Shawn C. Fisher, Michael Focazio, Sarah E. Janssen, Jeramy Roland Jasmann, Dana W. Kolpin, Johanna M. Kraus, Rachael F. Lane, Mari E. Lee, Kristen B. McSwain, Timothy D. Oden, Timothy J. Reilly, Andrew R. Spanjer
2024, Circular 1521
Executive SummaryEvidence of the widespread occurrence of microplastics throughout our environment and exposure to humans and other organisms over the past decade has led to questions about the possibility of health hazards and mitigation of exposures. This document discusses nanoplastics as well as microplastics (referred to solely as microplastics); the...
Prototyping structured decision making for water resource management in the San Francisco Bay-Delta
James T. Peterson, Erin McCreless, Adam Duarte, Patti Wohner, Scott Hamilton, Josue Medellin-Azuara, Alvar Escriva-Boue
2024, Environmental Science and Policy (103775)
A structured decision making (SDM) approach can help evaluate tradeoffs between conservation and human-benefit objectives by fostering communication and knowledge transfer among stakeholders, decision makers, and the public. However, the process is iterative and completing the full process may take...
A video monitoring and computational system for estimating migratory juvenile fish abundance in river systems
Meghna N. Marjadi, Sidney Batchelder, Ryan Govostes, Allison H. Roy, John J. Sheppard, Meghan-Grace Slocombe, Joel K. Llopiz
2024, Limnology and Oceanography Methods (22) 295-310
Diadromous fishes migrate between marine and fresh waters for reproduction. For anadromous species, which spawn in freshwater, improved access to freshwater spawning and nursery habitats and ability of juveniles to emigrate to the ocean may support population recovery. Despite the potentially enormous influence of early life stage survival on adult...
Land use and dog park associations with Escherichia coli in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area watershed
A.M. McKee, Ann M. Couch
2024, Science Report NPS/SR—2024/113
A recent study in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CHAT) indicated that dogs were a primary source of fecal contamination in the Chattahoochee River and that at least some of the contamination in the river was coming from locations outside of CHAT. The study herein sought to determine if...
Accounting for the fraction of carcasses outside the searched area in the estimation of bird and bat fatalities at wind energy facilities
Daniel Dalthorp, Manuela Huso, Mark Dalthorp, Jeffrey Mintz
2024, Techniques and Methods 7-A3
Accurate estimation of bird and bat mortality at wind energy facilities requires accounting for carcasses that lie outside the search plots because they lie beyond the search radius or in areas within the search radius that remain unsearched due to sub-optimal search conditions such as thick vegetation, rough or dangerous...
Adult green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) movements in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, California, December 2020–January 2023
Amy C. Hansen, Summer M. Burdick, Ryan P. Johnson, Robert D. Chase, Michael J. Thomas
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers American River Watershed Common Features project (ACRF) seeks to reduce flood risk for the City of Sacramento, California, and surrounding areas. The project includes levee-remediation measures to address seepage, stability, erosion, and height concerns as well as the widening of the Sacramento Weir and...
Simulation of hydrodynamics and water temperature in a 21-mile reach of the upper Illinois River, Illinois, 2020–22
Michael R. Ament, David C. Heimann
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5025
This report describes the development of a CE-QUAL-W2 river hydrodynamics and temperature model of a 21-mile reach of the Illinois River including a 3-mile reach of a major tributary, the Fox River. Model outputs consist of streamflow, water velocity, water-surface elevation, and water-temperature time series that can be used to...
Role of edaphic, hydrologic, and land cover variables in determining dissolved organic carbon in Missouri (USA) reservoirs and streams
John R. Jones, Jennifer L. Graham, Daniel V. Obrecht, James D. Harlan, Matthew F. Knowlton, Carol Pollard, Jennifer Parris, Anthony P. Thorpe
2024, Lake and Reservoir Management (40) 177-195
In Missouri, distinct geophysical gradients influence statewide patterns in water quality. Here, we quantify the spatiotemporal variability of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in reservoirs and streams and the edaphic, hydrologic, and land cover variables that account for cross-system variation. Datasets included statewide inventories collected over decades and studies...
Evaluating an improved systems approach to wetland crediting: Consideration of wetland ecosystem services
Pamela Mason, Gregory E. Noe, Alicia Berlin, Denise Clearwater, Sally Claggett, Dave Goerman, Brooke J. Landry, Alison Santoro
2024, Report
The Chesapeake Bay Agreement (CBA) has numerous direct goals for improving habitat, living resources, and water quality, conserving lands, engaging communities and addressing a changing climate. To date, the progress toward the wetlands outcome (creation/ restoration of 85,000 acres and enhancement of 150,000 acres) has been very slow and the...
A multi-marker assessment of sewage contamination in streams using human-associated indicator bacteria, human-specific viruses, and pharmaceuticals
Peter L. Lenaker, Matthew A. Pronschinske, Steven R. Corsi, Joel P. Stokdyk, Hayley T. Olds, Deborah K. Dila, Sandra L. McLellan
2024, Science of the Total Environment (930)
Human sewage contaminates waterways, delivering excess nutrients, pathogens, chemicals, and other toxic contaminants. Contaminants and various sewage indicators are measured to monitor and assess water quality, but these analytes vary in their representation of sewage contamination and the inferences about water quality they support....
Special Contributing Area Loading Program user’s manual
Henry F. Doyle, Marian M. Domanski
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1021
The Special Contributing Area Loading Program (SCALP) is a hydrologic routing program that simulates reservoir routing through a linear-reservoir-in-series method. The Java version of SCALP was developed to replicate and replace the functionality of an older version of the program written in Fortran. SCALP models flow through three reservoirs in...
Evaluation of metrics and thresholds for use in national-scale river harmful algal bloom assessments
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Jacob Aaron Zwart, Jennifer L. Graham, Judson Harvey, Noah Schmadel, Jennifer C. Murphy
2024, Ecological Indicators (162)
The spatiotemporal distribution of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in rivers remains poorly understood, and there is an urgent need to develop a consistent set of metrics to better document HAB occurrences and forecast future events. Using data from seven sites in...
Status of water quality in groundwater resources used for drinking-water supply in the southeastern San Joaquin Valley, 2013–15—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Karen R. Burow, Jennifer L. Shelton, Miranda S. Fram
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5009
The California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP) investigated water quality of groundwater resources used for drinking-water supplies in the Madera-Chowchilla, Kings, Kaweah, Tule, and Tulare Lake groundwater subbasins of the southeastern San Joaquin Valley during 2013–15. The study focused primarily on groundwater resources used for...
Flexible migration and habitat use strategies of an endangered waterbird during hydrological drought
Aaron T. Pearse, Andrew J. Caven, David M. Baasch, Mark T. Bidwell, John A Conkin, David A. Brandt
2024, Conservation Science and Practice (6)
Wildlife species confront threats from climate and land use change, exacerbating the influence of extreme climatic events on populations and biodiversity. Migratory waterbirds are especially vulnerable to hydrological drought via reduced availability of surface water habitats. We assessed how whooping cranes (Grus americana) modified...
Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on the periphery of Missouri, June 13–22, 2022
Richard J. Huizinga
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5032
Bathymetric and velocimetric data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, near seven bridges at six highway crossings of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on the periphery of Missouri from June 13–22, 2022. A multibeam echosounder mapping system was used to obtain...
