StreamStats—A quarter century of delivering web-based geospatial and hydrologic information to the public, and lessons learned
Kernell G. Ries III, Peter A. Steeves, Peter M. McCarthy
2024, Circular 1514
StreamStats is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) web application that provides streamflow statistics, such as the 1-percent annual exceedance probability peak flow, the mean flow, and the 7-day, 10-year low flow, to the public through a map-based user interface. These statistics are used in many ways, such as in the...
Water resources inventory of the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, southeastern Arizona
Jon P. Mason
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5131
The Las Cienegas National Conservation Area was established by the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area Establishment Act of 1999 (Public Law 106–538) and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Located in southeastern Arizona, the conservation area contains more than 45,000 acres of rolling grassland, wetlands, and woodlands surrounded...
Development and calibration of HEC–RAS hydraulic, temperature, and nutrient models for the Mohawk River, New York
Thomas P. Suro, Michal J. Niemoczynski, Anna Boetsma
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5005
In support of a preliminary analysis performed by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation that found elevated nutrient levels along selected reaches of the Mohawk River, a one-dimensional, unsteady hydraulic and water-quality model (Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System Nutrient Simulation Module 1 [HEC–RAS NSM I]) was developed by...
High inter-population connectivity and occasional gene flow between subspecies improves recovery potential for the endangered Least Bell’s Vireo
Amy G. Vandergast, Barbara E. Kus, Dustin A. Wood, Anna Mitelberg, Julia G. Smith, Elizabeth R. Milano
2024, Ornithological Applications (126)
Increasingly, genomic data are being used to supplement field-based ecological studies to help evaluate recovery status and trends in endangered species. We collected genomic data to address two related questions regarding the Least Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii), an endangered migratory songbird restricted to southern California riparian habitat for breeding....
Comparison of longitudinal stream temperature profiles and significant thermal features from airborne thermal infrared and float surveys of the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers, King and Snohomish Counties, Washington, summer 2020 and 2021
Daniel E. Restivo, Mousa Diabat, Chris Miwa, Valerie A.L. Bright
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5146
Summer water temperatures in the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers in western Washington have in recent decades exceeded the water temperature criteria for aquatic life uses set by the Washington Department of Ecology. This temperature increase is of particular concern because these rivers provide critical habitat for several...
Lava flow impacts on the built environment: Insights from a new global dataset
Elinor S. Meredith, Susanna F. Jenkins, Josh L. Hayes, David Lallemant, Natalia I. Deligne, Natalie Teng Rui Xue
2024, Journal of Applied Volcanology (13)
The recent destruction of thousands of homes by lava flows from La Palma volcano, Canary Islands, and Nyiragongo volcano, Democratic Republic of Congo, serves as a reminder of the devastating impact that lava flows can have on communities living in volcanically active regions. Damage to buildings...
Hydrologic analysis of an earthen embankment dam in southern Westchester County, New York
Anthony Chu, Michael L. Noll, William D. Capurso, Robert J. Welk
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5123
In 2001, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection installed 25 wells on the southern embankment of the Hillview Reservoir in Westchester County in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the source of a large seep (seep A) that began flowing continuously in 1999. In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey...
Yellowstone River fish bypass channel physical and hydraulic monitoring, Montana
J. Brooks Stephens, Jason S. Alexander, Seth A. Siefken
2024, Data Report 1189
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, began monitoring the Yellowstone River fish bypass channel according to the specifications of the Lower Yellowstone Adaptive Management and Monitoring Plan. The fish bypass channel was constructed to provide upstream migrating fish with a route around a diversion dam....
Hydrology and water quality of a dune-and-swale wetland adjacent to the Grand Calumet River, Indiana, 2019–22
Shawn Naylor, Amy M. Gahala
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5122
Adverse ecological and water-quality effects associated with industrial land-use changes are common for littoral wetlands connected to river mouth ecosystems in the Grand Calumet River-Indiana Harbor Canal Area of Concern. These effects can be exacerbated by recent high Lake Michigan water levels that are problematic for wetland restoration. Wetlands in...
Generalized potentiometric maps of the Fort Union, Hell Creek, and Fox Hills aquifers within the Standing Rock Reservation
Todd M. Anderson, Robert F. Lundgren
2024, Scientific Investigations Map 3516
Generalized potentiometric surfaces of the Fort Union, Hell Creek, and Fox Hills aquifers were constructed to assess the groundwater resources of the Standing Rock Reservation. Additionally, this information can provide water managers with tools and data to effectively manage water resources in the future. Previous studies that mapped the geology...
Peak streamflow trends and their relation to changes in climate in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5064
Flood-frequency analysis, also called peak-flow frequency or flood-flow frequency analysis, is essential to water resources management applications including critical structure design and floodplain mapping. Federal guidelines for doing flood-frequency analyses are presented in a U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods report known as Bulletin 17C. A basic assumption within Bulletin...
Introduction and methods of analysis for peak streamflow trends and their relation to changes in climate in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin
Karen R. Ryberg, Thomas M. Over, Sara B. Levin, David C. Heimann, Nancy A. Barth, Mackenzie K. Marti, Padraic S. O’Shea, Chris Sanocki, Tara Williams-Sether, Harper N. Wavra, T. Roy Sando, Steven K. Sando, Milan S. Liu
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5064-A
Flood-frequency analysis, also called peak-flow frequency or flood-flow frequency analysis, is essential to water resources management applications including critical structure design and floodplain mapping. Federal guidelines for doing flood-frequency analyses are presented in a U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods Report known as Bulletin 17C. A basic assumption within Bulletin...
Report of the River Master of the Delaware River for the period December 1, 2013–November 30, 2014
Kendra L. Russell, William J. Andrews, Vincent J. DiFrenna, J. Michael Norris, Mason Jr.
2024, Open-File Report 2023-1084
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...
A machine learning tool for design of behavioral fish barriers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
Nicholas M. Swyers, Aaron R. Blake, Paul Stumpner, Jon R. Burau, Summer M. Burdick, Mohamed Shahid Anwar
2024, Open-File Report 2023-1095
Executive SummarySurvival of out-migrating juvenile salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta averages less than 33 percent, depending on water flow through the delta, and is partially governed by the distribution of fish among three Sacramento River distributaries: Sutter, Steamboat, and Georgiana sloughs. Behavioral altering structures in the...
Mass-balance-consistent geological stock accounting: A new approach toward sustainable management of mineral resources
Mark U. Simoni, Johannes A. Drielsma, Magnus Ericsson, Andrew G. Gunn, Sigurd Heiberg, Tom A. Heldal, Nedal T. Nassar, Evi Petavratz, Daniel B. Muller
2024, Environmental Science and Technology (58) 971-990
Global resource extraction raises concerns about environmental pressures and the security of mineral supply. Strategies to address these concerns depend on robust information on natural resource endowments, and on suitable methods to monitor and model their changes over time. However, current mineral resources and reserves reporting and accounting workflows are...
Watershed hydrology assessment for the Lower Colorado River Basin. Appendix A: Statistical hydrology
David Wallace, Kara M. Watson
2024, Report
Statistical analysis of the observational record from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgages and period of historical flow observations prior to the gage installation provides an informative means of estimating flood flow frequency. The U.S. Geological Survey contributed to the InFRM team’s efforts by performing the statistical analysis of the gaged...
Dam removal cost databases and drivers
Jennifer A. Bountry, Timothy J. Randle, Alvin Jansen, Jeffrey J. Duda, Suman Jumani, Desiree D. Tullos, Kyle McKay, Susan Bailey
2024, Final Report ST-2023-21084 and ENV-2023-002
The United States (U.S.) has over 90,000 dams listed in the National Inventory of Dams that provide vital infrastructure to support water management for municipal and industrial uses including irrigation, hydropower, flood control, navigation, recreation, and habitat, among other uses (NID 2023). The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and U.S. Army...
Predicting large hydrothermal systems
Stanley Paul Mordensky, Erick R. Burns, Jacob DeAngelo, John Lipor
2023, Geothermal Resources Council Transactions (47) 1763-1796
We train five models using two machine learning (ML) regression algorithms (i.e., linear regression and XGBoost) to predict hydrothermal upflow in the Great Basin. Feature data are extracted from datasets supporting the INnovative Geothermal Exploration through Novel Investigations Of Undiscovered Systems project (INGENIOUS). The label data (the reported convective signals)...
Magnetotelluric investigation of northern Harrat Rahat, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Jared R. Peacock, Paul A. Bedrosian, Maher K. Al-Dhahry, Adel Shareef, Daniel W. Feucht, Cliff D. Taylor, Benjamin Bloss, Hani M. Zahran
2023, Professional Paper 1862-L
Volcanism within the harrats (Arabic for “volcanic field”) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia includes at least one historical eruption occurring close to the holy city of Al Madīnah in 1256 C.E. As part of a volcanic- and seismic-hazard assessment of northern Harrat Rahat, magnetotelluric (MT) data were collected to...
Lava flow emplacement in Harrat Rahat with implications for eruptions in mafic volcanic fields
Hannah R. Dietterich, Drew T. Downs, Mark E. Stelten
2023, Professional Paper 1862-E
Mafic volcanic fields are widespread, but few have erupted in historical times, providing limited observations of the magnitudes, dynamics, and timescales of lava flow emplacement in these settings. The Harrat Rahat volcanic field in western Saudi Arabia offers a good opportunity to study eruptions in such a setting, with a...
Eruptive history within the vicinity of Al Madīnah in northern Harrat Rahat, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Drew T. Downs, Mark E. Stelten, Duane E. Champion, Hannah R. Dietterich, Khalid Hassan, Jamal Shawali
2023, Professional Paper 1862-C
The northernmost part of the Harrat Rahat volcanic field contains early Pleistocene to Holocene mafic eruptive products within the vicinity of the city of Al Madīnah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A detailed geologic investigation into the eruptive history of a 570 square kilometer (km2) area covering Al Madīnah and the...
Evaluation of stream capture related to groundwater pumping, Lower Humboldt River Basin, Nevada
Cara A. Nadler, Susan C. Rybarski, Hai Pham
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5110
The Humboldt River Basin is the only river basin that is contained entirely within the State of Nevada. The effect of groundwater pumping on the Humboldt River is not well understood. Tools are needed to determine stream capture and manage groundwater pumping in the Humboldt River Basin. The objective of...
Changes in phosphorus and suspended solids loading in the Fox River, northeastern Wisconsin, 1989–2021
Dale M. Robertson, Matthew W. Diebel, Sarah L. Bartlett, Kevin J. Fermanich
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5112
The entire Lower Fox River and inner bay of Green Bay, in northeastern Wisconsin, have been listed as impaired by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) for low dissolved oxygen and degraded habitat, with total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations listed as the likely causes of...
Automated construction of Streamflow-Routing networks for MODFLOW—Application in the Mississippi Embayment region
Andrew T. Leaf
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5051
In humid regions with dense stream networks, surface water exerts a fundamental control on the water levels and flow directions of shallow groundwater. Understanding interactions between groundwater and surface water is critical for managing groundwater resources and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Representing streams in groundwater models has historically been arduous and error...
Simulating groundwater flow in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain with a focus on the Mississippi Delta
Andrew T. Leaf, Leslie L. Duncan, Connor J. Haugh, Randall J. Hunt, James R. Rigby
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5100
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain has become one of the most important agricultural regions in the United States but relies heavily on groundwater for irrigation. On average, more than 12 billion gallons are withdrawn daily from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. Declining groundwater levels, especially in the Delta region of...
