Microhabitat use and seasonal movements of hatchery-reared and wild shortnose sturgeon in the Savannah River, South Carolina--Georgia
D.G. Trested, K.M. Ware, R. Bakal, J. Jeffery Isely
2011, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (27) 454-461
Radio and acoustic telemetry were used to monitor the seasonal movement of hatchery-reared and wild shortnose sturgeon (622-927 mm total length) in the Savannah River. Diploid, and sterile hatchery-reared shortnose sturgeon, and wild shortnose sturgeon showed apparent similar seasonal patterns of movement within the river. We were unable to detect...
Effects of conservation practices on wetland ecosystem services in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Stephen Faulkner, Wylie C. Barrow Jr., Bob Keeland, Susan E. Walls, David Telesco
2011, Ecological Applications (21) s31-s48
Restoration of wetland ecosystems is an important priority for many state and federal agencies, as well as nongovernmental conservation organizations. The historic conversion of wetlands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) has resulted in large‐scale implementation of a variety of conservation practices designed to restore and enhance wetland ecosystem services....
Integrating estimates of ecosystem services from conservation programs and practices into models for decision makers
Ned Euliss, Loren M. Smith, Shuguang Liu, Walter G. Duffy, Stephen Faulkner, Robert A. Gleason, S. Diane Eckles
2011, Ecological Applications (21) 5128-5134
Most government agencies involved in land management are seeking consistent approaches to evaluate the effects of specific management actions on ecological processes and concurrent changes on ecosystem services. This is especially true within the context of anthropogenic influences, such as land use and climate change. The Conservation Effects Assessment Project—Wetlands...
Ecosystem services provided by playas in the High Plains: potential influences of USDA conservation programs
Loren M. Smith, David A. Haukos, Scott T. McMurry, David Willis
2011, Ecological Applications (21) S82-S92
Playas are shallow depressional wetlands and the dominant wetland type in the non-glaciated High Plains of the United States. This region is one of the most intensively cultivated regions in the Western Hemisphere, and playas are profoundly impacted by a variety of agricultural activities. Conservation practices promoted through Farm Bills...
Development of a depth-integrated sample arm to reduce solids stratification bias in stormwater sampling
William R. Selbig, Roger T. Bannerman
2011, Water Environment Research (83) 347-357
A new depth-integrated sample arm (DISA) was developed to improve the representation of solids in stormwater, both organic and inorganic, by collecting a water quality sample from multiple points in the water column. Data from this study demonstrate the idea of vertical stratification of solids in storm sewer runoff. Concentrations...
Groundwater quality in the Eastern Lake Ontario Basin, New York, 2008
Amy J. Risen, James E. Reddy
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1074
Water samples were collected from nine production wells and nine private residential wells in the Eastern Lake Ontario Basin of New York from August through October 2008 and analyzed to characterize the chemical quality of groundwater. The wells were selected to provide adequate spatial coverage of the 3,225-square-mile study area;...
Effects of natural and human factors on groundwater quality of basin-fill aquifers in the southwestern United States: Conceptual models for selected contaminants
Laura M. Bexfield, Susan A. Thiros, David W. Anning, Jena M. Huntington, Tim S. McKinney
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5020
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, the Southwest Principal Aquifers (SWPA) study is building a better understanding of the factors that affect water quality in basin-fill aquifers in the Southwestern United States. The SWPA study area includes four principal aquifers of the United States:...
Water Resources of Lafayette Parish
Robert B. Fendick Jr., Jason M. Griffith, Lawrence B. Prakken
2011, Fact Sheet 2010-3048
Fresh groundwater and surface water resources are available in Lafayette Parish, which is located in south-central Louisiana. In 2005, more than 47 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) were withdrawn from water sources in Lafayette Parish. About 92 percent (43.7 Mgal/d) of withdrawals was groundwater, and 8 percent (3.6 Mgal/d) was...
Simulation of water-use conservation scenarios for the Mississippi Delta using an existing regional groundwater flow model
Jeannie R.B. Barlow, Brian R. Clark
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5019
The Mississippi River alluvial plain in northwestern Mississippi (referred to as the Delta), once a floodplain to the Mississippi River covered with hardwoods and marshland, is now a highly productive agricultural region of large economic importance to Mississippi. Water for irrigation is supplied primarily by the Mississippi River Valley alluvial...
Columbia River Project water use plan: Mid Columbia sturgeon incubation and rearing study (year 2)
Michael J. Parsley, Eric Kofoot, J. Timothy Blubaugh
2011, Report
This report describes the results from the second year of a three-year investigation on the effects of different thermal regimes on incubation and rearing early life stages of white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus. The Columbia River has been significantly altered by the construction of dams resulting in annual flows and water...
Early results from the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Change and Hazard Susceptibility Project
John Brock, Dawn L. Lavoie, Richard Z. Poore
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3031
The northern Gulf of Mexico coastal region and its diverse ecosystems are threatened by population and development pressure and by the impacts of rising sea level and severe storms such as the series of hurricanes that has impacted the northern Gulf in recent years. In response to the complex management...
Fluctuations in groundwater levels related to regional and local withdrawals in the fractured-bedrock groundwater system in northern Wake County, North Carolina, March 2008-February 2009
Melinda J. Chapman, Naser Almanaseer, Bryce McClenney, Natalie Hinton
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5219
A study of dewatering of the fractured-bedrock aquifer in a localized area of east-central North Carolina was conducted from March 2008 through February 2009 to gain an understanding of why some privately owned wells and monitoring wells were intermittently dry. Although the study itself was localized in nature, the resulting...
Trends in nutrient concentrations, loads, and yields in streams in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Santa Ana Basins, California, 1975-2004
Charles R. Kratzer, Robert Kent, Dina K. Seleh, Donna L. Knifong, Peter D. Dileanis, James L. Orlando
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5228
A comprehensive database was assembled for the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Santa Ana Basins in California on nutrient concentrations, flows, and point and nonpoint sources of nutrients for 1975-2004. Most of the data on nutrient concentrations (nitrate, ammonia, total nitrogen, orthophosphate, and total phosphorus) were from the U.S. Geological Survey's...
Big Spring spinedace and associated fish populations and habitat conditions in Condor Canyon, Meadow Valley Wash, Nevada
Ian G. Jezorek, Patrick J. Connolly, Carrie S. Munz, Chris Dixon
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1072
Executive Summary: This project was designed to document habitat conditions and populations of native and non-native fish within the 8-kilometer Condor Canyon section of Meadow Valley Wash, Nevada, with an emphasis on Big Spring spinedace (Lepidomeda mollispinis pratensis). Other native fish present were speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus) and desert sucker...
Use of instantaneous streamflow measurements to improve regression estimates of index flow for the summer month of lowest streamflow in Michigan
David J. Holtschlag
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5236
In Michigan, index flow Q50 is a streamflow characteristic defined as the minimum of median flows for July, August, and September. The state of Michigan uses index flow estimates to help regulate large (greater than 100,000 gallons per day) water withdrawals to prevent adverse effects on characteristic fish populations. At...
Simulated effects of allocated and projected 2025 withdrawals from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system, Gloucester and Northeastern Salem Counties, New Jersey
Emmanuel G. Charles, John P. Nawyn, Lois M. Voronin, Alison D. Gordon
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5033
Withdrawals from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system in New Jersey, which includes the Upper, Middle, and Lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers, are the principal source of groundwater supply in northern Gloucester and northeastern Salem Counties in the New Jersey Coastal Plain. Water levels in these aquifers have declined in response to pumping. With...
Tillage practices in the conterminous United States, 1989-2004: Datasets aggregated by watershed
Nancy T. Baker
2011, Data Series 573
This report documents the methods used to aggregate county-level tillage practices to the 8-digit hydrologic unit (HU) watershed. The original county-level data were collected by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC). The CTIC collects tillage data by conducting surveys about tillage systems for all counties in the United States. Tillage...
Regional skew for California, and flood frequency for selected sites in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin, based on data through water year 2006
Charles Parrett, Andrea Veilleux, J.R. Stedinger, N.A. Barth, Donna L. Knifong, J.C. Ferris
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5260
Improved flood-frequency information is important throughout California in general and in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin in particular, because of an extensive network of flood-control levees and the risk of catastrophic flooding. A key first step in updating flood-frequency information is determining regional skew. A Bayesian generalized least squares (GLS)...
Endocrine active chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals of concern in surface water, wastewater-treatment plant effluent, and bed sediment, and biological characteristics in selected streams, Minnesota: Design, methods, and data, 2009
Kathy Lee, Susan K. Langer, Larry B. Barber, Jeff H. Writer, Mark L. Ferrey, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Edward T. Furlong, William T. Foreman, James L. Gray, Rhiannon C. ReVello, Dalma Martinovic, Olivia R. Woodruff, Steffanie H. Keefe, Greg K. Brown, Howard E. Taylor, Imma Ferrer, E. Michael Thurman
2011, Data Series 575
This report presents the study design, environmental data, and quality-assurance data for an integrated chemical and biological study of selected streams or lakes that receive wastewater-treatment plant effluent in Minnesota. This study was a cooperative effort of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Cloud State University,...
Distribution of trace metals at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Berks and Chester Counties, Pennsylvania
Ronald A. Sloto, Andrew G. Reif
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5014
Hopewell Furnace, located approximately 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, was a cold-blast, charcoal iron furnace that operated for 113 years (1771 to 1883). The purpose of this study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, was to determine the distribution of trace metals released to...
Sediment samples and channel-geometry data, lower Platte River watershed, Nebraska, 2010
Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Jason S. Alexander
2011, Data Series 572
The relation between channel width and stream physical habitat in the lower Platte River in eastern Nebraska was studied as part of the lower Platte River Cumulative Impact Study. The purpose of this component was to document the grain-size distribution of sediment deposited as specific types of physical features, such...
cloudPEST - A python module for cloud-computing deployment of PEST, a program for parameter estimation
Michael N. Fienen, Thomas C. Kunicki, Daniel E. Kester
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1062
This report documents cloudPEST-a Python module with functions to facilitate deployment of the model-independent parameter estimation code PEST on a cloud-computing environment. cloudPEST makes use of low-level, freely available command-line tools that interface with the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2(TradeMark)) that are unlikely to change dramatically. This report describes the...
Limnological and water-quality data from Wonder Lake, Chilchukabena Lake, and Lake Minchumina, Denali National Park and Preserve and surrounding area, Alaska, June 2006-August 2008
D.A. Long, C.D. Arp
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1322
Growing visitor traffic and resource use, as well as natural and anthropogenic land and climatic changes, can place increasing stress on lake ecosystems in Denali National Park and Preserve. Baseline data required to substantiate impact assessment in this sub-arctic region is sparse to non-existent. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation...
Well installation, single-well testing, and particle-size analysis for selected sites in and near the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin, north-central Colorado, 2003-2004
Jennifer A. Beck, Suzanne S. Paschke, L. Rick Arnold
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1024
This report describes results from a groundwater data-collection program completed in 2003-2004 by the U.S. Geological Survey in support of the South Platte Decision Support System and in cooperation with the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Two monitoring wells were installed adjacent to existing water-table monitoring wells. These wells were installed...
Investigating the complex interface where bedrock transforms to regolith
S. L. Brantley, Heather L. Buss, M. Lebedeva, R. C. Fletcher, I. Ma
2011, Applied Geochemistry (26) S12-S15
The interface where bedrock transforms to regolith is not planar but rather has a roughness that varies with the scale of observation. The complexity of this surface is manifested in both element-depth and fragment size-depth distributions and may sometimes be related to the longitudinal profiles of watershed streams. The fractal...
