Assessing the accuracy of OpenET satellite-based evapotranspiration data to support water resource and land management applications
J. M. Volk, Justin Huntington, Forrest Melton, Richard M. Allen, Martha Anderson, Joshua Fisher, Ayse Kilic, Anderson Ruhoff, Gabriel B. Senay, Blake Minor, Charles Morton, Thomas Ott, Lee Johnson, Bruno Comini de Andrade, Will Carrarra, Conor Doherty, Christian Dunkerly, MacKenzie Friedrichs, Alberto Guzman, Christopher Hain, Gregory Halverson, Yanghui Kang, Kyle Knipper, Leonardo Laipelt, Samuel Ortega-Salazar, Christopher Pearson, Gabriel Edwin Lee Parrish, A.J. Purdy, Peter M. ReVelle, Tianxin Wang, Yun Yang
2024, Nature Water (2) 193-205
Remotely sensed evapotranspiration (ET) data offer strong potential to support data-driven approaches for sustainable water management. However, practitioners require robust and rigorous accuracy assessments of such data. The OpenET system, which includes an ensemble of six remote sensing models, was developed to increase access to field-scale...
Shoreline slope influences movements of larval lampreys over dewatered substrate
Theresa L. Liedtke, Julianne E. Harris, Ann E. Gray
2024, Aquaculture, Fish and Fisheries (4) 1-14
Larval lampreys are filter feeders that live for several years burrowed in fine sediments in freshwater streams. Stream side channels and edges, where larval lampreys gather, are vulnerable to natural and human-caused dewatering. Water level reductions can strand and kill thousands of larval lampreys,...
Saltwater intrusion and sea level rise threatens U.S. rural coastal landscapes and communities
Kiera O’Donnell, Emily S. Bernhardt, Xi Yang, Ryan Emanuel, Marcelo Ardon, Manuel Lerdau, Alex Manda, Anna Braswell, Todd BenDor, Eric Edwards, Elizabeth Frankenberg, Ashley Helton, John Kominoski, Amy Lesen, Lindsay Naylor, Gregory E. Noe, Kate Tully, Elliott White, Justin Wright
2024, Anthropocene (45)
The United States (U.S.) coastal plain is subject to rising sea levels, land subsidence, more severe coastal storms, and more intense droughts. These changes lead to inputs of marine salts into freshwater-dependent coastal systems, creating saltwater intrusion. The penetration of salinity...
Assessment of managed aquifer recharge at Sand Hollow Reservoir, Washington County, Utah, updated to conditions through 2018
Thomas M. Marston
2024, Open-File Report 2022-1089
Sand Hollow Reservoir in Washington County, Utah, was completed in March 2002 and is operated primarily for managed aquifer recharge by the Washington County Water Conservancy District. Sand Hollow Reservoir has remained nearly full since 2006 because of surface-water diversions of about 288,000 acre-feet (acre-ft) from 2002 through 2018. Groundwater...
Accelerating elevation gain indicates land loss associated with erosion in Mississippi River Deltaic Plain tidal wetlands
Camille Stagg, Leigh Anne Sharp, Emily N. Fromenthal, Brady Couvillion, Victoria Woltz, Sarai Piazza
2024, Estuaries and Coasts (47) 2106-2118
In recent years, the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain (MRDP) has experienced the highest rates of wetland loss in the USA. Although the process of vertical drowning has been heavily studied in coastal wetlands, less is known about the relationship between elevation change and land loss in...
Comparing single and multiple objective constrained optimization algorithms for tuning a groundwater remediation system
Michael N. Fienen, Nicholas Corson-Dosch, Kalle Jahn, Jeremy T. White
2024, Environmental Modelling & Software (173)
Groundwater flow and particle tracking models are critical tools to simulate the natural system, contaminant fate and transport, and effects of remediation. Constrained optimization uses models to systematically explore the interplay between remedial design and contaminant fate, considering uncertainty. Sequential Linear Programming (SLP) provides a design alternative addressing a single goal (e.g. maximum...
Mapping riparian vegetation response to climate change on the San Carlos Apache Reservation and Upper Gila River watershed to inform restoration priorities: 1935 to Present
Roy E. Petrakis, Laura M. Norman, Victoria Wesley
2024, Report
The riparian vegetation within the San Carlos Apache Reservation (hereafter Reservation), within the Upper Gila River watershed extending from southwestern New Mexico into southeastern Arizona, provides immense ecological and cultural value to the people of the San Carlos Apache Tribe (hereafter referred to as the Tribe/Tribal) but has experienced substantial...
Flash drought: A state of the science review
Jordan Christian, Mike Hobbins, Andrew Hoell, Jason Otkin, Trenton W. Ford, Amanda E. Cravens, Kathryn Powlen, Hailan Wang, Vimal Mishra
2024, WIREs Water (11)
In the two decades, since the advent of the term “flash drought,” considerable research has been directed toward the topic. Within the scientific community, we have actively forged a new paradigm that has avoided a chaotic evolution of conventional drought but instead recognizes that flash droughts have distinct dynamics and,...
Machine learning approaches to identify lithium concentration in petroleum produced waters
Emil Attanasi, Timothy Coburn, Philip A. Freeman
2024, Mineral Economics (37) 477-497
Prices for battery-grade lithium have increased substantially since 2020, which is propelling the search for additional sources of this important element. Battery-grade lithium is predominately recovered from continental brines. Most crude oil and natural gas wells recover briny formation water, which may represent an additional source. Chemical analysis of these...
Streamflow characterization and hydromodification, Indian and Kill Creek Basins, Johnson County, Kansas, 1985–2018
Teresa J. Rasmussen, Kyle E. Juracek, Patrick J. Eslick, Ken Eng, Lee J. Kellenberger
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5063
Urban stream restoration requires a quantitative understanding of hydromodification to provide a scientific basis for establishing, prioritizing, and monitoring stream quality improvement goals. A study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Johnson County Urban stream restoration benefits from a quantitative understanding of hydromodification to provide a scientific...
Naegleria fowleri detected in Grand Teton National Park hot springs
Elliott P. Barnhart, Stacy Kinsey, Peter R. Wright, Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Vince Hill, Amy Kahler, Mia Mattioli, Robert S. Cornman, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Zachary Eddy, Sandra Halonen, Rebecca C. Mueller, Brent Peyton, Geoffrey Puzon
2024, ACS ES&T Water (4) 628-637
The free-living thermophilic amoeba Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri) causes the highly fatal disease primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. The environmental conditions that are favorable to the growth and proliferation of N. fowleri are not well-defined, especially in northern regions of the United States. In this study, we used culture-based methods and multiple molecular approaches to detect...
Can the planetary health concept save freshwater biodiversity and ecosystems?
Steven J. Cooke, Abigail Lynch, David Tickner, Robin Abell, Tatenda Dalu, Kathryn J. Fiorella, Rajeev Raghavan, Ian J. Harrison, Sonja C. Jahnig, Derek Vollmer, Steve Carpenter
2024, Lancet Planetary Health (8) e2-e3
People clearly need and benefit from healthy freshwater ecosystems; Given the precarious state of these important systems and services, current efforts to address the freshwater biodiversity crisis remain insufficient. Planetary health is an emerging framework that aims to secure the state of natural systems within environmental limits that ensure humanity...
Widespread chemical dilution of streams continues as long-term effects of acidic deposition slowly reverse
Gregory B. Lawrence, Kevin Alexander Ryan
2024, Environmental Pollution (343)
Studies of recovery from acidic deposition have focused on reversal of acidification and its associated effects, but as recovery proceeds slowly, chemical dilution of surface waters is emerging as a key factor in the recovery process that has significant chemical and biological implications. This...
Planning hydrological restoration of coastal wetlands: Key model considerations and solutions
Alice Twomey, Karinna Nunez, Joel A. Carr, Steve Crooks, Daniel A. Friess, William Glamore, Michelle Orr, Ruth Reef, Kerrylee Rogers, Nathan Waltham, Catherine E. Lovelock
2024, Science of the Total Environment (915)
The hydrological restoration of coastal wetlands is an emerging approach for mitigating and adapting to climate change and enhancing ecosystem services such as improved water quality and biodiversity. This paper synthesises current knowledge on selecting appropriate modelling approaches for hydrological restoration projects. The selection of a modelling approach is based...
Complex landslide patterns explained by local intra-unit variability of stratigraphy and structure: Case study in the Tyee Formation, Oregon, USA
Sean Richard LaHusen, Alex R. Grant
2024, Engineering Geology (329)
Lithology and geologic structure are important controls on landslide susceptibility and are incorporated into many regional landslide hazard models. Typically, metrics for mapped geologic units are used as model input variables and a single set of values for material strength are assumed, regardless of spatial heterogeneities that may exist within...
Using local monitoring results to inform the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Watershed Model
Karl Berger, Katherine C. Filippino, Gary W. Shenk, Normand Goulet, Michael Lookenbill, Douglas L. Moyer, Gregory E. Noe, Aaron J. Porter, James Shallenberger, Bryant Thomas, Guido Yactayo
2024, STAC Workshop Report 24-002
The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Watershed Model (CBWM) has been used as an accounting tool for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). However, some of the fundamental parameters that underpin the watershed model may not represent local watershed characteristics at all scales. Significant investments have been made by...
Major fluvial erosion and a 500-Mt sediment pulse triggered by lava-dam failure, Río Coca, Ecuador
Pedro D. Barrera Crespo, Pablo Espinoza Giron, Renan Bedoya, Stanford Gibson, Amy E. East, Eddy J. Langendoen, Paul M Boyd
2024, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (49) 1058-1080
The failure of a 144-m-high lava-dam waterfall on the Río Coca, Ecuador, in February 2020 initiated a catastrophic watershed reset—regressive erosion upstream and a massive sediment pulse downstream—as the river evolves towards a new equilibrium grade. The evolution of this river corridor after a...
Estimating lithium concentrations in groundwater used as drinking water for the conterminous United States
Melissa A. Lombard, Eric E. Brown, Daniel Saftner, Monica M. Arienzo, Esme Fuller-Thomson, Craig J. Brown, Joseph D. Ayotte
2024, Environmental Science and Technology (58) 1255-1264
Lithium (Li) concentrations in drinking-water supplies are not regulated in the United States; however, Li is included in the 2022 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list of unregulated contaminants for monitoring by public water systems. Li is used pharmaceutically to treat bipolar disorder, and studies have linked its occurrence in drinking...
Drought prediction and water availability: A report on the 2022 USGS-NIDIS National Listening Session Series
Marina Skumanich, Erik Smith, Joel Lisonbee, John C. Hammond
2024, Report
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) conducted a series of four Listening Sessions in 2022 – each with a different application or topical focus – to seek input on priorities and needs related to predicting water availability changes under drought conditions at national...
Broad scale community-level larval fish survey of southern Lake Erie
Robin L. DeBruyne, Zachary A. Amidon, Matthew Joseph Angelosanto, Emily Ann Eberly, Dimitry Gorsky, Stacey Ireland, Christine Mayer, Stacy Provo, Haley VanScoyoc, James M. Watkins, Edward F. Roseman
2024, Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management (27) 97-114
The early-life history stages of fish are sensitive to environmental change and therefore can indicate habitat quality as well as help predict recruitment of resident and transient fishes. In 2019, as part of the Lake Erie Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative, we conducted a lake-wide assessment of the ichthyoplankton community...
Investigating the atmospheric conditions associated with impactful shallow landslides in California (USA)
Nina S. Oakley, Jonathan P. Perkins, Samuel M. Bartlett, Brian D. Collins, Karimah Halona Comstock, Dianne L. Brien, W.P. Burgess, Skye C. Corbett
2024, Earth Interactions (28)
Shallow landslides are often triggered during rainfall events, which can increase subsurface soil water pressure and destabilize hillslopes. The likelihood of regional shallow landslide initiation is often assessed through a comparison of rainfall intensity and duration to pre-established thresholds. While informative for landslide warning, this exclusive focus on rainfall exceeding...
Watershed hydrology assessment for the Lower Colorado River Basin. Appendix D: RiverWare analyses
David Wallace, Kara M. Watson
2024, Report
RiverWare is a river system modeling tool developed by CADSWES (Center of Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems) that allows the user to simulate complex reservoir operations and perform period-of-record analyses for different scenarios. For the InFRM hydrology studies, RiverWare is used to generate a homogeneous regulated POR...
Ecology of Lake Erie - Chemistry, plankton & planktivory: A synthesis
Stuart A. Ludsin, Mohiuddin Munawar, Robin L. DeBruyne, E. Todd Howell, Jeffrey Tyson, James M. Watkins
2024, Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management (27) 116-124
As with other large lake ecosystems worldwide, Lake Erie can be considered a moving target for management, owing to physicochemical and biological changes brought on by anthropogenic change, both planned (e.g. nutrient and fisheries management) and unplanned (e.g. climate change, invasive species, modified land-use activities). These changes have challenged efforts...
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...
Managed wetlands for climate action: Potential greenhouse gas and subsidence mitigation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Lydia Smith Vaughn, Steven J. Deverel, Stephanie Panlasigui, Judith Z. Drexler, Marc A. Olds, Jose T. Diaz, Kendall F. Harris, James Morris, J. Letitia Grenier, April H. Robinson, Donna A. Ball
2024, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (22)
In the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta), widespread drainage of historical wetlands has led to extensive subsidence and peat carbon losses, as well as high ongoing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Large-scale wetland restoration and conversion to rice fields has the potential to mitigate...
