Drivers of variability in public‐supply water use across the contiguous United States
Scott C. Worland, Scott Steinschneider, George M. Hornberger
2018, Water Resources Research (54) 1868-1889
This study explores the relationship between municipal water use and an array of climate, economic, behavioral, and policy variables across the contiguous U.S. The relationship is explored using Bayesian‐hierarchical regression models for over 2,500 counties, 18 covariates, and three higher‐level grouping variables. Additionally, a second analysis is included for 83...
Effects of the proposed California WaterFix North Delta Diversion on flow reversals and entrainment of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) into Georgiana Slough and the Delta Cross Channel, northern California
Russell W. Perry, Jason G. Romine, Adam C. Pope, Scott D. Evans
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1028
The California Department of Water Resources and Bureau of Reclamation propose new water intake facilities on the Sacramento River in northern California that would convey some of the water for export to areas south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (hereinafter referred to as the Delta) through tunnels rather...
Flood-inundation maps for the Patoka River in and near Jasper, southwestern Indiana
Kathleen K. Fowler
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5138
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 9.5-mile reach of the Patoka River in and near the city of Jasper, southwestern Indiana (Ind.), from the streamgage near County Road North 175 East, downstream to State Road 162, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Department of...
Data quality from a community-based, water-quality monitoring project in the Yukon River basin
Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Ronald C. Antweiler, Nicole J. Wilson, Edda A. Mutter, Ryan C. Toohey, Paul F. Schuster
2018, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice (3) 1-13
This paper examines the quality of data collected by the Indigenous Observation Network, a community-based water-quality project in the Yukon River Basin of Alaska and Canada. The Indigenous Observation Network relies on community technicians to collect surface-water samples from as many as fifty locations to achieve their goals of monitoring...
Groundwater levels, geochemistry, and water budget of the Tsala Apopka Lake system, west-central Florida, 2004–12
W. Scott McBride, Patricia A. Metz, Patrick J. Ryan, Mark Fulkerson, Harry C. Downing
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5132
Tsala Apopka Lake is a complex system of lakes and wetlands, with intervening uplands, located in Citrus County in west-central Florida. It is located within the 2,100 square mile watershed of the Withlacoochee River, which drains north and northwest towards the Gulf of Mexico. The lake system is managed by...
Groundwater model of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system version 3.0: Incorporating revisions in southwestern Utah and east central Nevada
Lynette E. Brooks
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5072
The groundwater model described in this report is a new version of previously published steady-state numerical groundwater flow models of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system, and was developed in conjunction with U.S. Geological Survey studies in Parowan, Pine, and Wah Wah Valleys, Utah....
LAGOS-NE: a multi-scaled geospatial and temporal database of lake ecological context and water quality for thousands of US lakes
Patricia A. Soranno, Linda C. Bacon, Michael Beauchene, Karen E. Bednar, Edward G. Bissell, Claire K. Boudreau, Marvin G. Boyer, Mary T. Bremigan, Stephen R. Carpenter, Jamie W. Carr, Kendra S. Cheruvelil, Samuel T. Christel, Matt Claucherty, Sarah M. Collins, Joseph D. Conroy, John A. Downing, Jed Dukett, C. Emi Fergus, Christopher T. Filstrup, Clara Funk, Maria J. Gonzalez, Linda T. Green, Corinna Gries, John D. Halfman, Stephen K. Hamilton, Paul C. Hanson, Emily N. Henry, Elizabeth M. Herron, Celeste Hockings, James R. Jackson, Kari Jacobson-Hedin, Lorraine L. Janus, William W. Jones, John R. Jones, Caroline M. Keson, Katelyn B.S. King, Scott A. Kishbaugh, Jean-Francois Lapierre, Barbara Lathrop, Jo A. Latimore, Yuehlin Lee, Noah R. Lottig, Jason A. Lynch, Leslie J. Matthews, William H. McDowell, Karen E.B. Moore, Brian Neff, Sarah J. Nelson, Samantha K. Oliver, Michael L. Pace, Donald C. Pierson, Autumn C. Poisson, Amina I. Pollard, David M. Post, Paul O. Reyes, Donald Rosenberry, Karen M. Roy, Lars G. Rudstam, Orlando Sarnelle, Nancy J. Schuldt, Caren E. Scott, Nicholas K. Skaff, Nicole J. Smith, Nick R. Spinelli, Joseph J. Stachelek, Emily H. Stanley, John L. Stoddard, Scott B. Stopyak, Craig A. Stow, Jason M. Tallant, Pang-Ning Tan, Anthony P. Thorpe, Michael J. Vanni, Tyler Wagner, Gretchen Watkins, Kathleen C. Weathers, Katherine E. Webster, Jeffrey D. White, Marcy K. Wilmes, Shuai Yuan
2017, GigaScience (6) 1-22
Understanding the factors that affect water quality and the ecological services provided by freshwater ecosystems is an urgent global environmental issue. Predicting how water quality will respond to global changes not only requires water quality data, but also information about the ecological context of individual water bodies across broad spatial...
Bias correction of bounded location errors in presence-only data
Trevor J. Hefley, Brian M. Brost, Mevin Hooten
2017, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (8) 1566-1573
Location error occurs when the true location is different than the reported location. Because habitat characteristics at the true location may be different than those at the reported location, ignoring location error may lead to unreliable inference concerning species–habitat relationships.We explain how a transformation known in the...
3D ground‐motion simulations of Mw 7 earthquakes on the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch fault zone: Variability of long‐period (T≥1 s) ground motions and sensitivity to kinematic rupture parameters
Morgan P. Moschetti, Stephen H. Hartzell, Leonardo Ramirez-Guzman, Arthur D. Frankel, Stephen J. Angster, William J. Stephenson
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1704-1723
We examine the variability of long‐period (T≥1 s) earthquake ground motions from 3D simulations of Mw 7 earthquakes on the Salt Lake City segment of the Wasatch fault zone, Utah, from a set of 96 rupture models with varying slip distributions, rupture speeds, slip velocities, and hypocenter locations. Earthquake ruptures were prescribed on...
Description of chronostratigraphic units preserved as channel deposits and geomorphic processes following a basin-scale disturbance by a wildfire in Colorado
John A. Moody, Deborah A. Martin
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1090
The consequence of a 1996 wildfire disturbance and a subsequent high-intensity summer convective rain storm (about 110 millimeters per hour) was the deposition of a sediment superslug in the Spring Creek basin (26.8 square kilometers) of the Front Range Mountains in Colorado. Spring Creek is a tributary to the South...
Assessment of adult pallid sturgeon fish condition, Lower Missouri River—Application of new information to the Missouri River Recovery Program
Michael T. Randall, Michael E. Colvin, Kirk D. Steffensen, Timothy L. Welker, Landon L. Pierce, Robert B. Jacobson
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1121
During spring 2015, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) biologists noted that pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) were in poor condition during sampling associated with the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Project and NGPC’s annual pallid sturgeon broodstock collection effort. These observations prompted concerns that reduced fish condition could compromise reproductive health...
3-D simulations of M9 earthquakes on the Cascadia Megathrust: Key parameters and uncertainty
Erin Wirth, Arthur D. Frankel, John Vidale, Nasser A. Marafi, William J. Stephenson
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 11th National Conference in Earthquake Engineering
Geologic and historical records indicate that the Cascadia subduction zone is capable of generating large, megathrust earthquakes up to magnitude 9. The last great Cascadia earthquake occurred in 1700, and thus there is no direct measure on the intensity of ground shaking or specific rupture parameters from seismic recordings. We...
Water-level trends and potentiometric surfaces in the Nacatoch Aquifer in northeastern and southwestern Arkansas and in the Tokio Aquifer in southwestern Arkansas, 2014–15
Kirk D. Rodgers
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5090
The Nacatoch Sand in northeastern and southwestern Arkansas and the Tokio Formation in southwestern Arkansas are sources of groundwater for agricultural, domestic, industrial, and public use. Water-level altitudes measured in 51 wells completed in the Nacatoch Sand and 42 wells completed in the Tokio Formation during 2014 and 2015 were used...
Morphologic evolution of the wilderness area breach at Fire Island, New York—2012–15
Cheryl J. Hapke, Timothy R. Nelson, Rachel E. Henderson, Owen T. Brenner, Jennifer L. Miselis
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1116
IntroductionHurricane Sandy, which made landfall on October 29, 2012, near Atlantic City, New Jersey, had a significant impact on the coastal system along the south shore of Long Island, New York. A record significant wave height of 9.6 meters (m) was measured at wave buoy 44025, approximately 48...
USA National Phenology Network’s volunteer-contributed observations yield predictive models of phenological transitions
Theresa M. Crimmins, Michael A. Crimmins, Katherine L. Gerst, Alyssa H. Rosemartin, Jake Weltzin
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-17
In support of science and society, the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) maintains a rapidly growing, continental-scale, species-rich dataset of plant and animal phenology observations that with over 10 million records is the largest such database in the United States. Contributed voluntarily by professional and citizen scientists, these opportunistically collected...
Characterization of water quality and suspended sediment during cold-season flows, warm-season flows, and stormflows in the Fountain and Monument Creek watersheds, Colorado, 2007–2015
Lisa D. Miller, Stogner
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5084
From 2007 through 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Colorado Springs City Engineering, conducted a study in the Fountain and Monument Creek watersheds, Colorado, to characterize surface-water quality and suspended-sediment conditions for three different streamflow regimes with an emphasis on characterizing water quality during storm runoff. Data collected...
Maintenance of influenza A viruses and antibody response in mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) sampled during the non-breeding season in Alaska
Timothy J. Spivey, Mark S. Lindberg, Brandt W. Meixell, Kyle R. Smith, Wendy Blay Puryear, Kimberly R. Davis, Jonathan A. Runstadler, David E. Stallknecht, Andrew M. Ramey
2017, PLoS ONE (12)
Prevalence of influenza A virus (IAV) infections in northern-breeding waterfowl has previously been reported to reach an annual peak during late summer or autumn; however, little is known about IAV infection dynamics in waterfowl populations persisting at high-latitude regions such as Alaska, during winter. We captured mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) throughout...
Water-level altitudes 2017 and water-level changes in the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper Aquifers and compaction 1973–2016 in the Chicot and Evangeline Aquifers, Houston-Galveston region, Texas
Mark C. Kasmarek, Jason K. Ramage
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5080
Most of the land-surface subsidence in the Houston-Galveston region, Texas, has occurred as a direct result of groundwater withdrawals for municipal supply, commercial and industrial use, and irrigation that depressured and dewatered the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, thereby causing compaction of the aquifer sediments, mostly in the fine-grained silt and...
Detecting temporal change in land-surface altitude using robotic land-surveying techniques and geographic information system applications at an earthen dam site in Southern Westchester County, New York
Michael L. Noll, Anthony Chu
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1028
In 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative study with New York City Department of Environmental Protection to characterize the local groundwater-flow system and identify potential sources of seeps on the southern embankment at the Hillview Reservoir in southern Westchester County, New York. Monthly site inspections at the reservoir...
Field-trip guide to Columbia River flood basalts, associated rhyolites, and diverse post-plume volcanism in eastern Oregon
Mark L. Ferns, Martin J. Streck, Jason D. McClaughry
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-O
The Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) is the youngest and best preserved continental flood basalt province on Earth, linked in space and time with a compositionally diverse succession of volcanic rocks that partially record the apparent emergence and passage of the Yellowstone plume head through eastern Oregon during...
Compilation of geospatial data for the mineral industries and related infrastructure of Latin America and the Caribbean
Michael S. Baker, Spencer D. Buteyn, Philip A. Freeman, Michael H. Trippi, Loyd M. Trimmer III
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1079
This report describes the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) ongoing commitment to its mission of understanding the nature and distribution of global mineral commodity supply chains by updating and publishing the georeferenced locations of mineral commodity production and processing facilities, mineral exploration and development sites, and mineral commodity exporting ports in...
Geophysics- and geochemistry-based assessment of the geochemical characteristics and groundwater-flow system of the U.S. part of the Mesilla Basin/Conejos-Médanos aquifer system in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas, 2010–12
Andrew P. Teeple
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5028
One of the largest rechargeable groundwater systems by total available volume in the Rio Grande/Río Bravo Basin (hereinafter referred to as the “Rio Grande”) region of the United States and Mexico, the Mesilla Basin/Conejos-Médanos aquifer system, supplies water for irrigation as well as for cities of El Paso, Texas; Las...
Hydrologic characterization of Bushy Park Reservoir, South Carolina, 2013–15
Paul Conrads, Matthew D. Petkewich, W. Fred Falls, Timothy H. Lanier
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5050
The Bushy Park Reservoir is a relatively shallow impoundment in a semi-tropical climate and is the principal water supply for the 400,000 people of the city of Charleston, South Carolina, and the surrounding areas including the Bushy Park Industrial Complex. Although there is an adequate supply of freshwater in the...
Magnetic monitoring in Saguaro National Park
Jeffrey J. Love, Carol Finn, Yesenia C. Gamez Valdez, Don Swann
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3035
On a sandy, arid plain, near the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center of Saguaro National Park, tucked in among brittlebush, creosote, and other hardy desert plants, is an unusual type of observatory—a small unmanned station that is used for monitoring the Earth’s variable magnetic field. Named for the nearby city of...
Doubling of coastal flooding frequency within decades due to sea-level rise
Sean Vitousek, Patrick L. Barnard, Charles H. Fletcher, Neil Frazer, Li H. Erikson, Curt D. Storlazzi
2017, Scientific Reports (7) 1-9
Global climate change drives sea-level rise, increasing the frequency of coastal flooding. In most coastal regions, the amount of sea-level rise occurring over years to decades is significantly smaller than normal ocean-level fluctuations caused by tides, waves, and storm surge. However, even gradual sea-level rise can rapidly increase the frequency...
