Differing field methods and site conditions lead to varying bias in suspended sediment concentrations in the Lower Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers
Jennifer C. Murphy, Lindsey Ayn Schafer, Scott Mize
2023, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (195)
At sites that have been sampled for decades, changes in field and laboratory methods happen over time as instrumentation and protocols improve. Here, we compare the influence of depth- and point-integrated sampling on total, fine (< 0.0625 mm), and coarse (≥ 0.0625 mm) suspended sediment (SS) concentrations in the Lower...
Mangrove habitat persistence and carbon vulnerability associated with increased nutrient loading and sea-level rise at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge (Sanibel Island, Florida, USA)
Ken Krauss, Jeremy R. Conrad, Jamie A. Duberstein, Eric Ward, Judith Z. Drexler, Kevin Buffington, Karen M. Thorne, Brian W. Benscoter, Haley Miller, Natalie T. Faron, Sergio Merino, Andrew From, Elitsa I. Peneva-Reed, Zhiliang Zhu
2023, Report
J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge (DDNWR) is located on Sanibel Island along the southwestern coast of Florida, USA. Sanibel Island is heavily developed, but DDNWR provides protection for a large mangrove area that supports biodiversity and recreational opportunity. However, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) eutrophication attributed to agriculture discharge...
Lake Ontario April prey fish survey results and Alewife assessment, 2023
Brian Weidel, Jessica Goretzke, Jeremy Holden, Olivia Margaret Mitchinson, Scott P. Minihkeim
2023, Report
The April bottom trawl survey and Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus population assessment provides science to inform Lake Ontario fisheries management. The 2023 survey included 215 trawls in the main lake and embayments, and sampled depths from 6.5 to 252 m (21-833 ft). The survey captured 1,012,178 fish from 32 species with...
Stable isotope constraints on the source of ore fluids for the Hicks Dome REE+Y-HFSE-fluorspar deposit
Julia A. McIntosh, Craig A. Johnson, Allen K. Andersen, Albert H. Hofstra
2023, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 17th SGA biennial meeting
Hicks Dome is comprised of coarse crystalline Mississippi Valley Type deposits at shallow levels and an enigmatic, fine-grained fluorite, rare earth elements, Y, high field strength elements, Be, and Ba rich deposit at deeper levels. Phyllosilicates from a lamprophyre dike and a breccia from two Hicks Dome drill cores were...
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in Oregon
Kurt D. Carpenter, Chauncey W. Anderson, Daniel Sobota
2023, Book chapter, Oregon encyclopedia
No abstract available....
A general approach for evaluating of the coverage, resolution, and representation of streamflow monitoring networks
Christopher Konrad, Scott W. Anderson
2023, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (195)
Streamflow monitoring networks provide information for a wide range of public interests in river and streams. A general approach to evaluate monitoring for different interests is developed to support network planning and design. The approach defines three theoretically distinct information metrics (coverage, resolution, and representation) based...
Contaminant risks in consuming fish from the Area of Concern in the Upper Niagara River
Barry P. Baldigo, Patrick J. Phillips, Scott D. George, Mark Filipski
2023, Journal of Great Lakes Research (49) 1086-1101
The lack of contemporary data on contaminants in resident fish prevents an analysis of temporal trends in contaminant concentrations and the present-day status of the “Restrictions on Fish and Wildlife Consumption” Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) in the Niagara River Area of...
Characterizing changes in the 1-percent annual exceedance probability streamflows for climate-change scenarios in the Housatonic River watershed of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York
Scott A. Olson
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5090
Current methods for determining the 1-percent annual exceedance probability (AEP) for a streamflow assume stationarity (the assumption that the statistical distribution of data from past observations does not contain trends and will continue unchanged in the future). This assumption allows the 1-percent AEP to be determined based on historical streamflow...
Monitoring nesting waterbirds for the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project—2022 breeding season
Joshua T. Ackerman, C. Alex Hartman, Mark P. Herzog
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1067
The San Francisco Bay supports thousands of breeding waterbirds annually and hosts large populations of American avocets (Recurvirostra americana), black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus), and Forster’s terns (Sterna forsteri). These three species have relied largely on former commercial salt ponds in South San Francisco Bay, which provide wetland foraging habitat and...
Assessing the effects of chloride deicer applications on groundwater near the Siskiyou Pass, southwestern Oregon, July 2018–February 2021
Stephen B. Gingerich, Daniel R. Wise, Adam J. Stonewall
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5107
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), evaluated the effects of cold-weather chloride deicers (road deicing chemicals) on groundwater quality, with a focus on chloride, near the Siskiyou Pass in southwestern Oregon. The study covered the period during July 2018 through February 2021. Between...
Identifying the relative importance of water-budget information needed to quantify how land-cover change affects recharge, Hawaiian Islands
Adam G. Johnson, Alan Mair, Delwyn S. Oki
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5022
This report describes a sensitivity analysis of a water-budget model that was completed to identify the most important types of hydrologic information needed to reduce the uncertainty of model recharge estimates. The sensitivity of model recharge estimates for the Hawaiian Islands of Oʻahu and Maui was analyzed for seven model...
Groundwater-flow model of the Treasure Valley, southwestern Idaho, 1986–2015
Stephen A. Hundt, James R. Bartolino
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5096
Most of the population of the Treasure Valley and the surrounding area of southwestern Idaho and easternmost Oregon depends on groundwater for domestic supply, either from domestic or municipal-supply wells. Current and projected rapid population growth in the area has caused concern about the long-term sustainability of the groundwater resource....
Potentiometric surfaces (2013, 2015), groundwater quality (2010–15), and water-level changes (2011–13, 2013–15) in the Sparta-Memphis aquifer in Arkansas
Anna M. Nottmeier, Katherine J. Knierim, Phillip D. Hays
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5103
The Sparta-Memphis aquifer, present across much of eastern Arkansas, is the second most used groundwater resource in the State, with the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer being the primary groundwater resource. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Arkansas Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Division, Arkansas Geological Survey, Natural Resources Conservation...
Silver carp herding: A telemetry evaluation of efficacy and implications for design and application
Josey Lee Ridgway, Matthew Ross Acre, Tyler Michael Hessler, Dustin Broaddus, Jessica Morris, Robin D. Calfee
2023, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (43) 1750-1764
Removal of invasive Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix is a primary control action in North America. Strong avoidance responses to underwater sound and electricity have been shown to facilitate herding and mass removal of these fish. We conducted a telemetry study on a closed population of Silver Carp (i.e., 10 telemetered fish) to...
Groundwater potentiometric-surface altitude in 2022 and groundwater-level changes between 1968, 1991, and 2022, in the alluvial aquifer in the Big Lost River Valley, south-central Idaho
Scott D. Ducar, Lauren M. Zinsser
2023, Scientific Investigations Map 3509
The U.S. Geological Survey and the Idaho Department of Water Resources measured groundwater levels during spring 2022 and autumn 2022 to create detailed potentiometric-surface maps for the alluvial aquifer in the Big Lost River Valley in south-central Idaho. Wells were assigned to shallow, intermediate, and deep water-bearing units based on...
Flood-inundation maps created using a synthetic rating curve for a 10-mile reach of the Sabinal River and a 7-mile reach of the West Sabinal River near Utopia, Texas, 2021
Namjeong Choi
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5001
In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District and the Texas Water Development Board, studied floods to produce a library of flood-inundation maps for the Sabinal River near Utopia, Texas. Digital flood-inundation maps were created for a 10-mile reach of...
Long-term water-quality constituent trends in the Little Arkansas River, south-central Kansas, 1995–2021
Mandy L. Stone, Brian J. Klager
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5102
The Equus Beds aquifer and Cheney Reservoir are primary sources for the city of Wichita’s current (2023) water supply. The Equus Beds aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) project was developed by the city of Wichita in the early 1990s to meet future water demands using the Little Arkansas River as...
Informing ASR treatment practices in a Florida aquifer through a human health risk approach
Anna Gitter, Kristina Mean, John T. Lisle
2023, International Journal of Enviornmental Research and Public Health (20)
Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) can augment water supplies and hydrologic flows under varying climatic conditions. However, imposing drinking water regulations on ASR practices, including pre-treatment before injection into the aquifer, remains arguable. Microbial inactivation data—Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, poliovirus type 1 and Cryptosporidium parvum—were used in a...
Crop water use dynamics over arid and semi-arid croplands in the lower Colorado River Basin
Neda Abbasi, Hamideh Nouri, Pamela L. Nagler, Kamel Didan, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Christian Opp, Stefan Siebert
2023, European Journal of Remote Sensing (56)
Numerous studies have evaluated the application of Remote Sensing (RS) techniques for mapping actual evapotranspiration (ETa) using Vegetation-Index-based (VI-based) and surface energy balance methods (SEB). SEB models computationally require a large effort for application. VI-based methods are fast and easy to apply and could therefore potentially be applied...
Population dynamics of the threatened Oregon spotted frog before and after drought mitigation
Jennifer Rowe, Christopher Pearl, Adam Duarte, Brome McCreary, Michael J. Adams
2023, The Journal of Wildlife Management (88)
Amphibians are among the most sensitive taxa to climate change, and species inhabiting arid and semiarid landscapes at the extremes of their range are especially vulnerable to drought. The Jack Creek, Oregon, USA, population of Oregon spotted frogs (Rana pretiosa) faces unique challenges because...
Salinity trends in a groundwater system supplemented by 50 years of imported Colorado River water
Jennifer S. Harkness, Patrick Michael McCarthy, Bryant C. Jurgens, Zeno F. Levy
2023, Environmental Science & Technology Water (3) 3253-3264
The Indio subbasin of the Coachella Valley is a desert area of southern California where a growing population depends primarily on groundwater for drinking and agricultural uses. The aquifer system has been supplemented with Colorado River water through managed recharge and widespread irrigation since the mid-20th century. We use a...
Spatial distribution of elevation change monitoring in coastal wetlands across protected lands of the lower 48 United States
Justine Annaliese Neville, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
2023, Fact Sheet 2023-3039
IntroductionTidally influenced coastal wetlands, both saline and fresh, appear where terrestrial and marine environments meet and are considered important ecosystems for identifying the impacts of climate change. Coastal wetlands provide valuable benefits to society and the environment in the form of flood protection, water-quality improvements, and shoreline erosion reduction, making...
Geology, hydrology, and groundwater contamination in the vicinity of Central Chemical facility, Hagerstown, Maryland
Trevor P. Needham, Alex R. Fiore, Scott W. Ator, Jeff P. Raffensperger, Madison B. Smith, Nicole M. Bellmyer, Caitlyn M. Dugan, Carol J. Morel
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5011
The soil and groundwater at the Central Chemical facility, Hagerstown, Maryland, are contaminated due to the blending and production of pesticides and fertilizers during much of the 20th century. Remedial investigations focus on two operable units (OU) consisting of the surface soils and waste disposal lagoon (OU-1) and the groundwater...
Statewide sampling to determine spatial distribution, prevalence, and occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Illinois community water supplies, 2020–21
Amy M. Gahala, Jennifer B. Sharpe, Andrew M. Williams
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5078
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic chemicals that have been manufactured and used globally since the 1940s. PFAS are used for their oil- and water-repellent properties, ability to reduce friction, and their flame-retardant nature. PFAS are widely used in a variety of products, including clothing, carpet,...
Responses of juvenile mussels to metals in sediment and water of the Tri-State Mining District
John M. Besser, Chris D. Ivey, James L. Kunz, Nile E. Kemble, Danielle M. Cleveland, Jeffery A. Steevens, Heidi Dunn, Ryan Foley
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1024
The U.S. Geological Survey and collaborators from EcoAnalysts, Inc., completed field and laboratory studies during 2016–19 to evaluate the toxicity of metals to freshwater mussels in streams draining the Tri-State Mining District. This project consisted of (1) sampling and analysis of metals in water and sediment, (2) surveys of mussel...
