Watershed- and Regional-Scale Contamination

Locations of Toxics Program Watershed- and Regional-Scale Contamination Investigations (Click on map for larger version) The lower end of the Fourmile Creek, IA, study reach where USGS scientists investigated the processes that control the distribution of emerging contaminants in the stream -- from the Distribution and Transport of Emerging Contaminants in Streams Photo Gallery

The Toxics Program conducts watershed- and regional-scale investigations of legacy, current, and emerging contaminants affecting aquatic ecosystems from common types of nonpoint and distributed point-source contamination. More about watershed- and regional-scale contamination investigations

Watershed Contamination from Hard-Rock Mining

Pesticide Contamination in Varied Pesticide-Use Settings

Emerging Contaminants in the Environment

Mercury in Aquatic Ecosystems

Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative

Priority Ecosystem Studies

Complete listing of watershed and regional scale investigations and projects >>

Other Watershed- and Regional-Scale Investigations

• Fate of Organic Compounds in River Systems, Lower Calcasieu River, Louisiana [Completed]
• Management Systems Evaluation Areas, Upper Midwest (Corn Belt) [Completed]
• Nonpoint-Source Ground-Water Contamination in Relation to Land Use [Completed]
• National Irrigation Water Quality Program (NIWQP) [Completed]

Watershed- and Regional-Scale Contamination Information

• Index of Bibliographies from Point-Source Investigations
• Index of Photo Galleries for Watershed- and Regional-Scale Contamination Investigations
• Crosscutting Topics Related to Watershed- and Regional-Scale Contamination
• Agricultural Chemicals — Occurrence and fate of chemicals used for agriculture
• Contaminant Occurrence Studies — Large-scale studies of the occurrence and distribution of new contaminants in the environment
• Nutrients — Fate and effects of nutrients in the environment
• Surface-Water Contaminant Transport — Research on the transport and fate of contaminants in surface water
• Unsaturated Zone — Contaminant transport and fate in the unsaturated zone
• Selected Fact Sheets on Watershed- and Regional-Scale Contamination
• Water quality in the Blue River Basin, Kansas City metropolitan area, Missouri and Kansas, July 1998 to October 2004: USGS Fact Sheet 2006-3103.
• Wastewater chemicals in Colorado's streams and ground water: USGS Fact Sheet 2004-3127.
• Trends in the water budget of the Mississippi River basin, 1949-1997: USGS Fact Sheet 2005-3020.
• Is septic waste affecting drinking water from shallow domestic wells along the Platte River in eastern Nebraska?: USGS Fact Sheet 072-03.
• Linking selenium sources to ecosystems--San Francisco Bay-Delta model: USGS Fact Sheet 2004-3091.
• Water quality of the Boulder Creek watershed, Colorado: USGS Fact Sheet 043-03.
• Mercury in stream ecosystems--New studies initiated by the U.S. Geological Survey: USGS Fact Sheet 016-03.
• Occurrence of antibiotics in water from fish hatcheries: USGS Fact Sheet 120-02.
• Glacial ice cores reveal a record of natural and anthropogenic atmospheric mercury deposition for the last 270 years: USGS Fact Sheet FS-051-02.
• Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams: USGS Fact Sheet FS-027-02.
• Malformed frogs in Minnesota--An update: USGS Fact Sheet FS-043-01.
• Nitrogen in the Mississippi Basin--Estimating sources and predicting flux to the Gulf of Mexico: USGS Fact Sheet 135-00.
• Mercury contamination from historic gold mining in California: USGS Fact Sheet FS-061-00.
• Discharge of herbicides from the Mississippi River Basin to the Gulf of Mexico, 1991-97: USGS Fact Sheet FS-163-98.
• Occurrence of cotton pesticides in surface water of the Mississippi Embayment: USGS Fact Sheet FS-022-98.
• Herbicides in rain fall across the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, 1990-91: USGS Fact Sheet FS-181-97.
• Herbicides in Midwestern reservoir outflows, 1992-93: USGS Fact Sheet FS-134-98.
• Herbicides in ground water of the Midwest--A regional study of shallow aquifers, 1991-94: USGS Fact Sheet FS-076-98.
• A reconnaissance for sulfonylurea herbicides in waters of the Midwestern USA: An example of collaboration between the public and private sectors: USGS Fact Sheet FS-046-98.
• Methods to identify areas susceptible to irrigation-induced selenium contamination in the Western United States: USGS Fact Sheet FS-O38-97.
• Source characterization of disinfection byproduct precursors in two Arkansas water-supply reservoirs: USGS Fact Sheet 118-97.
• Agricultural chemicals in Iowa's ground water, 1982-95 -- What are the trends: USGS Fact Sheet FS-116-97.
• Are walleye from Lake Roosevelt contaminated with mercury?: USGS Fact Sheet FS-102-97.
• Vulnerability of public drinking water supplies in New Jersey to pesticides: USGS Fact Sheet FS-165-96.
• Using Geochemical and Statistical Tools to Identify Irrigated Areas that Might Contain High Selenium Concentrations in Surface Water: USGS Fact Sheet FS-O77-96.
• Mercury Contamination of Aquatic Ecosystems: USGS Fact Sheet FS-216-95.

Meetings and Conferences

• USGS and Montana Tech of the University of Montana co-sponsor the Special Session Diurnal Biogeochemical Processes in Rivers, Lakes, and Shallow Groundwater at the 2009 GSA Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, October 18-21, 2009
• USGS and Colorado State University co-sponsor EmCon2009-2nd International Conference on Occurrence, Fate, Effects, and Analysis of Emerging Contaminants in the Environment, Fort Collins, Colorado, August 4-7, 2009
• USGS co-sponsors workshop on Diurnal (Diel) Cycling of Chemical Constituents in Surface Water and Related Media—Scientific and Regulatory Considerations, Trenton, New Jersey, December 12, 2008
• USGS is co-sponsoring the short course Environmental Fate and Effects of Emerging Contaminants at the SETAC North America 29th Annual Meeting, Tampa, Florida, November 16-20, 2008
• USGS and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are cosponsoring the joint session A Celebration of Soil Science, Solute Transport, and National-Scale Water-Quality Research: In Honor of Jacob Rubin at the 2008 Joint Annual Meeting, Houston, Texas, October 5-9, 2008

New Publications

Upcoming Publications

• Glypohosate and other pesticides in vernal pools and streams in Parks: Battaglin, W.A., Park Science (IN PRESS).
• Hydrodynamic control of phytoplankton loss to the benthos in an estuarine environment: Jones, N.L., Thompson, J.K., Arrigo, K.R., and Monismith, S.G., Limnology and Oceanography (IN PRESS).
• Implications of estuarine transport for water quality: Lucas, L.V., in Valle-Levinson, A., ed., Contemporary Issues in Estuarine Physics, New York, Cambridge University Press (IN PRESS).
• Hydrologic connectivity between landscapes and streams--Transferring reach and plot scale understanding to the catchment scale: Jencso, K.G., McGlynn, B.L., Gooseff, M.N., Wondzell, S.M., Bencala, K.E., and Marshall, L.A., Water Resources Research, doi:10.1029/2008WR007225 (IN PRESS).
• Reactive solute-transport simulation of pre-mining metal concentrations in mine-impacted catchments--Redwell Basin, Colorado, USA: Kimball, B.A., Runkel, R.L., Wanty, R.B., and Verplanck, P.L., Chemical Geology (IN PRESS).
• Application of iron and zinc isotopes to track the sources and mechanisms of metal loading in a mountain watershed: Borrok, D.M., Wanty, R.B., Ridley, W.I., Lamothe, P.J., Kimball, B.A., Verplank, P.L., and Runkel, R.L., Applied Geochemistry (IN PRESS).
• Uptake and retention of atmospheric Hg(II) by boreal forest plants: Graydon, J.A., St. Louis, V., Lindberg, S., Hintelmann, H., and Krabbenhoft, D.P., Environmental Science and Technology (IN PRESS).
• Mercury sources, distribution and bioavailability in the North Pacific Ocean--Insights from data and models: Sunderland, E.M., Krabbenhoft, D.P., Moreau, J.W., Strode, S.A., and Landing, W.M., Global Biogeochemical Cycles, doi:10.1029/2008GB003425 (IN PRESS).
• The use of fluoride as a natural tracer and the relationship to geologic features--Examples from the Animas River Watershed, San Juan Mountains, Colorado: Bove, D.J., Walton-Day, K., and Kimball, B.A., Geochemistry--Exploration, Environment, and Analysis (IN PRESS).
• A comparison of methyl mercury production and distribution in sediments of the Congaree and Edisto River Basins, South Carolina, 2004-2006: Bradley, P.M., Chapelle, F.H., and Journey, C.A., U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5021, 9 p (IN PRESS).
• Interpretation of a transient storage model of stream solute transport applied to overlapping spatial scales: Gooseff, M.N., Briggs, M.A., Bencala, K.E., McGlynn, B.L., and Scott, D.T., Limnology and Oceanography--Methods (IN PRESS).
• Topographic controls on hillslope-riparian-stream water table continuity in a set of nested catchments, Northern Rocky Mountains, Montana: Jencso, K., McGlynn, B., Gooseff , M.N., Bencala, K.E., and Wondzell, S.M., Water Resources Research (IN PRESS).
• One-dimensional transport with equilibrium chemistry (OTEQ)--A reactive transport model for streams and rivers: Runkel, R.L., U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods book 6, chapter B6, 102 p (IN PRESS).
• Metal contamination and post-remediation recovery in the Boulder River watershed, Jefferson County, Montana: Unruh, D.M., Church, S.E., Nimick, D.A., and Fey, D.L., Geochemistry--Exploration, Environment, Analysis (IN PRESS).
• Corbula amurensis: Thompson, J.K., in Invasive Species Compendium, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, CABI (IN PRESS).

Newly Published

• Mercury sources, distribution, and bioavailability in the North Pacific Ocean--Insights from data and models: Sunderland, E.M., Krabbenhoft, D.P., Moreau, J.W., Strode, S.A., and Landing, W.M., 2009, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, v. 23, no. 2, p. 1-14, GB2010, doi:10.1029/2008GB003425.
• The occurrence of antibiotics in an urban watershed--From wastewater to drinking water: Watkinson, A.J., Murby, E.J., Kolpin, D.W., and Costanzo, S.D., 2009, Science of the Total Environment, v. 407, no. 8, p. 2,711-2,723, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.11.059.
• Mercury cycling in stream ecosystems--1. Water column chemistry and transport: Brigham, M.E., Wentz, D.A., Aiken, G.R., and Krabbenhoft, D.P., 2009, Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/es802694n (Advanced Web release).
• Mercury cycling in stream ecosystems--2. Benthic methylmercury production and bed sediment-pore water partitioning: Marvin-DiPasquale, M., Lutz, M.A., Brigham, M.E., Krabbenhoft, D.P., Aiken, G.R., Orem, W.H., and Hall, B.D., 2009, Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/es802698v (Advanced Web release).
• Mercury cycling in stream ecosystems--3. Trophic dynamics and methylmercury bioaccumulation: Chasar, L.C., Scudder, B.C., Stewart, A.R., Bell, A.H., and Aiken, G.R., 2009, Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/es8027567 (Advanced Web release).
• Mercury isotopic composition of hydrothermal systems in the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field and Guaymas Basin sea-floor rift: Sherman, L.S., Blum, J.D., Nordstrom, D.K., McCleskey, R.B., Barkay, T., and Vetriani, C., 2009, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 279, no. 1-2, p. 86-96, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.12.032.
• Experimental removal of wetland emergent vegetation leads to decreased methylmercury production in surface sediment: Windham-Myers, L., Marvin-Dipasquale, M., Krabbenhoft, D.P., Agee, J.L., Cox, M.H., Heredia-Middleton, P., Coates, C., and Kakouros, E., 2009, Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, v. 114, G00C05, doi:10.1029/2008JG000815.
• Copper isotope fractionation in acid mine drainage: Kimball, B.E., Mathur, R., Dohnalkova, A.C., Wall, A.J., Runkel, R.L., and Brantley, S.L., 2009, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 73, no. 5, p. 1,247-1,263, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2008.11.035.
• Waste-indicator and pharmaceutical compounds in landfill-leachate-affected ground water near Elkhart, Indiana, 2000-2002: Buszka, P.M., Yeskis, D.J., Kolpin, D.W., Furlong, E.T., Zaugg, S.D., and Meyer, M.T., 2009, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, doi:10.1007/s00128-009-9702-z (Advanced Web release).
• Effects of the herbicide diuron on cordgrass (Spartina foliosa) reflectance and photosynthetic parameters: Williams, S.L., Carranza, A., Kunzelman, J., Datta, S., and Kuivila, K.M., 2009, Estuaries and Coasts, v. 32, no. 1, p. 146-157, doi:10.1007/s12237-008-9114-z.
• Effect of grain-coating mineralogy on nitrate and sulfate storage in the unsaturated zone: Reilly, T.J., Fishman, N.S., and Baehr, A.L., 2009, Vadose Zone Journal, v. 8, no. 1, p. 75-85, doi:10.2136/vzj2008.0053.
• Structural characterization of terrestrial bacteriogenic Mn oxides from Pinal Creek, AZ: Bargar, J.R., Fuller, C.C., Marcus, M.A., Brearley, A.J., Perez De la Rosa, M., Webb, S.M., and Caldwell, W.A., 2009, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 73, no. 4, p. 889-910, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2008.10.036.
• Biodegradation of 17β-Estradiol, Estrone and Testosterone in Stream Sediments : Bradley, P.M., Barber, L.B., Chapelle, F.H., Gray, J.L., Kolpin, D.W., and McMahon, P.B., 2009, Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/es802797j (Advanced Web release).
• Benthic nutrient sources to hypereutrophic Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon: Kuwabara, J.S., Topping, B.R., Lynch, D.D., Carter, J.L., and Essaid, H.I., 2009, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, v. 28, no. 3, p. 516-524, doi:10.1897/08-207.1.
• Comparing wastewater chemicals, indicator bacteria concentrations, and bacterial pathogen genes as fecal pollution indicators: Haack, S.K., Duris, J.W., Fogarty, L.R., Kolpin, D.W., Focazio, M.J., Furlong, E.T., and Meyer, M.T., 2009, Journal of Environmental Quality, v. 38, no. 1, p. 248-258, doi:10.2134/jeq2008.0173.
• Wastewater effluent, combined sewer overflows, and other sources of organic compounds to Lake Champlain: Phillips, P.J., and Chalmers, A.T., 2009, Journal of the American Water Works Association, v. 45, no. 1, p. 45-57, JAWRA-07-0175-P, doi:10.1111/j.1752-1688.2008.00288.x.
• Acid rock drainage and climate change: Nordstrom, D.K., 2009, Journal of Geochemical Exploration, v. 100, no. 2-3, p. 97-104, doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2008.08.002.
• Naturally acidic surface and ground waters draining porphyry-related mineralized areas of the Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado and New Mexico: Verplanck, P.L., Nordstrom, D.K., Bove, D.J., Plumlee, G.S., and Runkel, R.L., 2009, Applied Geochemistry, v. 24, no. 2, p. 255-267, doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2008.11.014.
• Why are diverse relationships observed between phytoplankton biomass and transport time?: Lucas, L.V., Thompson, J.K., and Brown, L.R., 2009, Limnology and Oceanography, v. 54, no. 1, p. 381-390.
• Multi-residue method for the analysis of 85 current-use and legacy pesticides in bed and suspended sediments: Smalling, K.L., and Kuivila, K.M., 2008, Journal of Chromatography A, v. 1210, no. 1, p. 8-18, doi:10.1016/j.chroma.2008.09.023.
• Shallow water processes govern system-wide phytoplankton bloom dynamics--A modeling study: Lucas, L.V., Koseff, J.R., Monismith, S.G., and Thompson, J.K., 2008, Journal of Marine Systems, v. 75, no. 1-2, p. 70-86 doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2008.07.011.
• Shallow water processes govern system-wide phytoplankton bloom dynamics--A field study: Thompson, J.K., Koseff, J.R., Monismith, S.G., and Lucas, L.V., 2008, Journal of Marine Systems, v. 74, no. 1-2, p. 153-166, doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2007.12.006.
• Environmental factors affecting mercury in Camp Far West Reservoir, 2001-03: Alpers, C.N., Stewart, A.R., Saiki, M.K., Marvin-DiPasquale, M., Topping, B.R., Rider, K.M., Gallanthine, S.K., Kester, C.A., Rye, R.O., Antweiler, R.C., and DeWild, J.F., 2008, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5008, 358 p.
• Occurrence of organic wastewater compounds in the Tinkers Creek watershed and two other tributaries to the Cuyahoga River, Northeast Ohio: Tertuliani, J.S., Alvarez, D.S., Furlong, E.T., Meyer, M.T., Zaugg, S.D., and Koltun, G.F., 2008, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5173, 60 p.
• Fate of consumer-product chemicals in the subsurface environment--25 years of research on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA: Barber, L.B., 2008, in Trefry, M.G., ed., Groundwater Quality 2007--Securing Groundwater Quality in Urban and Industrial Environments: International Association of Hydrological Sciences IAHS Redbook, IAHS Publ. 324, p. 126-132.
• Subsurface fate and transport of sulfamethoxazole, 4-nonylphenol, and 17Β-estradiol: Barber, L.B., Meyer, M.T., LeBlanc, D.R., Kolpin, D.W., Bradley, P.M., Chapelle, F.H., and Rubio, F., 2008, in Trefry, M.G., ed., Groundwater Quality 2007--Securing Groundwater Quality in Urban and Industrial Environments: International Association of Hydrological Sciences IAHS Redbook, IAHS Publ. 324, p. 133-139.
• A national reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States--II. Untreated drinking water sources: Focazio, M.J., Kolpin, D.W., Barnes, K.K., Furlong, E.T., Meyer, M.T., Zaugg, S.D., Barber, L.B., and Thurman, E.M., 2008, Science of the Total Environment, v. 402, no. 2-3, p. 201-216, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.02.021.
• A national reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States--I. Groundwater: Barnes, K.K., Kolpin, D.W., Furlong, E.T., Zaugg, S.D., Meyer, M.T., and Barber, L.B., 2008, Science of the Total Environment, v. 402, no. 2-3, p. 192-200, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.04.028.