Welcome to the USGS Nevada Water Science Center!
The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) mission is to provide reliable scientific information about the Nation’s natural resources. An integral part of that mission is to provide consistent, long-term water-resources data to customers, cooperators, and the public. To accomplish our mission, we operate a widespread surface- and ground-water data collection network as well as research a wide range of scientific issues throughout Nevada. more
Highlights
New Study of the Connection Among Basin-Fill Aquifers, Carbonate-Rock Aquifers, and Surface-Water Resources in Southern Snake Valley, Nevada
The Secretary of the Interior through the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act approved funding for research to improve understanding of hydrologic systems that sustain numerous water-dependent ecosystems on Federal lands in Snake Valley, Nevada.
Comprehensive geologic, hydrologic, and chemical information will be collected and analyzed to assess the hydraulic connection between basin-fill aquifers and surface-water resources, water-dependent ecological features, and the regional carbonate-rock aquifer, the known source of many high-discharge springs.
The National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service submitted the proposal for funding this research to facilitate science-based land management. Scientists from the USGS Water Resources and Geologic Disciplines, and the University of Nevada, Reno, will accomplish four research elements through comprehensive data collection and analysis that are concentrated in two distinct areas on the eastern and southern flanks of the Snake Range. The projected time line for this research is from July 2008 through September 2011. more
Featured Project
- Upper Humboldt Water Resources
- This study will develop an improved understanding of the water resources within the upper Humboldt River Basin. Specific, long-term objectives are to (1) define the hydrogeologic framework of the area; (2) describe the occurrence and movement of ground water in and between the eight hydrographic areas that comprise the basin; (3) define interactions of ground water and streamflow; (4) refine water budgets; and (5) define surface-water and ground-water quality.
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New Publications
- SIR 2008-5162
- Hydrologic and Water-Quality Responses in Shallow Ground Water Receiving Stormwater Runoff and Potential Transport of Contaminants to Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada, 2005–07
- SIR 2008-5116
- Quantifying Ground-Water and Surface-Water Discharge from Evapotranspiration Processes in 12 Hydrographic Areas of the Colorado Regional Ground-Water Flow System, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona