Water Resources of the Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center - Mississippi

USGS Mississippi Data Highlights

USGS Flood Inundation Mapper

Floods are the most common and widespread of all natural disasters in the United States and are the leading cause of weather related deaths. Advances in technology have improved warning systems and have helped to decrease the loss of life over the past 50 years. Several sources of information are available to citizens and public officials to help make timely decisions regarding flood awareness and flood loss mitigation. One recently developed source of information is the USGS Flood Inundation Mapper.

Digital maps are displayed through the interactive web mapper, and details of the project and modeling process are available in an online report. The availability of these maps, when combined with real- time stage information from USGS streamgages and forecasted stream stage from the National Weather Service, provides emergency management personnel and residents with critical information during flood-response activities, such as evacuations and road closures, as well as for post-flood recovery efforts.

For more information, click here to read the full report.

2012 Mississippi Water Data Report Now Available

The 2012 USGS Water Data Report is now available online and improves on the previous online reports with a new interactive feature designed to make site data retrieval easier and more convenient.

The new report includes a national map interface that can be used to identify an area of interest, locate sites where water data were collected for Water Year 2012, and access most of that data. The annual Water Data Report provides a snapshot of water conditions for a given year. Access the Water Data Report using a text ( ) or map ( ) interface.

National Water Information System: Mapper

The new NWIS Mapper provides an interactive map interface to all USGS water data (historical and current). (Note: To access data, zoom in on the map to level 11 or greater to make the individual sites clickable.)

Instantaneous Data Archive (IDA)

The Instantaneous Data Archive makes available as much intra-day streamflow data and historical instantaneous data continuous (measurements from every 5 to every 60 minutes), as possible, often several years' worth of data.

Informative Tools & Links

USGS StreaMail

USGS StreaMail is a system for accessing real-time river stage and streamflow from hand-held wireless devices, such as cell phones and Blackberries. All you have to do is send an email or text message to "streamail@usgs.gov" and use a USGS station number in the "Subject" line. In a few minutes you'll get back an email/text message with the most recent stage and streamflow.    

For more information visit StreaMail Background Information

USGS WaterAlert

Now you can receive instant, customized updates about water conditions by subscribing to WaterAlert, a new service from the U.S. Geological Survey. WaterAlert allows users to receive updates about river flows, groundwater levels, water temperatures, rainfall, and water quality at more than 9,500 sites where USGS collects real-time water information. The Mississippi Water Science Center collects real-time water information at more than 130 sites throughout Mississippi and makes that data available to the public through WaterAlert.

For more information visit WaterAlert

Highlighted Videos

Testing for Agricultural Runoff in the Missouri River -- Ride along as USGS scientists Richard Coupe and Joe Schatz sample the Missouri River near Hermann, Missouri.

Agriculture- A River Runs Through it -- Heather Welch, Claire Rose, and Richard Coupe, U.S. Geological Survey scientists involved in the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Study of Agricultural Chemical Transport (ACT) study, outline agricultural effects on water quality in the Mississippi Delta region. Topics include research results on nutrient modeling using the SPARROW model, environmental effects of biofuel production, and glyphosate transport.

Results of the ACT Study- Biofuels -- Interview by Richard Coupe (U.S. Geological Survey) of Heather Welch-- a scientist involved in the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Study of Agricultural Chemical Transport (ACT)-- on her research results on environmental effects of biofuel production.

Results of the ACT Study- Glyphosate -- Richard Coupe (U.S. Geological Survey) summarizes research results of glyphosate and water quality as part of the the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Study of Agricultural Chemical Transport (ACT).

Results of the ACT Study- Metolachlor -- Interview by Richard Coupe (US Geological Survey) of Claire Rose- a scientist involved in the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Study of Agricultural Chemical Transport (ACT)on research results of metolachlor transport.

Thoughts from ACT Study Farmers- Lawrence Murphy -- Claire Rose (USGS) and Richard Coupe (USGS) talk with Lawrence Murphy about farming and Agricultural Chemical Transport Study research done on his farm in the Mississippi Delta.

Modeling-the Ninth Art -- The art and science of SPARROW modeling. The steps of developing the SPARROW model. The other eight arts are: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Music, Poetry, Dance, Theater and Cinema.

We've Got a Model-Why do we need Data? -- Anne Hoos and Ana Garcia discuss why data is important for the USGS nutrient loading model SPARROW.

Viveck Shandas on Science Communication-- Summary -- Jerry McMahon (US Geological Survey) and Viveck Shandas (Portland State University) summarize important points on science communication.

Highlighted Publications

Journal Article -- Pesticides in Mississippi Air and Rain: A Comparison Between 1995 and 2007. By Michael S. Majewski, Richard H. Coupe, William T. Foreman, and Paul D. Capel

Journal Article -- Transport of Nitrate in the Mississippi River in July-August 1999. By Richard H. Coupe, Donald A. Goolsby, William A. Battaglin, John K. Böhlke, Peter B. McMahon, Carol Kendall

Scientific Investigations Map 3228 -- Prepared in cooperation with the City of Hattiesburg, City of Petal, Forrest County, Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, Mississippi Department of Homeland Security, and the Emergency Management District - Flood-Inundation Maps for the Leaf River at Hattiesburg, Mississippi. By John B. Storm

Journal Article -- Complexity of human and ecosystem interactions in an agricultural landscape. By Richard H. Coupe, Jeannie R.B. Barlow, Paul D. Capel

Journal Article -- Sources and Delivery of Nutrients to the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico from Streams in the South-Central United States. By Richard A. Rebich, Natalie A. Houston, Scott V. Mize, Daniel K. Pearson, Patricia B. Ging, C. Evan Hornig

Open File Report 2010-1229 -- Unintended Consequences of Biofuels Production: The Effects of Large-Scale Crop Conversion on Water Quality and Quantity. By Heather L. Welch, Christopher T. Green, Richard A. Rebich, Jeannie R.B. Barlow, and Matthew B. Hicks

Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5019 -- Prepared in cooperation with the Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water Management District Simulation of Water-Use Conservation Scenarios for the Mississippi Delta Using an Existing Regional Groundwater Flow Model. By Jeannie R.B. Barlow and Brian R. Clark

Journal Article -- Groundwater and Surface-Water Exchange and Resulting Nitrate Dynamics in the Bogue Phalia Basin in Northwestern Mississippi. By Jeannie R. B. Barlow and Richard H. Coupe

Journal Article -- Changes in Shallow Groundwater Quality Beneath Recently Urbanized Areas in the Memphis, Tennessee Area. By Jeannie R. B. Barlow, James A. Kingsbury, and Richard H. Coupe

Journal Article -- Field Tracer Investigation of Unsaturated Zone Flow Paths and Mechanisms in Agricultural Soils of Northwestern Mississippi, USA. By Kim S. Perkins, John R. Nimmo, Claire E. Rose, and Richard H. Coupe

Journal Article -- Fate and Transport of Glyphosate and Aminomethylphosphonic Acid in Surface Waters of Agricultural Basins. By Richard H. Coupe, Stephen J. Kalkhoff, Paul D. Capel, and Caroline Gregoire

Data Sheet 546 -- Water-Quality, Water-Level, and Discharge Data Associated with the Mississippi Embayment Agricultural chemical Transport Study, 2006-2008. By melinda S. Dalton, Claire E. Rose, and Richard H. Coupe

Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5021 -- National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program's Agriculural Chemical Team (ACT): Environmental Settings of the South Fork Iowa River Basin, Iowa, and the Bogue Phalia Basin, Mississippi, 2006-10. By Kathleen A. McCarthy, Claire E. Rose, and Stephen J. Kalkhoff

Open File Report 2008-1198 -- Prepared in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Mississippi Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Agriculture-U.S. Forest Service, and Mississippi Automated Resource Information System: Development of a Watershed Boundary Dataset for Mississippi. By K. Van Wilson, Jr., Michael G. Clair II, D. Phil Turnipseed, and Richard A. Rebich

Scientific Investigations Map 3020 -- Prepared in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Mississippi Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Agriculture-U.S. Forest Service, and Mississippi Automated Resource Information System: Watershed Boundary Dataset for Mississippi. By By K. Van Wilson, Jr., Michael G. Clair II, D. Phil Turnipseed, and Richard A. Rebich

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