Welcome to the Midwest Region! Our region includes 19 Science Centers in 12 States from the Great Lakes to the Dakotas, south to Missouri and Kentucky. Our streamgage network is used to monitor and assess water resources across the region. Other research focuses on fisheries and aquatic ecosystems, midcontinental plant/animal species, invasive species, wildlife disease, and energy and mining.
Several Research areas are listed and their contacts regarding Glacial Aquifer System Groundwater Availability Study are available here.
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The Glacial Aquifer System Groundwater Availability Study began in 2012 and will be completed in 2016. The glacial aquifer system groundwater availability study is one of the USGS efforts in response to the Department of Interior WaterSMART initiative. This study is designed to provide information and analysis to stakeholders and decisionmakers for characterizing groundwater availability...
The USGS in Michigan-in cooperation with local, State, Tribal, and Federal partners-operates 155 streamgages recording stage and streamflow, and 13 lake-level gages. There are about 7,400 streamgages nationwide; many of these gages provide real-time data in 15-minute increments, which typically are transmitted to the World Wide Web every 1 to 2 hours using satellite, telephone, or cellular...
Data on low-flow characteristics are used by water-resources managers for a variety of purposes, including water-supply planning, making decisions about wastewater-discharge and water withdrawal permits, and evaluating in-stream flow requirements. The Michigan low-flow network currently consists of seven sites where streamflow is typically measured only during low-flow periods. In addition to...
The USGS operates a network of real-time water-quality monitoring stations that measure up to five physical parameters. The parameters are temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. One to four of those parameters are measured at 26 sites, while all five parameters are measured at 13 sites. These data are used for decision making about hydroelectric power...
Historically, small streams with drainage areas less than 100 square miles have not been adequately represented in regional peak- (high) flow analysis. In Michigan, USGS operates 24 traditional crest-stage gages, where stage and streamflow is only measured during high flows, and 6 continuous-record crest-stage gages, where cooperators can continually monitor stage and USGS maintains a high-...
In response to decreasing water levels in the Great Lakes, especially Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, the International Upper Great Lakes Study (IUGLS) asked USGS to continuously measure flows in the connecting channels of St. Marys, St. Clair, and Detroit Rivers, and Water Survey Canada (WSC) to measure flows of Niagara River. To accommodate the effects of variable backwater and the...
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL) studies the source, occurrence, and distribution of the bacterial pathogens Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC), Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, Enterococcus, and Staphylococcus and the relation of occurrence of pathogens with fecal indicator bacteria, land-use, season, hydrology, geology, weather...
Botulism outbreaks occur within the Great Lakes and often result in significant bird die offs. It is believed that Clostridium botulinum is the reason for these die offs and the trophic pathways that this organism travels are of interest to understanding its place within the food web. The GLRI Avian Botulism Project is investigating six different matrices: sediment, Cladophora, invertebrates,...
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Michigan Bacteriological Research Laboratory (MI-BaRL) is a newly renovated laboratory space operated by the USGS Michigan Water Science Center in Lansing, MI. The laboratory is staffed by two Ph.D. level microbiologists and five M.S. level microbiologists with a combined 70 years of experience in microbiology and water resources research. The USGS MI-BaRL...
To better understand the quality of water flowing into the Great Lakes, the USGS is conducting water-quality analyses for nutrients, sediment, and toxic substances and estimating the amount (load) of these substances for tributaries to the Great Lakes. Information on the occurrence and distribution of contaminants is needed to provide baseline information, measure progress towards restoration...
Michigan Water Science Center used acoustic meters for about 90 percent of the streamflow measurements made in Fiscal Year 2012. Wading measurements are done using a modified top setting wading rod equipped with an acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV). Acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP) are used when measurement depths are too deep to wade. ADCP measurements can either be made with a...
The 3DEP products and services available through The National Map consist of lidar point clouds (LPC), standard digital elevation models (DEMs) at various horizontal resolutions, elevation source and associated datasets, an elevation point query service and bulk point query service. All 3DEP products are available, free of charge and without use restrictions.
The Science in the Great Lakes (SiGL) Mapper is a data-discovery tool that provides searchable access to detailed, project-specific information about what, where, when, and how GL data were collected and connects users with data repositories, publications, and contact information so they can easily access the project’s results.
This web resource provides decision makers with the information needed to maintain the Upper Mississippi River System as a viable multiple-use large river ecosystem.
Available online are estimated Secchi-disk transparency (eSDT) and corresponding estimated trophic state index (eTSI) values for Michigan inland lakes. To view available eSDT for Michigan inland lakes greater than 20 acres without interference from clouds, cloud shadows, dense vegetation or shoreline, go to the Michigan Lake Water Clarity Interactive Map Viewer.
The 3DEP products and services available through The National Map consist of standard digital elevation models (DEMs) at various horizontal resolutions, elevation source and associated datasets, an elevation point query service and bulk point query service. All 3DEP products are available, free of charge and without use restrictions.
The Science in the Great Lakes (SiGL) Mapper is a data-discovery tool that provides searchable access to detailed, project-specific information about what, where, when, and how GL data were collected and connects users with data repositories, publications, and contact information so they can easily access the project’s results.
USGS topographic maps originally published on paper in the period 1884-2006 have been scanned and published as PDF documents. This collection is of topographic quadrangle maps with scales between 1:10,000 and 1:250,000. These historic documents are downloadable free of charge through several interfaces.
This portal is a “go to” source for maps related to ocean and coastal mapping. Information is organized by geography or region, by theme, and by the year data was published.
Publication's summary is not available
Mickels, F.C.; Ward, P.E.Ground water in the United States has emerged from a quantitatively minor (though incalculably valuable) water source, whose chief role was in the settlement of primitive areas, to a major source now accounting for one-fifth to one-sixth of the Nation's total withdrawal requirements for water.
McGuinness, Charles LeeThis report summarizes the storage capacities and related data of reservoirs and controlled natural lakes for the contermimous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Data are given for all storage facilities having a usable capacity of 5,000 acre-feet or more and completed or under construction as of Jan 1, 1963. A...
Martin, R.O.R.; Hanson, Ronald L.In a recent article in "Science" discussing the Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Gillette (1971) states "The law's instructions for preparing an impact report apparently are not specific enough to insure that an agency will fully, or even usefully, examine the environmental effects of the projects it plans." This report contains a procedure that...
Leopold, Luna Bergere; Clarke, F.E.; Hanshaw, B.B.; Balsley, J.R.The process of channel movement in a meander system involves rotation and translation of meander loops and an increasing path length. The amount of path-length increase is directly proportional to the impulse supplied by discharge and is inversely proportional to the silt-clay percentage of the material composing the channel perimeter. Comparable...
Daniel, James F.Publication's summary is not available
Johnson, Lynn E.Evaporation from Pretty Lake has been computed for a 2%- year period between 1963 and 1965 by the use of an energy budget, mass-transfer parameters, a water budget, a class-A pan, and a computed pan evaporation technique. The seasonal totals for the different methods are within 8 percent of their mean and are within 11 percent of the rate of 79...
Ficke, John F.For many years there has been a need for redefinition or more precise definition of certain ground-water terms used in publications by members of the U.S . Geological Survey. Another problem has been the expression of the coefficient of permeability (herein redefined as hydraulic conductivity) and the coefficient of transmissibility (herein...
Lohman, Stanley WilliamPublication's summary is not available
Marie, James R.; Davis, L.G.Publication's summary is not available
Ayers, M.A.; Shampine, William J.Publication's summary is not available
Arihood, Leslie D.Publication's summary is not available
Ayers, M.A.STRMDEPL08—An Extended Version of STRMDEPL with Additional Analytical Solutions to Calculate Streamflow Depletion by Nearby Pumping Well
Water users around the country can now view the past and simulated future of hydrologic processes.
A new U.S. Geological Survey publication and model can be applied by multiple entities to better understand flow, quantity, sources and sinks of groundwater in the Northern High Plains Aquifer, which covers approximately 100,000 square miles across Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming.
Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative Launches Coastal Wetland Decision Support Tools
Bifenthrin combats pests, but may harm aquatic ecosystems
Reporters: Do you want to accompany a USGS field crew as they measure flooding? Please contact Jason McVay at 319-430-6962.
Reporters: Do you want to accompany a USGS field crew as they measure flooding? Please contact Jason McVay at 319-430-6962.