Water Resources
Publications
This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Mainstems: A logical data model implementing mainstem and drainage basin feature types based on WaterML2 Part 3: HY Features concepts
The Mainstems data model implements the catchment and flowpath concepts from WaterML2 Part 3: Surface Hydrology Features (HY_Features) for persistent, cross-scale, identification of hydrologic features. The data model itself provides a focused and lightweight method to describe hydrologic networks with minimum but sufficient...
Blodgett, David L.; Johnson, J. Micheal; Sondheim, Mark; Wieczorek, Michael; Frazier, Nels Trends in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment concentrations and loads in streams draining to Lake Tahoe, California, Nevada, USA
Lake Tahoe, a large freshwater lake of the eastern Sierra Nevada in California and Nevada, has 63 tributaries that are sources of nutrients and sediment to the lake. The Tahoe watershed is relatively small, and the surface area of the lake occupies about 38% of the watershed area (1313 km2). Only about 6% of the watershed is urbanized or...
Domagalski, Joseph L.; Morway, Eric D.; Alvarez, Nancy L.; Hutchins, Juliet; Rosen, Michael R.; Coats, Robert Hydrocarbons to carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules: A continuum model to describe biodegradation of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter in contaminated groundwater plumes
Relationships between dissolved organic matter (DOM) reactivity and chemical composition in a groundwater plume containing petroleum-derived DOM (DOMHC) were examined by quantitative and qualitative measurements to determine the source and chemical composition of the compounds that persist downgradient. Samples were collected from a transect down...
Podgorski, David C.; Zito, Phoebe; Kellerman, Anne M.; Bekins, Barbara A.; Cozzarelli, Isabelle M.; Smith, Donald F.; Cao, Xiaoyan; Schmidt-Rohr, Klaus; Wagner, Sasha; Stubbins, Aron; Spencer, Robert G. M. Complexity of groundwater age mixing near a seawater intrusion zone based on multiple tracers and Bayesian inference
Aquifer flow systems near seawater interfaces can be complicated by density-driven flows and the formation of stagnation zones, which inevitably introduces uncertainty into groundwater age-dating. While age-dating has proved effective to understand the seawater intrusion and aquifer salinization process in coastal aquifers, further efforts are...
Ju, YeoJin; Massoudieh, Arash; Green, Christopher; Lee, Kang-Kun; Kaown, Dugin Movement of synthetic organic compounds in the food web after the introduction of invasive quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) in Lake Mead, Nevada and Arizona, USA
Introductions of dreissenid mussels in North America have been a significant concern over the last few decades. This study assessed the distribution of synthetic organic compounds (SOCs) in the food web of Lake Mead, Nevada/Arizona, USA and how this distribution was influenced by the introduction of invasive quagga mussels. A clear spatial...
Goodbred, Steven L.; Rosen, Michael R.; Patino, Reynaldo; Alvarez, David; Echols, Kathy R.; King, Kerensa; Umek, John
Groundwater quality and groundwater levels in Dougherty County, Georgia, April 2019 through March 2020
The Upper Floridan aquifer is the uppermost, reliable aquifer in southwest Georgia. The aquifer lies on top of the Claiborne, Clayton, and Cretaceous aquifers, all of which exhibited water level declines in the 1960s and 1970s. The U.S. Geological Survey has been working cooperatively with Albany Utilities to monitor groundwater quality and...
Gordon, Debbie W.
Interpretation of hydrogeologic data to support groundwater management, Bazile Groundwater Management Area, northeast Nebraska, 2019—A case demonstration of the Nebraska Geocloud
Nitrate, age tracer, and continuous groundwater-level data were interpreted in conjunction with airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey data to understand the movement of nitrate within the Bazile Groundwater Management Area (BGMA) in northeastern Nebraska. Previously published age tracer data and nitrate data indicated vertical stratification of...
Hobza, Christopher M.; Steele, Gregory V. Measuring, modelling and projecting coastal land subsidence
Coastal subsidence contributes to relative sea-level rise and exacerbates flooding hazards, with the at-risk population expected to triple by 2070. Natural processes of vertical land motion, such as tectonics, glacial isostatic adjustment and sediment compaction, as well as anthropogenic processes, such as fluid extraction, lead to globally...
Shirzaei, Manoochehr; Freymueller, Jeffery T.; Törnqvist, Torbjörn E; Galloway, Devin; Dura, Tina; Minderhoud, Philip S. J.
Source-tracking approach for detecting and identifying sources of wastewater in waters of Hawaiʻi
Elevated concentrations of nutrients and the fecal-indicator bacteria enterococci are occasionally detected in Hawai‘i’s surface waters by the State of Hawai‘i Department of Health Clean Water Branch. Management efforts to improve the water quality of surface waters are complicated by the fact that nutrients and enterococci can originate from...
Johnson, Adam G.
Compilation of mercury data and associated risk to human and ecosystem health, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Wisconsin
Mercury is an environmentally ubiquitous neurotoxin, and its methylated form presents health risks to humans and other biota, primarily through dietary intake. Because methylmercury bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in living tissue, concentrations progressively increase at higher trophic positions in ecosystem food webs. Therefore, the greatest...
Burns, Douglas A.
Low-flow characteristics of streams from Wailua to Hanapēpē, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi
The purpose of this study is to characterize streamflow availability under natural (unregulated) low-flow conditions for streams in southeast Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i. The nine main study-area basins, from north to south, include Wailua River, Hanamā‘ulu, Nāwiliwili, Pūʻali, Hulēʻia, Waikomo, Lāwaʻi, and Wahiawa Streams, and Hanapēpē River. The results of...
Cheng, Chui Ling
Considerations for incorporating quality control into water quality sampling strategies for the U.S. Geological Survey
This report describes considerations for incorporating routine quality-assessment and quality-control evaluations into U.S. Geological Survey discrete water-sampling programs and projects. U.S. Geological Survey water-data science in 2020 is characterized by robustness, external reproducibility, collaborative large-volume data analysis, and...
Medalie, Laura