Geology topics

Robert J. Waschbusch

Publications and source records attributed to Robert J. Waschbusch.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2017

Flood of July 2016 in northern Wisconsin and the Bad River Reservation

Heavy rain fell across northern Wisconsin and the Bad River Reservation on July 11, 2016, as a result of several rounds of thunderstorms. The storms caused major flooding in the Bad River Basin and nearby tributaries along the south shore of Lake Superior. Rainfall totals were 8–10 inches or more and most of the rain fell in an 8-hour period. A streamgage on the Bad River near Odanah, Wisconsin, rose from 300 cubic feet per second to a record peak streamflow of 40,000 cubic feet per second in only 15 hours. Following the storms and through September 2016, personnel from the U.S. Geological Survey and Bad River Tribe Natural Resources Department recovered and documented 108 high-water marks near the Bad River Reservation. Many of these high-water marks were used to create three flood-inundation maps for the Bad River, Beartrap Creek, and Denomie Creek for the Bad River Reservation in the vicinity of the community of Odanah.

Wisconsin↗

USGS2008

Flood of June 2008 in Southern Wisconsin

In June 2008, heavy rain caused severe flooding across southern Wisconsin. The floods were aggravated by saturated soils that persisted from unusually wet antecedent conditions from a combination of floods in August 2007, more than 100 inches of snow in winter 2007-08, and moist conditions in spring 2008. The flooding caused immediate evacuations and road closures and prolonged, extensive damages and losses associated with agriculture, businesses, housing, public health and human needs, and infrastructure and transportation. Record gage heights and streamflows occurred at 21 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages across southern Wisconsin from June 7 to June 21. Peak-gage-height data, peak-streamflow data, and flood probabilities are tabulated for 32 USGS streamgages in southern Wisconsin. Peak-gage-height and peak-streamflow data also are tabulated for three ungaged locations. Extensive flooding along the Baraboo River, Kickapoo River, Crawfish River, and Rock River caused particularly severe damages in nine communities and their surrounding areas: Reedsburg, Rock Springs, La Farge, Gays Mills, Milford, Jefferson, Fort Atkinson, Janesville, and Beloit. Flood-peak inundation maps and water-surface profiles were generated for the nine communities in a geographic information system by combining flood high-water marks with available 1-10-meter resolution digital-elevation-model data. The high-water marks used in the maps were a combination of those surveyed during the June flood by communities, counties, and Federal agencies and hundreds of additional marks surveyed in August by the USGS. The flood maps and profiles outline the extent and depth of flooding through the communities and are being used in ongoing (as of November 2008) flood response and recovery efforts by local, county, State, and Federal agencies.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2003

Data and methods of a 1999-2000 street sweeping study on an urban freeway in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is required to control the quality of runoff from roadways under their control as part of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. One way to control roadway runoff is to use street sweeping to remove pollutants before they are entrained in runoff. This may be a good option because land is often unavailable or prohibitively expensive and structural best-management practices can also be expensive. This study collected stormwater runoff samples and dirt samples from the roadway surface from a section of Interstate Highway 894 near Milwaukee, Wisconsin during periods when a street sweeping program was and was not in effect. These data may be useful in evaluating street sweeping as a stormwater best management practice but this study did not perform this evaluation. Data collection methods, concentrations of sediment and other constituents in storm- water runoff, and street dirt masses are presented in this report. Replicate and comparison sample results indicate that when evaluating the effectiveness of best-management practices on highway runoff, suspended sediment results should be used rather than suspended solids, presumably because the particle sizes in highway runoff is large compared to those found in other types of stormwater runoff.

Wisconsin↗

USGS1999

Sources of phosphorus in stormwater and street dirt from two urban residential basins in Madison, Wisconsin, 1994-95

Eutrophication is a common problem for lakes in agricultural and urban areas, such as Lakes Wingra and Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. This report describes a study to estimate the sources of phosphorus, a major contributor to eutrophication, to Lakes Wingra and Mendota from two small urban residential drainage basins. The Monroe Basin empties into Lake Wingra, and the Harper Basin into Lake Mendota. Phosphorus data were collected from streets, lawns, roofs, driveways, and parking lots (source areas) within these two basins and were used to estimate loads from each area. In addition to the samples collected from these source areas, flow-composite samples were collected at monitoring stations located at the watershed outfalls (storm sewers); discharge and rainfall also were measured. Resulting data were then used to calibrate the Source Loading and Management Model (SLAMM, version 6.3, copyright 1993, Pitt & Vorhees) for conditions in the city of Madison and determine within these basins which of the source areas are contributing the most phosphorus. Water volumes in the calibrated model were calculated to within 23 percent and 24 percent of those measured at the outfalls of each of the basins. These water volumes were applied to the suspended- solids and phosphorus concentrations that were used to calibrate SLAMM for suspended-solids and phosphorus loads. Suspended-solids loads were calculated to be within 4 percent and 17 percent, total-phosphorus loads within 24 percent and 28 percent, and dissolved-phosphorus loads within 9 percent and 10 percent of those measured at the storm-sewer outfall at the Monroe and Harper basins, respectively. Lawns and streets are the largest sources of total and dissolved phosphorus in the basins. Their combined contribution was approximately 80 percent, with lawns contributing more than the streets. Streets were the largest source of suspended solids. Street-dirt samples were collected using industrial vacuum equipment. Leaves in these samples were separated out and the remaining sediment was sieved into >250 mm, 250-63 mm, 63-25 mm, <25 mm size fractions and were analyzed for total phosphorus. Approximately 75 percent of the sediment mass resides in the >250 mm size fractions. Less than 5 percent of the mass can be found in the particle sizes less than 63 mm. The >250 mm size fraction also contributed nearly 50 percent of the total-phosphorus mass and the leaf fraction contributed an additional 30 percent. In each particle size, approximately 25 percent of the total-phosphorus mass is derived from leaves or other vegetation.

Wisconsin↗

USGS1999

Evaluation of the effectiveness of an urban stormwater treatment unit in Madison, Wisconsin, 1996-97

An urban stormwater treatment unit was tested as part of an ongoing program of urban nonpoint- pollution research in Madison, Wis. Flow measurements were made and water samples were collected at the inlet to, outlet from, and bypass around the treatment chamber of the device that was installed to collect the runoff from a city maintenance yard. About 90 percent of the runoff water from the 4.3-acre basin was treated by the unit. The remaining 10 percent bypassed the treatment chamber when the flow rate reached approximately 500 gallons per minute. A 24-percent difference between the estimated amount (405 kilograms) and the actual amount (536 kilograms) of retained material in the treatment chamber may be attributed to bedload material that the automatic samplers could not effectively collect. Assuming this, 8 percent of the total mass in the untreated runoff water was estimated as the unsampled bedload. On the basis of water-sample data collected over the course of the study, the suspended solids removal efficiency of treatment chamber was about 25 percent, and the efficiency of the unit as a whole was 21 percent. If the unsampled bedload material was accounted for, the treatment-chamber efficiency was 33 percent. About 19 percent of the total phosphorus was removed from the water that passed through the treatment chamber and 17 percent was removed by the unit as a whole. Total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) loads were reduced about 39 percent by the treatment chamber and 34 percent by the unit as a whole; these were some of the most effectively removed constituents. Total metals were reduced about 20 to 30 percent by both the treatment chamber and the unit as a whole. In general, dissolved constituents were unaffected by the unit. The material retained in the treatment chamber had high concentrations of lead and PAH and may be subject to special disposal restrictions based on those concentrations and the presence of benzo(a)anthracene. The chemical makeup of the retained material in other similar stormwater treatment units will probably vary depending on the land use and activities in the drainage basin.

Wisconsin↗