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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS2009

Geologic Map of the Santa Barbara Coastal Plain Area, Santa Barbara County, California

This report presents a newly revised and expanded digital geologic map of the Santa Barbara coastal plain area at a compilation scale of 1:24,000 (one inch on the map to 2,000 feet on the ground)1 and with a horizontal positional accuracy of at least 20 m. The map depicts the distribution of bedrock units and surficial deposits and associated deformation underlying and adjacent to the coastal plain within the contiguous Dos Pueblos Canyon, Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria 7.5' quadrangles. The new map supersedes an earlier preliminary geologic map of the central part of the coastal plain (Minor and others, 2002; revised 2006) that provided coastal coverage only within the Goleta and Santa Barbara quadrangles. In addition to new mapping to the west and east, geologic mapping in parts of the central map area has been significantly revised from the preliminary map compilation - especially north of downtown Santa Barbara in the Mission Ridge area - based on new structural interpretations supplemented by new biostratigraphic data. All surficial and bedrock map units, including several new units recognized in the areas of expanded mapping, are described in detail in the accompanying pamphlet. Abundant new biostratigraphic and biochronologic data based on microfossil identifications are presented in expanded unit descriptions of the marine Neogene Monterey and Sisquoc Formations. Site-specific fault kinematic observations embedded in the digital map database are more complete owing to the addition of slip-sense determinations. Finally, the pamphlet accompanying the present report includes an expanded and refined summary of stratigraphic and structural observations and interpretations that are based on the composite geologic data contained in the new map compilation. The Santa Barbara coastal plain is located in the western Transverse Ranges physiographic province along an east-west-trending segment of the southern California coastline about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Los Angeles. The coastal plain surface includes several mesas and hills that are geomorphic expressions of potentially active folds and partly buried oblique and reverse faults of the Santa Barbara fold and fault belt (SBFFB) that transects the coastal plain. Strong earthquakes have occurred offshore within 10 km of the Santa Barbara coastal plain in 1925 (6.3 magnitude), 1941 (5.5 magnitude), and 1978 (5.1 magnitude). These and numerous smaller seismic events located beneath and offshore of the coastal plain, likely occurred on reverse-oblique-slip faults that are similar to, or continuous with, Quaternary reverse faults crossing the coastal plain. Thus, faults of the SBFFB pose a significant earthquake hazard to the approximately 200,000 people living within the major coastal population centers of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria. In addition, numerous Quaternary landslide deposits along the steep southern flank of the Santa Ynez Mountains indicate the potential for continued slope failures and mass movements in developed areas. Folded, faulted, and fractured sedimentary rocks in the subsurface of the coastal plain and adjacent Santa Barbara Channel are sources and form reservoirs for economic deposits of oil and gas, some of which are currently being extracted offshore. Shallow, localized sedimentary aquifers underlying the coastal plain provide limited amounts of water for the urban areas, but the quality of some of this groundwater is compromised by coastal salt-water contamination. The present map compilation provides a set of uniform geologic digital coverages that can be used for analysis and interpretation of these and other geologic hazards and resources in the coastal plain region.

Scientific Investigations Map↗
USGS2005

USGS California Water Science Center water programs in California

California is threatened by many natural hazards—fire, floods, landslides, earthquakes. The State is also threatened by longer-term problems, such as hydrologic effects of climate change, and human-induced problems, such as overuse of ground water and degradation of water quality. The threats and problems are intensified by increases in population, which has risen to nearly 36.8 million. For the USGS California Water Science Center, providing scientific information to help address hazards, threats, and hydrologic issues is a top priority. To meet the demands of a growing California, USGS scientific investigations are helping State and local governments improve emergency management, optimize resources, collect contaminant-source and -mobility information, and improve surface- and ground-water quality. USGS hydrologic studies and data collection throughout the State give water managers quantifiable and detailed scientific information that can be used to plan for development and to protect and more efficiently manage resources. The USGS, in cooperation with state, local, and tribal agencies, operates more than 500 instrument stations, which monitor streamflow, ground-water levels, and surface- and ground-water constituents to help protect water supplies and predict the threats of natural hazards. The following are some of the programs implemented by the USGS, in cooperation with other agencies, to obtain and analyze information needed to preserve California's environment and resources.

California↗
USGS1984

Ground water in the Fresno area, California; preliminary report

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Fresno County, is developing a computer model of the unconfined aquifer system in the Fresno area. In the area, consolidated rocks are overlain by unconsolidated deposits. The unconsolidated deposits are divided into a lower fine-grained unit and an overlying coarse-grained unit. The system is assumed to be a single unconfined unit. The top of the system is the water table and the bottom is the base of the coarse-grained deposits. The northeastern boundary is the only natural lateral hydrologic boundary. The other lateral boundaries are placed so that errors along them will not affect heads in the area of interest. Initial heads for 1943, hydraulic conductivity, and bottom elevations were used in a steady-state model that generated net flux values. It is anticipated that most of the remaining effort will center on model calibration. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2014

Construction, water-level, and water-quality data for multiple-well monitoring sites and test wells, Fort Irwin National Training Center, San Bernardino County, California, 2009-12

Because of increasing water demands at the U.S. Army Fort Irwin National Training Center, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Army carried out a study to evaluate the water quality and potential groundwater supply of undeveloped basins within the U.S. Army Fort Irwin National Training Center. In addition, work was performed in the three developed basins—Langford, Bicycle, and Irwin—proximal to or underlying cantonment to provide information in support of water-resources management and to supplement monitoring in these basins. Between 2009 and 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey installed 41 wells to expand collection of water-resource data within the U.S. Army Fort Irwin National Training Center. Thirty-four monitoring wells (2-inch diameter) were constructed at 14 single- or multiple-well monitoring sites and 7 test wells (8-inch diameter) were installed. The majority of the wells were installed in previously undeveloped or minimally developed basins (Cronise, Red Pass, the Central Corridor area, Superior, Goldstone, and Nelson Basins) proximal to cantonment (primary base housing and infrastructure). Data associated with well construction, water-level monitoring, and water-quality sampling are presented in this report.

California↗
USGS2009

Unearthing Secrets of the Forest

Forests are a defining feature for large areas of the Pacific northwestern United States from northern California to Alaska. Coniferous temperate rainforests in the western Cascade and coastal mountain ranges are appreciated for their aesthetic value and abundant natural resources. Few people recognize the riches beneath the forest floor; yet, soil is a key ecosystem component that makes each type of forest unique. Soils harbor immense biological diversity and control the release of water and nutrients that support life above ground. Understanding how carbon and nutrients cycle in forests, known as forest biogeochemistry, is crucial for evaluating forest productivity, composition, diversity, and change. At the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, research in the Terrestrial Ecosystems Laboratory focuses on nutrient cycling in five themes: climate change, nutrition and sustainability, fire effects, restoration, and forest-stream linkages. This research is essential to understand the entire forest ecosystem and to use the best science available to make informed policy and management decisions.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2026

Opportunities and challenges in using Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) samplers for monitoring cyanotoxins in freshwater and estuarine environments

Cyanobacterial toxins (cyanotoxins) represent a substantial threat to drinking water supplies and safe recreational uses of freshwater resources in watersheds worldwide. Monitoring cyanotoxins can be difficult because toxin events are variable in both space and time, are not always persistent, can be moved easily by wind and currents, and may be degraded biotically or abiotically. Thus, monitoring programs that collect discrete samples on a monthly or even bimonthly interval can miss key events and underestimate cyanotoxin risk or if they capture a high-concentration event, can give a false impression that cyanotoxins are a widespread health hazard. The use of Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking (SPATT) samplers helps address this issue by providing a time-weighted average estimate of dissolved cyanotoxin occurrence and relative concentrations. SPATT samplers have been used as a complement to traditional monitoring programs and can help elucidate cyanotoxin dynamics. SPATT samplers have been used by six U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Centers (New York, California, Oregon, Upper Midwest, New Jersey, and Lower Mississippi-Gulf) to monitor various cyanotoxins in waterbodies such as streams, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, estuaries, and drinking-water intakes. Despite their use across the USGS, there is little guidance available to ensure consistent approaches and data quality across the Bureau. This report summarizes best practices for SPATT deployment and analysis, synthesizes data and describes lessons learned from USGS studies, identifies priority knowledge gaps, and offers considerations for future targeted experiments to help improve data collection and interpretation.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS1959

Eighth progress report on the cooperative investigation of springs and streamflow in the Tecolote Tunnel area of Santa Barbara County, California

This report is the eighth in a continuing series of progress reports giving the results of discharge measurements made at selected springs and streams in the Tecolote Tunnel area of the Santa Ynez Mountains. The measurement program was begun on its present scale in the latter part of 1948 by the U. S. Geological Survey at the request of the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and has been continued under a cooperative agreement with the Santa Barbara County Water Agency since July 1, 1949, under which each agency pays half the cost of the investigation. The purpose of the program is to obtain factual data to assist in determining what effect, if any, the inflow of ground water into Tecolote Tunnel will have on surface-water resources in the vicinity of the tunnel. The area involved in the program, shown on plate 1, was made large enough to include a number of springs and streams believed to be outside the zone of influence of the tunnel. Tecolote Tunnel, completed in March 1956, was built by the Bureau of Reclamation for the purpose of conveying water from Cachuma Reservoir to the city of Santa Barbara and adjacent coastal communities. The alinement of the tunnel is essentially north and south through the center of a region that extends from the Painted Cave area on the east to Refugio Pass on the west and from the Santa Ynez River on the north to the Pacific Ocean on the south. Storage, in Cachuma Reservoir began November 16, 1952. Roads within the area covered by Cachuma Reservoir have been relocated since plate 1 was prepared. The purpose of this progress report is to make available the factual data obtained from July 1956 to June 1958.

California↗
USGS1994

Subsidence and carbon fluxes in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, California

The Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta was once tidal marshland and was formed by the confluence of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Rivers. The delta covers more than 1,000 square miles and is bordered by the major population centers of the San Francisco Bay area, Sacramento, and Stockton (fig. 1). The delta took its current form by the 1930's when drainage of 100 islands and tracts and construction of 2,250 miles of levees were completed. The land surface on the delta islands has progressively subsided below sea level since the early 20th century. The integrity of the levee network is threatened because subsidence increases the differences in water levels maintained by the levees, which can cause levee failure and consequent flooding of the delta islands. Levee failure affects the quality and beneficial use of water in the delta, which is the major source of California's water supply to millions of residents and acres of agricultural land. This Fact Sheet briefly summarizes the research done by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the California Department of Water Resources to assess the causes of subsidence, processes that affect subsidence, and carbon fluxes in the delta.

California↗
USGS1980

A water-quality monitoring network for Vallecitos Valley, Alameda County, California

A water-quality monitoring network is proposed to detect the presence of and trace the movement of radioisotopes in the hydrologic system in the vicinity of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center. The source of the radioisotopes is treated industrial wastewater from the Vallecitos Nuclear Center that is discharged into an unnamed tributary of Vallecitos Creek. The effluent infiltrates the alluvium along the stream course, percolates downward to the water table, and mixes with the native ground water in the subsurface. The average daily discharge of effluent to the hydrologic system in 1978 was about 100,000 gallons. In Vallecitos Valley, the Livermore Gravel and the overlying alluvium constitute the ground-water reservoir. There is no subsurface inflow from adjacent ground-water basins. Ground-water flow in the Vallecitos subbasin is toward the southwest. The proposed network consists of four surface-water sampling sites and six wells to sample the ground-water system. Samples collected monthly at each site and analyzed for tritium and for alpha, beta, and gamma radiation would provide adequate data for monitoring.

California↗
USGS1979

Ground-water conditions and potential for artificial recharge in Lucerne Valley, San Bernardino County, California

The water level in two areas of Lucerne Valley has declined more than 100 feet since 1917, including 60 feet from 1954 to 1976. These declines are the result of pumping for the irrigation of alfalfa. The lowering of water levels has caused many shallow domestic wells to go dry. Well yields in the valley generally are between 10 and 1,000 gallons per minute. About 240,000 acre-feet of ground water was extracted between 1950 and 1976. About 1,750,000 acre-feet remains in storage. Water of poor quality underlies the valley around Lucerne Lake. There was no definable movement of this water from 1954 to 1976, but the possibility exists for future movement toward centers of pumping. Lucerne Valley may be hydrologically suitable for artificial-recharge operations. Preliminary data suggest an area in T. 4 N., R. 1 E. as suitable for artificial recharge that would benefit most of the areas affected by the water-level declines. Detailed investigation is needed before recharge operations are begun.

California↗
USGS2023

A characterization of the deep-sea coral and sponge community along the Oregon Coast using a remotely operated vehicle on the EXPRESS 2022 expedition

Deep-sea coral and sponge (DSCS) communities serve as essential fish habitat (EFH) by providing shelter and nursery habitat, increasing diversity, and increasing prey availability (Freese and Wing, 2003; Bright, 2007; Baillon et al., 2012; Henderson et al., 2020). Off the U.S. West Coast, threats to these long-lived, fragile organisms from bottom contact fishing gear, potential offshore renewable energy development, and ocean warming and acidification have been the subject of recent research (Gomez et al., 2018; Salgado et al., 2018; Yoklavich, et al., 2018; Gugliotti et al., 2019). Other DSCS studies have reported new species (Yoklavich and Love, 2005), analyzed species distribution and abundance (Tissot et al., 2006, Watters et al., 2022), developed predictive distribution models (Huff et al., 2013; Rooper et al., 2017; Kreidler, 2020), and discovered medicinal uses for corals and sponges (Essack et al., 2011; Shrestha et al., 2018). Due to the vast area of unexplored seafloor within the territorial waters and the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ; 12-200 nautical miles off the coast) and the technological requirements and expense of deep-sea research, there is still much to learn about the distributions and biology of DSCS. This information is critical to resource managers for effective conservation and management of DSCS habitats. In order to minimize the adverse impacts of fishing on EFH, the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) designated several seafloor habitat areas as EFH conservation areas (EFHCA), first in 2006 (as part of Amendment 19 to the Pacific coast groundfish fishery management plan) and then again in 2020 (as part of Amendment 28). These areas are closed to bottom trawl fishing at a minimum, and in some cases to all bottom contact fishing gears. In addition to protections afforded by EFH-related regulations, the National Marine Sanctuary Program prohibits certain non-fishing activities within areas designated as national marine sanctuaries, such as oil and gas exploration or extraction, cable laying, and other forms of seabed alteration or construction that disturb benthic communities. NOAA’s Deep-Sea Coral and Research Technology Program (DSCRTP) began a 4-yr funding initiative for the U.S. West Coast in 2017. The goals of the West Coast Deep-Sea Coral Initiative (WCDSCI) were to: 1) gather baseline information on areas subject to fishing regulation changes prior to the implementation of Amendment 28; 2) improve our understanding of known DSCS bycatch “hot spots”; and 3) explore and assess DSCS resources within NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries with emphasis on areas of sanctuary resource protection and management concerns. As part of the WCDSCU, an 11-day expedition (3 Sep – 13 Sep 2022) was launched from the NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada, beginning and ending in Newport, OR. The science team assembled for this cruise were members of the EXpanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems (EXPRESS) campaign, which brings together researchers from federal and nonfederal institutions to collaborate on scientific expeditions targeting the deepwater areas off California, Oregon, and Washington. EXPRESS supports researchers leveraging funding, resources, personnel, and expertise to accomplish more science than would have been possible by a single entity alone. The 2022 expedition included research partners from National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) and Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Fisheries Management Council Habitat Committee, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Report↗
USGS2008

High-Resolution Digital Terrain Models of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta Region, California

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Western Region Geographic Science Center, in conjunction with the USGS Water Resources Western Branch of Regional Research, has developed a high-resolution elevation dataset covering the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta region of California. The elevation data were compiled photogrammically from aerial photography (May 2002) with a scale of 1:15,000. The resulting dataset has a 10-meter horizontal resolution grid of elevation values. The vertical accuracy was determined to be 1 meter. Two versions of the elevation data are available: the first dataset has all water coded as zero, whereas the second dataset has bathymetry data merged with the elevation data. The projection of both datasets is set to UTM Zone 10, NAD 1983. The elevation data are clipped into files that spatially approximate 7.5-minute USGS quadrangles, with about 100 meters of overlap to facilitate combining the files into larger regions without data gaps. The files are named after the 7.5-minute USGS quadrangles that cover the same general spatial extent. File names that include a suffix (_b) indicate that the bathymetry data are included (for example, sac_east versus sac_east_b). These files are provided in ESRI Grid format.

Data Series↗
USGS2012

Groundwater quality in the Coastal Los Angeles Basin, California

The Coastal Los Angeles Basin study unit is approximately 860 square miles and consists of the Santa Monica, Hollywood, West Coast, Central, and Orange County Coastal Plain groundwater basins (California Department of Water Resources, 2003). The basins are bounded in part by faults, including the Newport-Inglewood fault zone, and are filled with Holocene-, Pleistocene-, and Pliocene-age marine and alluvial sediments. The Central Basin and Orange County Coastal Plain are divided into a forebay zone on the northeast and a pressure zone in the center and southwest. The forebays consist of unconsolidated coarser sediment, and the pressure zones are characterized by lenses of coarser sediment divided into confined to semi-confined aquifers by lenses of finer sediments. The primary aquifer system in the study unit is defined as those parts of the aquifer system corresponding to the perforated intervals of wells listed in the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) database of public-supply wells. The majority of public-supply wells are drilled to depths of 510 to 1,145 feet, consist of solid casing from the land surface to a depth of about 300 to 510 feet, and are perforated below the solid casing. Water quality in the primary aquifer system may differ from that in the shallower and deeper parts of the aquifer systems.

California↗
USGS1981

Ground-water quality along the Mojave River near Barstow, California, 1974-79

The quality of ground water in the alluvium along the usually dry Mojave River near Barstow, Calif., has been monitored since 1974. Degradation has occurred as a result of wastewater discharge and irrigation return. Characteristics of the degraded ground water include concentrations of dissolved solids exceeding 1,000 milligrams per liter, odor threshold numbers exceeding 5, dissolved organic carbon exceeding 2.0 milligrams per liter, chloride exceeding 250 milligrams per liter, phenols exceeding 1 microgram per liter, and methylene blue active substances exceeding 0.20 milligram per liter. Large flows in the river during the winters of 1977-78 and 1978-79 recharged the aquifer with water from storm runoff. The ground-water-quality monitoring data showed that few changes in the concentration and distribution of chemical constituents occurred between 1974 and 1977, but between 1977 and 1979 there were overall decreases in most constituents and in odor. The monitoring data also showed that between 1977 and 1979 the degraded ground water spread and moved downgradient, whereas prior to 1977 it had been generally confined to an area between Barstow and the U.S. Marine Corps Supply Center. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2017

Water-resources and land-surface deformation evaluation studies at Fort Irwin National Training Center, Mojave Desert, California

The U.S. Army Fort Irwin National Training Center (NTC), in the Mojave Desert, obtains all of its potable water supply from three groundwater basins (Irwin, Langford, and Bicycle) within the NTC boundaries (fig. 1; California Department of Water Resources, 2003). Because of increasing water demands at the NTC, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army, completed several studies to evaluate water resources in the developed and undeveloped groundwater basins underlying the NTC. In all of the developed basins, groundwater withdrawals exceed natural recharge, resulting in water-level declines. However, artificial recharge of treated wastewater has had some success in offsetting water-level declines in Irwin Basin. Additionally, localized water-quality changes have occurred in some parts of Irwin Basin as a result of human activities (i.e., wastewater disposal practices, landscape irrigation, and/or leaking pipes). As part of the multi-faceted NTC-wide studies, traditional datacollection methods were used and include lithological and geophysical logging at newly drilled boreholes, hydrologic data collection (i.e. water-level, water-quality, aquifer tests, wellbore flow). Because these data cover a small portion of the 1,177 square-mile (mi2 ) NTC, regional mapping, including geologic, gravity, aeromagnetic, and InSAR, also were done. In addition, ground and airborne electromagnetic surveys were completed and analyzed to provide more detailed subsurface information on a regional, base-wide scale. The traditional and regional ground and airborne data are being analyzed and will be used to help develop preliminary hydrogeologic framework and groundwater-flow models in all basins. This report is intended to provide an overview of recent water-resources and land-surface deformation studies at the NTC.

California↗
USGS2021

A characterization of deep-sea coral and sponge communities along the California and Oregon coast using a remotely operated vehicle on the EXPRESS 2018 expedition

Deep-sea coral and sponge (DSCS) communities serve as essential fish habitats (EFH) by providing shelter and nursery habitat, increasing diversity, and increasing prey availability (Freese and Wing, 2003; Bright, 2007; Baillon et al., 2012; Henderson et al., 2020). Threats to these long-lived, fragile organisms from bottom contact fishing gear, potential offshore renewable energy development, and ocean warming and acidification have increased the need for DSCS research along the U.S. West Coast (Gomez et al., 2018; Salgado et al., 2018; Yoklavich, et al., 2018; Gugliotti et al., 2019). The focus of these studies has varied from species distribution and abundance (Yoklavich and Love, 2005; Tissot et al., 2006) to developing and validating predictive distribution models (Huff et al., 2013; Rooper et al., 2017; Kreidler, 2020) to finding medicinal uses for corals and sponges (Essack et al., 2011; Shrestha et al., 2018). Due to the vast area of unexplored seafloor within the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ; 200 nautical miles off the coast) and the technological requirements and expanse of deep-sea research, there is still much to learn about the distributions and biology of DSCS. This information is critical to resource managers for effective conservation and management of DSCS habitats. Protections are provided by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) designation of groundfish EFH conservation areas (EFHCA) and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act (NMSA). Areas designated as EFHCA are closed to bottom trawl fishing to protect and preserve seafloor habitats. Recently the PFMC adopted Amendment 28 to the Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (GFMP; Pacific Fishery Management Council, 2019) which modified EFHCAs by closing new areas identified as vulnerable and reopening areas deemed not vulnerable. The NMSA prohibits bottom disturbance from certain activities within areas designated as national marine sanctuaries, such as oil and gas exploration or extraction, cable laying, and other forms of seabed alteration or construction that disturb benthic communities. NOAA’s Deep-Sea Coral and Research Technology Program (DSCRTP) began a 4-yr funding initiative for the U.S. West Coast in 2017. The goals of the West Coast Deep-Sea Coral Initiative (WCDSCI) were to: 1) gather baseline information on areas subject to fishing regulation changes prior to the implementation of Amendment 28; 2) improve our understanding of known DSCS bycatch “hot spots”; and 3) explore and assess DSCS resources within NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries with emphasis on areas of sanctuary resource protection and management concerns. During the first year of the program, a research cruise was developed to survey the West Coast from Oregon to California studying the DSCS ecosystems in priority areas. The 31-day expedition (9 Oct – 8 Nov, 2018) was launched from the NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada, beginning in Newport, OR and ending in San Diego, CA. The science team assembled for this cruise were members of the EXpanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems (EXPRESS) campaign, which brings together researchers from federal and nonfederal institutions to collaborate on scientific expeditions targeting the deepwater areas off California, Oregon, and Washington. EXPRESS supports researchers leveraging funding, resources, personnel, and expertise to accomplish more science than would have been possible by a single entity alone. The 2018 coastwide expedition included research partners from National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) and Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), National Ocean Service (Channel Islands, Cordell Bank, Greater Farallones, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Research objectives for the cruise were to: 1) Collect DSCS baseline information at 10 of the EFHCA sites undergoing protection modifications by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. 2) Collect DSCS and fish data at previously unexplored sites within West Coast National Marine Sanctuaries. 3) Revisit a subset of previously surveyed sites to document if changes in DCSC have occurred over time. 4) Collect information to validate BOEM supported cross-shelf habitat suitability models for DSCS. 5) Collect samples to help in identifying (and understanding) West Coast DSCS and expand use of new technologies (ROV, AUV, and environmental DNA [eDNA]). 6) Collect water samples for coastwide eDNA, nutrient, and carbon chemistry studies.

California, Oregon↗
USGS2022

Nevada and Landsat

Nevada’s geography is colorful—and contradictory. As one of the most mountainous States, Nevada shares the country’s second-deepest lake, Lake Tahoe, with neighboring California. It is also the driest State and largely covered by desert. Northern Nevada has long, cold winters, whereas the south has long, hot summers. It is the seventh-largest State, but it ranks in the bottom one-half of States for population. More than 72 percent of its 3.1 million residents live in the Las Vegas area. In Nevada, the desert is not dull. An extraordinary variety of wildflowers bloom in the spring, and other plants include mesquite, cacti, creosote, and yucca such as Joshua trees ( Yucca brevifolia ). Sagebrush ( Artemisia tridentata ) is more than the State flower; it is a hardy, enduring shrub foundational to a vast ecosystem in the Great Basin that feeds and shelters hundreds of wildlife species. The Silver State has a strong mining tradition, and agriculture centers around livestock ranching and irrigated crops. Although mining and agriculture once formed the base of Nevada’s economy, tourism now leads the way, mostly from gambling and entertainment in Las Vegas, Reno, and other cities. Water is a critical resource for supporting residents, visitors, and industries, and Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam on the Colorado River supplies most of it for southern Nevada. Nevada has significant natural resources, but they face threats—especially in a warming climate. Here are a few ways Landsat benefits Nevada.

Nevada↗
USGS2013

A natural resource condition assessment for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Appendix 22: climatic change

Climate is a master controller of the structure, composition, and function of biotic communities, affecting them both directly, through physiological effects, and indirectly, by mediating biotic interactions and by influencing disturbance regimes. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park’s (SEKI’s) dramatic elevational changes in biotic communities -- from warm mediterranean to cold alpine -- are but one manifestation of climate’s overarching importance in shaping SEKI’s landscape. Yet humans are now altering the global climate, with measurable effects on ecosystems (IPCC 2007). Over the last few decades across the western United States, human-induced climatic changes have likely contributed to observed declines in fraction of precipitation falling as snow and snowpack water content (Mote et al. 2005, Knowles et al. 2006), advance in spring snowmelt (Stewart et al. 2005, Barnett et al. 2008), and consequent increase in area burned in wildfires (Westerling et al. 2006). In the Sierra Nevada, warming temperatures have likely contributed to observed glacial recession (Basagic 2008), uphill migration of small mammals (Moritz et al. 2008), and increasing tree mortality rates (van Mantgem and Stephenson 2007, van Mantgem et al. 2009). More substantial changes can be expected for the future (e.g., IPCC 2007). Given the central importance of climate and climatic changes, we sought to describe long-term trends in temperature and precipitation at SEKI. Time and budget constraints limited us to analyses of mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation, using readily-available data. If funds become available in the future, further analyses will be needed to analyze trends by season, trends in daily minimum and maximum temperatures, and so on. We chose to analyze data from individual weather stations rather than use interpolated climatic data from sources such as PRISM (http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu/). In topographically complex mountainous regions with few weather stations, like SEKI, the addition or subtraction of even a single weather station through time has the potential to significantly bias trends in interpolated data. In particular, this analysis was motivated by our questioning of some PRISM results presented in Appendix 1 (Landscape Context) that compared temperature averages between two 30-year periods of the 20th Century. Figures 6 and 11 of Appendix 1 indicate that recent (1971-2000) temperatures in northern Kings Canyon National Park averaged some 2° C cooler than those of 1911-1940. This would represent a truly profound and persistent cooling, and seems to be at odds both with the glacial retreats observed in the area over the century (Basagic 2008), and with the reported PRISM warming of nearly 2° C just to the west of the cooling (see Figs. 6 and 11 in Appendix 1). We suspect that the extreme localized Kings Canyon cooling reported by PRISM is an artifact of sparsely-distributed weather stations in the region being added and discontinued over the span of the 20th Century. For example, data from the Western Regional Climate Center (http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/coopmap/) suggest that for the period 1911 through 1924 PRISM must interpolate northern Kings Canyon temperatures based on a few low-elevation stations -- separated by hundreds of kilometers -- in Nevada and California’s San Joaquin Valley. In contrast, by 1970 PRISM interpolations will be dominated by closer, higher-elevation stations (see this report). The single weather station closest to northern Kings Canyon that has a temperature record at least partly spanning Appendix 1’s two 30-year time periods -- the Independence station, with a relatively continuous temperature record starting in 1925 -- shows a modest warming, not a cooling, between 1925-1940 and 1971-2000, further casting doubt on the Kings Canyon cooling shown in Figs. 6 and 11 of Appendix 1. If funds become available, it will be useful to more formally analyze potential PRISM biases in long-term SEKI climatic trends. Until then, the analyses of individual weather station records presented here (effectively an analysis of source data that PRISM uses) are meant to provide a robust summary of climatic changes in SEKI.

California↗