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At least 1,279 records · Page 71Linked to original sources
USGS1971

Surface water supply of the United States, 1961-65, Part 13. Snake River basin

This volume is one of a series of 37 reports presenting records of stage, discharge, and content, of streams, lakes, and reservoirs in the United States during the 1961-65 water years. Since 1888, when the U.S. Geological Survey first studied streamflow in relation to problems of irrigation, similar records have been obtained at more than 17,500 gaging stations in the 50 States. On September 30, 1965, the Geological Survey and cooperating organizations were maintaining 9,100 gaging stations. Partial-record stations for low flow or for floodflow have been operated at many other points. The records for the 1961-65 water years at gaging stations and partial-record stations in the Snake River basin are given in this report.

Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming↗
USGS1972

Water supply for the Nuclear Rocket Development Station at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's Nevada Test Site

The Nuclear Rocket Development Station, in Jackass Flats, occupies about 123 square miles in the southwestern part of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's Nevada Test Site. Jackass Flats, an intermontane valley bordered by highlands on all sides except for a drainage outlet in the southwestern corner, has an average annual rainfall of 4 inches. Jackass Flats is underlain by alluvium, colluvium, and volcanic rocks of Cenozoic age and, at greater depth, by sedimentary rocks of Paleozoic age. The alluvium and the colluvium lie above the saturated zone throughout nearly all of Jackass Flats. The Paleozoic sedimentary rocks contain limestone and dolomite units that are excellent water producers elsewhere ; however, these units are too deep in Jackass Flats to be economic sources of water. The only important water-producing unit known in the vicinity of the Nuclear Rocket Development Station is a welded-tuff aquifer, the Topopah Spring Member of the Paintbrush Tuff, which receives no significant recharge. This member contains about 500 feet of highly fractured rock underlying an area 11 miles long and 3 miles wide in western Jackass Flats. Permeability of the aquifer is derived mostly from joints and fractures; however, some permeability may be derived from gas bubbles in the upper part of the unit. Transmissivity, obtained from pumping tests, ranges from 68,000 to 488,000 gallons per day per foot. Volume of the saturated part of the aquifer is about 3.5 cubic miles, and the average specific yield probably ranges from 1 to 5 percent. The volume of ground water in storage is probably within the range of 37-187 billion gallons. This large amount of water should be sufficient to supply the needs of the Nuclear Rocket Development Station for many years. Water at the Nuclear Rocket Development Station is used for public supply, construction, test-cell coolant, exhaust cooling, and thermal shielding during nuclear reactor and engine testing, and washdown. Present (1967) average consumption of water is 520,000 gallons per day--all supplied by one well. This supply well and a standby well have a production capability of 1.6 million gallons per day--adequate for present needs. Water in the welded-tuff aquifer is of the sodium bicarbonate type. Dissolved-solids content of the water in Jackass Flats is in the general range 230 milligrams per liter in the western part to 890 milligrams per liter in the eastern part.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1970

Streamflow in the upper Santa Cruz River basin, Santa Cruz and Pima Counties, Arizona

Streamflow records obtained in the upper Santa Cruz River basin of southern Arizona, United States, and northern Sonora, Mexico, have been analyzed to aid in the appraisal of the surface-water resources of the area. Records are available for 15 sites, and the length of record ranges from 60 years for the gaging station on the Santa .Cruz River at Tucson to 6 years for Pantano Wash near Vail. The analysis provides information on flow duration, low-flow frequency magnitude, flood-volume frequency and magnitude, and storage requirements to maintain selected draft rates. Flood-peak information collected from the gaging stations has been projected on a regional basis from which estimates of flood magnitude and frequency may be made for any site in the basin. Most streams in the 3,503-square-mile basin are ephemeral. Ground water sustains low flows only at Santa Cruz River near Nogales, Sonoita Creek near Patagonia, and Pantano Wash near Vail. Elsewhere, flow occurs only in direct response to precipitation. The median number of days per year in which there is no flow ranges from 4 at Sonoita Creek near Patagonia to 335 at Rillito Creek near Tomson. The streamflow is extremely variable from year to year, and annual flows have a coefficient of variation close to or exceeding unity at most stations. Although the amount of flow in the basin is small most of the time, the area is subject to floods. Most floods result from high-intensity precipitation caused by thunderstorms during the period ,July to September. Occasionally, when snowfall at the lower altitudes is followed by rain, winter floods produce large volumes of flow.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1972

Chemical quality of the water in the Tucson basin, Arizona

The Tucson basin is a broad mountain-rimmed area of about 1,000 square miles in the Basin and Range physiographic province in southeastern Arizona. The altitude ranges from 2,000 feet in the basin to as much as 8,000 feat in the mountains. The major streams in the area are the Santa Cruz River and its principal tributaries--Cafiada del Oro, Rillito Creek, and Pantano Wash. The climate is semiarid, and the distribution and amount of precipitation vary greatly. The potential evapotranspiration is about four times the average annual precipitation. The streamflow is of excellent chemical quality, although most of the flow occurs during floods and generally has large concentrations of suspended sediment. Because of the erratic occurrence and quantity of streamflow and because of the lack of surface-water storage reservoirs, all the water for municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses is obtained from the many wells that tap the permeable sedimentary deposits, which constitute the principal aquifer in the Tucson basin. The aquifer consists of three sedimentary formations that range in age from middle Tertiary to Quaternary. The aquifer is as much as 2,000 feet thick and is composed mainly of sand, gravel, sandstone, and conglomerate. The upper part of the aquifer is more permeable than the lower part, and most wells obtain water at depths of less than 700 feet below the land surface. Most ground water contains less than 500 mg/l (milligrams per liter) of dissolved solids and is of suitable chemical quality for most uses. The water to depths of as much as 700 feet is a calcium sodium bicarbonate type, is hard to moderately hard, and contains less than 1.0 mg/l fluoride. Water at greater depth is a sodium bicarbonate type, is soft, and is of excellent chemical quality; however, water below about 1,0.00 feet may contain fluoride in excess of the maximum allowable limit of 1.4 mg/l for public supply. The ground water of poorest quality for public supply is at shallow depths along the major streams, in the Pantano Formation along the northeast margin of the basin, at depth in gypsiferous mudstone, and along a narrow zone that trends northwestward across the basin. Water from these hydrologic environ- may contain as much as 500 mg/1 dissolved solids an4 in places may contain more than 1,000 mg/1 dissolved solids. The anomalously large concentrations of calcium, bicarbonate, nitrate and sulfate in the ground water along the major streams, where the water table is from 25 to 150 feet below the land surface, are the result of near-surface phenomena. The large concentrations of these ions are derived from solution of relict salts, which were deposited in marshes along the streams prior to about 1900 by infiltrating surface water. In the narrow zone the trends northwestward across the basin, the large concentrations of calcium and sulfate are the result of the solution of limestone and gypsiferous mudstone in the sedimentary rocks in the headwaters area of Pantano Wash. The largest nitrate concentrations occur in the ground water along the Santa Cruz River; the nitrate probably is derived from irrigation return water, decayed vegetation from the marshes that occupied parts of the channel prior to 1900, and sewage effluent. Anomalously large concentrations of sodium, sulfate, chloride, and fluoride occur in ground water along the Santa Cruz River near the major faults that displace the older formations. These anomalously large concentrations probably are derived from the upward leakage of deep water that has reacted with the gypsiferous mudstone in the center of the basin and moved along the faults into the near-surface deposits. In the Tucson basin the water is divided into seven chemical types based on the relative amount of four major ions--calcium, sodium, bicarbonate, and sulfate---and the absolute amount of chloride. Most of the water is either a calcium sodium bicarbonate or a sodium bicarbonate type. Gr

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1907

Pollution of Illinois and Mississippi Rivers by Chicago sewage, a digest of the testimony taken in the case of the State of Missouri v. the State of Illinois and the Sanitary District of Chicago

The testimony taken in the suit of the State of Missouri against the State of Illinois and the sanitary district of Chicago comprises the best symposium on river pollution, its biological and chemical aspects, and its general and special sanitary significance that has ever been assembled. The contentions of both parties to the suit' are supported by the most eminently qualified men in the United States. The evidence presented and the discussions recorded are therefore of unique importance. The final record of testimony occupies 8,000 printed pages, much of which is irrelevant. This digest of testimony is the result of an attempt to recover the valuable material and present it in concise form. A consistent endeavor has been made by the reviewer to eliminate all personal opinions with reference to the issue and to make an impartial presentation of so much of the testimony as in his opinion appears to be relevant and of scientific importance. It will be well to remember in this connection that any digest of so large a volume of testimony must be the result of a final exercise of personal opinion by the reviewer as to those parts which may best be excluded. Naturally opinions will differ on this point; therefore it will be strange if many of those familiar with the case do not find that certain portions of testimony which they consider most important are passed over in this digest without reference. Controversies between counsel, objections to the admission of testimony, legal technicalities and quibbles, badgering cross-examination, and in general all the testimony introduced for purposes of mere corroboration have been disregarded. The object has been to present a faithful statement of the scientific phases of the testimony to the exclusion, if need be, of the legal aspect of the case.

Illinois, Missouri↗