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At least 1,351 records · Page 75Linked to original sources

USGS2001

Assessment of microbiological contamination of the Jacks Fork within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri—phase I

The Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR), the Nation's first scenic riverway, was created by an Act of Congress (Public Law 88-492) on August 24, 1964, for "the purpose of conserving and interpreting unique scenic and other natural values and objects of historic interest, including preservation of parts of the Current River and the Jacks Fork River in Missouri as free-flowing streams, preservation of springs and caves, management of wildlife, and provisions for use and enjoyment of the outdoor recreation resources thereof by the people of the United States" (National Park Service, 1981). The primary natural resources protected by the park are 134 miles of the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers. About 1.5 million people visit the ONSR annually to take advantage of excellent recreational opportunities, including canoeing, johnboating, swimming, fishing, tubing, camping, hiking, caving, horseback riding, and hunting.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2025

Assessing streams in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed to guide conservation and restoration activities

Freshwater streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are home to numerous aquatic organisms (like fish, amphibians, mussels, and insects) and provide drinking water and recreational opportunities to people living in or visiting the watershed. Land-use changes, such as urban development and increased activities in certain agricultural sectors, have degraded water quality and altered conditions in these streams, thereby affecting their health and function. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working with Federal, State, and local partners to develop modeled assessments of stream health in freshwater streams and rivers within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The USGS compiled large datasets for multiple stream health indicators, including instream stressors (salinity, water temperature, physical habitat, and streambank erosion) and living resources (macroinvertebrates and fish communities; fig. 1). These datasets were used by USGS scientists to develop models to predict stream health conditions across the entire region, including areas with little or no monitoring data. Collectively, these stream health assessments provide critical information to natural resource managers who implement restoration and conservation activities in the region.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed↗

USGS1976

Nature . . . an environmental yardstick

To one who has spent his professional career in geologic science, conservation always has had special meaning. In the measurements so necessary to his work the geologist develops an integrity in the use of numbers and in the qualifications attending the validity of numbers. Scientific analysis of geologic events and sequence develops a keen sense of what is coincidental, correlative, and consequential. The geologist applies his science in evaluating hazards to man as natural catastrophes and/or benefits to man such as earth materials that form the resource base of his society. But more than these the geologist has acquired a deep appreciation for the planet as a whole, its inner structure, its landscape, and the living things that abound.

Information and Technology Report↗

USGS2008

Hydrologic modeling strategy for the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Africa

The government of Mauritania is interested in how to maintain hydrologic balance to ensure a long-term stable water supply for minerals-related, domestic, and other purposes. Because of the many complicating and competing natural and anthropogenic factors, hydrologists will perform quantitative analysis with specific objectives and relevant computer models in mind. Whereas various computer models are available for studying water-resource priorities, the success of these models to provide reliable predictions largely depends on adequacy of the model-calibration process. Predictive analysis helps us evaluate the accuracy and uncertainty associated with simulated dependent variables of our calibrated model. In this report, the hydrologic modeling process is reviewed and a strategy summarized for future Mauritanian hydrologic modeling studies.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1977

Ground-water data for Michigan, 1976

The purpose of this report is to make available the records of water levels in principal aquifers of the State through 1976 and to compile related data, such as records of ground-water pumpage. Also included in the report are data on municipal, public, and industrial water-supply facilities. Records of water levels in areas of heavy pumpage and in areas where changes are principally due to natural influences are illustrated or tabulated to allow comparison between these types of water-level fluctuations. Water levels and related data provide a record for the evaluation of available ground-water supplies. The long-term records serve as a framework to which short-term records may be related. This report is written for persons, municipalities, industries, institutions, consultants, drillers, and hydrologists interested in the groundwater resources of the State.

Michigan↗

USGS2006

Development of a Precipitation-Runoff Model to Simulate Unregulated Streamflow in the Salmon Creek Basin, Okanogan County, Washington

Surface water has been diverted from the Salmon Creek Basin for irrigation purposes since the early 1900s, when the Bureau of Reclamation built the Okanogan Project. Spring snowmelt runoff is stored in two reservoirs, Conconully Reservoir and Salmon Lake Reservoir, and gradually released during the growing season. As a result of the out-of-basin streamflow diversions, the lower 4.3 miles of Salmon Creek typically has been a dry creek bed for almost 100 years, except during the spring snowmelt season during years of high runoff. To continue meeting the water needs of irrigators but also leave water in lower Salmon Creek for fish passage and to help restore the natural ecosystem, changes are being considered in how the Okanogan Project is operated. This report documents development of a precipitation-runoff model for the Salmon Creek Basin that can be used to simulate daily unregulated streamflows. The precipitation-runoff model is a component of a Decision Support System (DSS) that includes a water-operations model the Bureau of Reclamation plans to develop to study the water resources of the Salmon Creek Basin. The DSS will be similar to the DSS that the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey developed previously for the Yakima River Basin in central southern Washington. The precipitation-runoff model was calibrated for water years 1950-89 and tested for water years 1990-96. The model was used to simulate daily streamflows that were aggregated on a monthly basis and calibrated against historical monthly streamflows for Salmon Creek at Conconully Dam. Additional calibration data were provided by the snowpack water-equivalent record for a SNOTEL station in the basin. Model input time series of daily precipitation and minimum and maximum air temperatures were based on data from climate stations in the study area. Historical records of unregulated streamflow for Salmon Creek at Conconully Dam do not exist for water years 1950-96. Instead, estimates of historical monthly mean unregulated streamflow based on reservoir outflows and storage changes were used as a surrogate for the missing data and to calibrate and test the model. The estimated unregulated streamflows were corrected for evaporative losses from Conconully Reservoir (about 1 ft3/s) and ground-water losses from the basin (about 2 ft3/s). The total of the corrections was about 9 percent of the mean uncorrected streamflow of 32.2 ft3/s (23,300 acre-ft/yr) for water years 1949-96. For the calibration period, the basinwide mean annual evapotranspiration was simulated to be 19.1 inches, or about 83 percent of the mean annual precipitation of 23.1 inches. Model calibration and testing indicated that the daily streamflows simulated using the precipitation-runoff model should be used only to analyze historical and forecasted annual mean and April-July mean streamflows for Salmon Creek at Conconully Dam. Because of the paucity of model input data and uncertainty in the estimated unregulated streamflows, the model is not adequately calibrated and tested to estimate monthly mean streamflows for individual months, such as during low-flow periods, or for shorter periods such as during peak flows. No data were available to test the accuracy of simulated streamflows for lower Salmon Creek. As a result, simulated streamflows for lower Salmon Creek should be used with caution. For the calibration period (water years 1950-89), both the simulated mean annual streamflow and the simulated mean April-July streamflow compared well with the estimated uncorrected unregulated streamflow (UUS) and corrected unregulated streamflow (CUS). The simulated mean annual streamflow exceeded UUS by 5.9 percent and was less than CUS by 2.7 percent. Similarly, the simulated mean April-July streamflow exceeded UUS by 1.8 percent and was less than CUS by 3.1 percent. However, streamflow was significantly undersimulated during the low-flow, baseflow-dominated months of November through F

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2010

Hydrogeomorphic segments and hydraulic microhabitats of the Niobrara River, Nebraska— With special emphasis on the Niobrara National Scenic River

The Niobrara River is an ecologically and economically important resource in Nebraska. The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources’ recent designation of the hydraulically connected surface- and groundwater resources of the Niobrara River Basin as “fully appropriated” has emphasized the importance of understanding linkages between the physical and ecological dynamics of the Niobrara River so it can be sustainably managed. In cooperation with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the U.S. Geological Survey investigated the hydrogeomorphic and hydraulic attributes of the Niobrara River in northern Nebraska. This report presents the results of an analysis of hydrogeomorphic segments and hydraulic microhabitats of the Niobrara River and its valley for the approximately 330-mile reach from Dunlap Diversion Dam to its confluence with the Missouri River. Two spatial scales were used to examine and quantify the hydrogeomorphic segments and hydraulic microhabitats of the Niobrara River: a basin scale and a reach scale. At the basin scale, digital spatial data and hydrologic data were analyzed to (1) test for differences between 36 previously determined longitudinal hydrogeomorphic segments; (2) quantitatively describe the hydrogeomorphic characteristics of the river and its valley; and (3) evaluate differences in hydraulic microhabitat over a range of flow regimes among three fluvial geomorphic provinces. The statistical analysis of hydrogeomorphic segments resulted in reclassification rates of 3 to 28 percent of the segments for the four descriptive geomorphic elements. The reassignment of classes by discriminant analysis resulted in a reduction from 36 to 25 total hydrogeomorphic segments because several adjoining segments shared the same ultimate class assignments. Virtually all of the segment mergers were in the Canyons and Restricted Bottoms (CRB) fluvial geomorphic province. The most frequent classes among hydrogeomorphic segments, and the dominant classes per unit length of river, are: a width-restricted valley confinement condition, sinuous-planview pattern, irregular channel width, and an alternate bar configuration. The Niobrara River in the study area flows through a diversity of fluvial geomorphic settings in its traverse across northern Nebraska. In the Meandering Bottoms (MB) fluvial geomorphic province, river discharge magnitudes are low, and the valley exerts little control on the channel-planview pattern. Within the CRB province, the river flows over a diversity of geologic formations, and the valley and river narrow and expand in approximate synchronicity. In the Braided Bottoms (BB) fluvial geomorphic province, the river primarily flows over Cretaceous Pierre Shale, the valley and channel are persistently wide, and the channel slope is generally uniform. The existence of vegetated islands and consequent multithread channel environments, indicated by a higher braided index, mostly coincided with reaches having gentler slopes and less unit stream power. Longitudinal hydrology curves indicate that the flow of the Niobrara River likely is dominated by groundwater as far downstream as Norden. Unit stream power values in the study area vary between 0 and almost 2 pounds per foot per second. Within the MB province, unit stream power steadily increases as the Niobrara gains discharge from groundwater inflow, and the channel slope steepens. The combination of steep slopes, a constrained channel width, and persistent flow within the CRB province results in unit stream power values that are between three and five times greater than those in less confined segments with comparable or greater discharges. With the exception of hydrogeomorphic segment 3, which is affected by Spencer Dam, unit stream power values in the BB province are generally uniform. Channel sinuosity values in the study area varied generally between 1 and 2.5, but with locally higher values measured in the MB province and at the entrenched bedrock meanders of hydrogeomorphic segment 18 in the CRB province. The differences in channel morphology and hydraulic geometries between fluvial geomorphic provinces are evident in the types, relative abundance, and response of hydraulic microhabitats to changing discharges. The four gaging stations chosen for hydraulic microhabitat analysis are distributed among three different fluvial geomorphic provinces. In the MB province, the smaller channel and lower discharges resulted in the dominance of shallow and intermediate-depth hydraulic environments with the vast majority of hydraulic microhabitat restricted to shallow categories even during upper-decile discharges. In the CRB province, intermediate depth hydraulic conditions, particularly intermediate-swift, dominate over all ranges of discharge. Hydraulic microhabitat conditions were most diverse in the BB province, with most hydraulic microhabitat categories present over the entire range of discharges analyzed. The calculated differences in hydraulic microhabitat distributions, abundance, and adjustments between streamflow-gaging stations were the result of differences in physical structure of the channel and subsequent channel hydraulic geometry. At the reach scale, field measurements made in water years 2008 and 2009 in four study reaches within the Scenic Reach were used to (1) characterize the elevation and geomorphic processes associated with fluvial landforms, (2) build hydraulic geometry relations, (3) examine flow hydraulics over a range of discharges, and (4) examine the types and responses of hydraulic microhabitats to a range of flow magnitudes. Four landform groups were identified and named in order of increasing elevation: low flood plains, intermediate flood plains, low terraces, and high terraces. The terraces were poorly characterized because the surveys did not extend across the full width of the alluvial valley bottom. The two lowest fluvial landforms are likely active in the modern hydroclimatic regime. Sediment samples obtained in the study reaches indicate that the primary bed material in the active channel ranged in size from coarse silt to coarse sand. Grain-size distributions from samples also indicate that the bed of the Niobrara River among the study reaches coarsens and has increasing grainsize variability in the downstream direction. Values of at-a-station hydraulic geometry exponents indicate that the Niobrara River in the study reaches adjusts its geometry to changing discharges primarily through increases in flow depth and velocity. Relations at one cross section indicated that, at least locally, changes in width were also an important channel adjustment mechanism. Hydraulic behavior over the range of flows measured was not consistent among all study reaches, but two general modes of hydraulic behavior were observed in the reaches with substantial coverage of the bed by fine sediment. At the Sunny Brook and Muleshoe study reaches, average boundary-shear stress remained approximately constant, and hydraulic resistance decreased, for discharges below 900 cubic feet per second (ft 3 /s). Above 900 ft 3 /s, average boundary shear stress and hydraulic resistance both increased. The Rock Barn study reach did not exhibit the same two-mode hydraulic behavior observed at the Sunny Brook and Muleshoe reaches. The coincident increase in boundary shear stress above 900 ft 3 /s observed at the Sunny Brook and Muleshoe study reaches represents a potential hydraulic threshold above which bedload transport rates were likely to increase markedly. No consistent bed-adjustment pattern (scour or fill) was identified in the study reaches over the range of flows or over the measurement season. Analysis of hydraulic microhabitats over the range of discharges measured at the study reaches indicates that some percentage of most habitat niche categories was available for at least one discharge condition, but the majority of hydraulic habitat available was within the intermediate-swift and deepswift habitat niche categories. Deep-swift conditions dominated nearly all study reaches under all measured discharge conditions. Slight differences in habitat distributions were observed between the study reaches with substantial coverage of the bed by fine sediment—Sunny Brook, Muleshoe, and Rock Barn—and the bedrock-dominated reach, Crooked Creek. Although the four study reaches occupy three different hydrogeomorphic segments, the types, relative abundance, and response of hydraulic microhabitat niche distributions to changing discharge conditions generally were similar among all reaches.

Nebraska↗

USGS2012

Status of groundwater quality in the San Fernando--San Gabriel study unit, 2005--California GAMA Priority Basin Project

Groundwater quality in the approximately 460-square-mile San Fernando--San Gabriel (FG) study unit was investigated as part of the Priority Basin Project of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The study area is in Los Angeles County and includes Tertiary-Quaternary sedimentary basins situated within the Transverse Ranges of southern California. The GAMA Priority Basin Project is being conducted by the California State Water Resources Control Board in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The GAMA FG study was designed to provide a spatially unbiased assessment of the quality of untreated (raw) groundwater in the primary aquifer systems (hereinafter referred to as primary aquifers) throughout California. The assessment is based on water-quality and ancillary data collected in 2005 by the USGS from 35 wells and on water-quality data from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) database. The primary aquifers were defined by the depth interval of the wells listed in the CDPH database for the FG study unit. The quality of groundwater in primary aquifers may be different from that in the shallower or deeper water-bearing zones; shallow groundwater may be more vulnerable to surficial contamination. This study assesses the status of the current quality of the groundwater resource by using data from samples analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), pesticides, and naturally occurring inorganic constituents, such as major ions and trace elements. This status assessment is intended to characterize the quality of groundwater resources in the primary aquifers of the FG study unit, not the treated drinking water delivered to consumers by water purveyors.

California↗

USGS1973

Reconnaissance of water quality in the vicinity of Sunniland Oil Field, Collier County, Florida, 1971-72

Oil exploration in Florida began around the turn of the century in Escambia County (Gunter, 1949). Many test wells were drilled from 1900 until Humble Oil and Refining Company developed Florida's first producing well (Gulf Coast Realties Corp. No. 1) in September 1943 at Sunniland. (See fig. 1.) The first production well was drilled to 11,626 feet below sea level and had an initial production of 97 barrels of oil per day. Since this first well was developed many more have been drilled in the Sunniland field, and at this time (1973) 17 wells are producing about 50,000 barrels of oil per month (W. R. Oglesby, written commun., 1972). The Sunniland field, in north central Collier County, remained the chief oil producing field in Florida until 1966 when the Sunoco-Felda field, about 20 miles north of the Sunniland field, began producing more oil (Babcock, 1970). Oil produced in both fields is transported by pipeline to Port Everglades, on the east coast. Anticipation of oil exploration in the Big Cypress area (fig. 1) aroused concern the effects a producing field would have on the quality of surface water in the area. The Florida Department of Natural Resources requested the U.S. Geological Survey to determine whether there have been any such effects. The 29-year old Sunniland oil field was chosen for this preliminary evaluation. A second phase of the investigation was to monitor the effects of building roads, drilling operations and other exploratory activities related to development of an oil field, on the quality of surface water in the areas of proposed exploration. This report presents the results of the first phase.

Florida↗

USGS1992

Sediment properties and water movement through shallow unsaturated alluvium at an arid site for disposal of low-level radioactive waste near Beatty, Nye County, Nevada

A commercial disposal facility for low-level radioactive waste has been in operation near Beatty, Nevada, since 1962. The facility is in the arid Amargosa Desert where wastes are buried in trenches excavated into unsaturated alluvial sediments. Thick unsaturated zones in arid environments offer many potential advantages for disposal of radioactive wastes, but little is known about the natural movement of water near such facilities. Thus, a study was begun in 1982 to better define the direction and rates of water movement through the unsaturated zone in undisturbed sediments near the disposal facility. This report discusses the analyses of data collected between 1983 and 1988.

Nevada↗

USGS1995

Structure of the basins and ranges, Southwest New Mexico, an interpretation of seismic velocity sections

This report presents a geologic appraisal of seismic velocity sections that profile a total of 790 km in southwest New Mexico west of Las Cruces and south of Lordsburg and Deming. The present work outlines the contribution of these velocity sections to estimating areas favorable for mineral resource occurrences. Seismic refraction surveys are carried out with the initial goal of estimating the subsurface distribution of acoustic compressional velocity (Vp), which may ultimately be interpreted to provide information on lithology, geologic structure, and the occurrence of natural resources. The seismic sections presented here show velocity detail having dimensions of 100's to 1000's of meters to a depth of about 2.5 km, and across a net of traverses that profile most basins well as several ranges in the study area. Figure 1 shows the location of the seismic refraction lines. The lines are designated 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7; there is no line 6. The survey covers a broad swath of the southwest Basin and Range Province extending from the Arizona border eastward to the Rio Grande River, and from the Mexican border to about lat. 32° 30' N. Lines 1, 3, and 7 traverse the axis of basins in roughly northsouth directions; the remaining lines 2, 4, and 5 trend east-west and cross various ranges and basins. Seismic data that have been collected in this region include deep-crustal refraction traverses by university scientists and commercial seismic reflection profiles acquired for petroleum exploration. Results of deep-crustal refraction studies are reviewed to provide a regional setting for the higher resolution refraction data. Results from seismic reflection will not be discussed. Industry reflection data in the area are not generally available for non-proprietary use. The nearest reflection data publicly available are in the Socorro area, about 80 km north of the present study area (Brown and others, 1980). These data were acquired by the Consortium for Continental Reflection Profiling (COCORP), a public-supported research group, to investigate the possibility of magma beneath part of the Rio Grande valley. Up to 1978 there were about 36 deep borings in the region of southwest New Mexico (Thompson and others, 1978). This drilling resulted mainly from an evaluation of petroleum potential of the Pedrogosa basin which is an extensive area of Paleozoic subsidence in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico that accumulated about three kilometers of Paleozoic sedimentary rock (Zeller, 1965; Thompson and others, 1978). Of these drill holes, 25 are close enough to the present seismic sections to provide correlations of velocity to lithology, and to provide an estimate of the errors associated with depth-to-interface interpretations. This information is summarized prior to considering the implications of the seismic sections in detail. The major portion of the report centers around two plates: Plate I shows seismic lines and selected drill hole locations superimposed on gravity contours, and Plate II shows velocitysections with drill hole summaries. These plates provide the foundation for developing inferences on buried lithologic, structural, and mineral resources for the region.

New Mexico↗

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↗

USGS1981

An observation-well network concept as applied to North Carolina

A statewide observation-well program is proposed for North Carolina based on four networks of observation wells with different but clearly-defined objectives. These are referred to as the (1) climatic-effects network, (2) terrane-effects network, (3) local-effects network, and (4) areal-effects network. The characteristics of each network are related to natural and manmade stresses in aquifers, and the areas and hydrogeologic units in North Carolina where these networks are needed are identified. Formats for collection, processing, and publication of data from these networks are suggested.

North Carolina↗

USGS1995

Recharge to the surficial aquifer system in Lee and Hendry counties, Florida

Protection of ground-water recharge areas against contamination is of great interest in Florida, a State whose population depends heavily on ground water and that is experiencing rapid growth. The Florida Legislature is considering implementation of a tax incentive program to owners of high-rate recharge lands that remain undeveloped. High-rate recharge was arbitrarily set at 10 or more inches per year. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the South Florida Water Management District, conducted a study to investigate the efficacy of several methods for estimating recharge to the surficial aquifer system in southwestern Florida and to map recharge at a scale of 1:100,000. Four maps were constructed at a scale of 1:100,000 for Lee and Hendry Counties, depicting the configuration of the water table of the surficial aquifer system, direction of ground-water flow, general soil characteristics, and recharge rates. Point recharge rates calculated for 25 sites in Lee County from comparisons of chloride concentrations in precipitation and in water from the surficial aquifer system ranged from 0.6 to 9.0 inches per year. Local recharge rates estimated by increases in flow along theoretical flow tubes in the surficial aquifer system were 8.0 inches per year in a part of Lee County and 8.2 inches per year in a part of Hendry County. Information on oxygen isotopes in precipitation and water from the surficial aquifer system was used to verify that the source of chlorides in the aquifer system was from precipitation rather than upward leakage of saline water. Soil maps and general topographic and hydrologic considerations were used with calculated point and local recharge rates to regionalize rates throughout Lee and Hendry Counties. The areas of greatest recharge were found in soils of flatwoods and sloughs, which were assigned estimated recharge rates of 0 to 10 inches per year. Soils of swamps and sloughs were assigned values of 0 to 3.0 inches per year; soils of tidal areas and barrier islands, soils of the Everglades, and soils of sloughs and freshwater marshes were assigned values of 0 to 2.0 inches per year; lastly, soils of manmade areas were assigned values of 0.5 to 1.5 inches per year. Small isolated areas of high-rate recharge (greater than 10 inches per year) might exist in Lee and Hendry Counties, but the maximum rate calculated in this study was 9.0 inches per year. Despite low natural recharge rates, lowering of the water table through pumping or canalization could create a potential for induced recharge in excess of 10 inches per year in parts of Lee and Hendry Counties.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

USGS1997

Review of selected features of the natural system model, and suggestions for applications in south Florida

A study was conducted to review selected features of the Natural System Model, version 4.3. The Natural System Model is a regional-scale model that uses recent climatic data and estimates of historic vegetation and topography to simulate pre-canal-drainage hydrologic response in south Florida. Equations used to represent the hydrologic system and the numerical solution of these equations in the model were documented and reviewed. Convergence testing was performed using 1965 input data, and selected other aspects of the model were evaluated. Some conclusions from the evaluation of the Natural System Model include the following observations. Simulations were generally insensitive to the temporal resolution used in the model. However, reduction of the computational cell size from 2-mile by 2-mile to 2/3-mile by 2/3-mile resulted in a decrease in spatial mean ponding depths for October of 0.35 foot for a 3-hour time step. Review of the computer code indicated that there is no limit on the amount of water that can be transferred from the river system to the overland flow system, on the amount of seepage from the river to the ground-water system, on evaporation from the river system, or on evapotranspiration from the overland-flow system. Oscillations of 0.2 foot or less in simulated river stage were identified and attributed to a volume limiting function which is applied in solution of the overland-flow equations. The computation of the resistance coefficient is not consistent with the computation of overland-flow velocity. Ground-water boundary conditions do not always ensure a no-flow condition at the boundary. These inconsistencies had varying degrees of effects on model simulations, and it is likely that simulations longer than 1 year are needed to fully identify effects. However, inconsistencies in model formulations should not be ignored, even if the effects of such errors on model results appear to be small or have not been clearly defined. The Natural System Model can be a very useful tool for estimating pre-drainage hydrologic response in south Florida. The model includes all of the important physical processes needed to simulate a water balance. With a few exceptions, these hydrologic processes are represented in a reasonable manner using empirical, semiempirical, and mechanistic relations. The data sets that have been assembled to represent physical features, and hydrologic and meteorological conditions are quite extensive in their scope. Some suggestions for model application were made. Simulation results from the Natural System Model need to be interpreted on a regional basis, rather than cell by cell. The available evidence suggests that simulated water levels should be interpreted with about a plus or minus 1 foot uncertainty. It is probably not appropriate to use the Natural System Model to estimate pre-drainage discharges (as opposed to hydroperiods and water levels) at a particular location or across a set of adjacent computational cells. All simulated results for computational cells within about 10 miles of the model boundaries have a higher degree of uncertainty than results for the interior of the model domain. It is most appropriate to interpret the Natural System Model simulation results in connection with other available information. Stronger linkages between hydrologic inputs to the Everglades and the ecological response of the system would enhance restoration efforts.

Florida↗

USGS1974

Environmental impact analysis; the example of the proposed Trans-Alaska Pipeline

The environmental impact analysis made as required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for the proposed trans-Alaska pipeline included consideration of the (1) technologically complex and geographically extensive proposed project, (2) extremely different physical environments across Alaska along the proposed route and elsewhere in Alaska and in Canada along alternative routes, (3) socioeconomic environment of the State of Alaska, and (4) a wide variety of alternatives. The analysis was designed specifically to fit the project and environment that would be affected. The environment was divided into two general parts--natural physical systems and superposed socioeconomic systems--and those parts were further divided into discipline-oriented systems or components that were studied and analyzed by scientists of the appropriate discipline. Particular attention was given to potential feedback loops in the impact network and to linkages between the project's impacting effects and the environment. The results of the analysis as reported in the final environmental impact statement were that both unavoidable and threatened environmental impacts would result from construction, operation, and maintenance of the proposed pipeline system and the developments related to it. The principal unavoidable effects would be (1) disturbances of terrain, fish and wildlife habitat, and human environs, (2) the results of the discharge of effluent from the tanker-ballast-treatment facility into Port Valdez and of some indeterminate amount of oil released into the ocean from tank-cleaning operations at sea, and (3) the results associated with increased human pressures of all kinds on the environment. Other unavoidable effects would be those related to increase of State and Native Corporation revenues, accelerated cultural change of the Native population, and extraction of the oil and gas resource. The main threatened environmental effects would all be related to unintentional oil loss from the pipeline, from tankers, or in the oil field. Oil losses from the pipeline could be caused by direct or indirect effects of earthquakes, destructive sea waves, slope failure caused by natural or artificial processes, thaw-plug instability (in permafrost), differential settlement of permafrost terrain, and bed scour and bank erosion at stream crossings. Oil loss from tankers could be caused by accidents during transfer operations at Valdez and at destination ports and by casualties involving tankers and other ships. Comparison of alternative routes and transportation systems and of their environmental impacts provided information which indicates to the author that one corridor containing both oil and gas pipelines would have less environmental impact than would separate corridors. Considering also the threat to the marine environment that any tanker system would impose and the threat that zones of high earthquake frequency and magnitude would impose on pipelines, it is apparent to the author that environmental impact and cost would be least for a single-corridor on-land route that avoided earthquake zones. The alternative trans-Alaska-Canada routes would meet these criteria. The decisions of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Congress, and the President of the United States in favor of the proposed trans-Alaska pipeline system indicate the relative weight given by the decision makers in balancing the importance of potential environmental consequences against the advantages to be derived from rapid resource development.

Circular↗

USGS2025

A synthesis engine for constructing geologic maps of the United States

The geologic history of the United States is cataloged in thousands of geologic maps produced during many decades. However, the disparate nature of these individual maps makes it challenging to assess resources, research geologic histories, or characterize natural hazards holistically across the Nation. The U.S. House of Representatives 2020 appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of the Interior (H.R. 116-100) requires the U.S. Geological Survey to “bring together detailed national and continental-resolution [two-dimensional] and [three-dimensional] information produced throughout the Survey and by [F]ederal and [S]tate partners.” In response to this directive, this report presents a compilation and synthesis of geologic maps across the United States in the form of a relational database. The synthesis database includes thematic maps that synthesize the Nation’s geology, and retains the original input maps as well as linkages to standardized vocabularies to aid the discoverability of geologic information. Specifically, the synthesis database is targeted toward producing four National-resolution maps for the conterminous United States: Quaternary geology, the geology at the Earth’s surface, pre-Quaternary geology, and Precambrian geology. In addition, the synthesis database includes the infrastructure necessary to expand to additional resolutions in the future.

conterminous United States↗

USGS2019

Quality of surface water in Missouri, water year 2018

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a network of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During water year 2018 (October 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018), water-quality data were collected at 76 stations: 74 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations and 2 U.S. Geological Survey National Stream Quality Assessment Network stations. Among the 76 stations in this report, 4 stations have data presented from additional sampling performed in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Summaries of the concentrations of dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature, suspended solids, suspended sediment, Escherichia coli bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, dissolved nitrate plus nitrite as nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved and total recoverable lead and zinc, and selected pesticide compounds are presented. Most of the stations have been classified based on the physiographic province or primary land use in the watershed monitored by the station. Some stations have been classified based on the unique hydrologic characteristics of the waterbodies (springs, large rivers) they monitor. A summary of hydrologic conditions including peak streamflows, monthly mean streamflows, and 7-day low flows also are presented for representative streamflow-gaging stations in the State.

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