USGS Science⌕ Search

SEARCH · USGS Science

Results for “Water Supply Paper”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,405 records · Page 78Linked to original sources
USGS1980

Suspended-sediment discharge in five streams near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, before, during, and after highway construction

Rainfall, streamflow, sediment, and turbidity data were collected as part of a study to evaluate the effects of highway construction on suspended-sediment discharges in streams. The study was also designed to evaluate the effectiveness of different erosion-control measures in reducing sediment discharge. Although highway construction increased suspended-sediment discharges from two to four-fold, the rate of sediment discharge quickly returned to pre-construction levels when construction ended. The most effective sediment control evaluated was offstream ponds, which were designed to trap and store sediment laden water from the construction area. The offstream ponds trapped about 70 percent of the sediment that reached them during most storms. Seeding and mulching generally reduced sediment loads about 20 percent. Rock dams and bales reduced loads about 5 percent. An onstream pond, constructed on a large stream below the construction area, reduced sediment loads about 80 percent. However, unlike the offstream ponds, which stopped discharging runoff water soon after precipitation ended, the onstream pond kept discharging runoff water, and the stream below the pond remained turbid for extended periods.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1982

Geohydrologic appraisal of water resources of the South Fork, Long Island, New York

The ground-water resources of the South Fork of Long Island, N.Y., were investigated from April 1974 to September 1977. The study area encompasses 137 square miles and includes the eastern part of the Town of Southampton and the entire Town of East Hampton. The South Fork consists of a Paleozoic basement complex that is overlain by Cretaceous and Pleistocene sediments. The surficial material is composed of Late Wisconsinan glacial and glaciofluvial deposits in association with beach and marsh deposits of Recent age. Till underlies most of the eastern part of the South Fork. Precipitation is the sole source of fresh ground water on the South Fork. Average annual precipitation recorded at Bridgehampton from 1931-76 is 45 inches; about half this amount reaches the ground-water reservoir. It is estimated that overland runoff amounts to 0.5 inches per year, and evapotranspiration is 23 inches per year. Thus, recharge equals approximately 22 inches per year. Hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity of the Magothy (Cretaceous) and upper glacial (Pleistocene) aquifers on the South Fork were estimated from aquifer tests and specific-capacity data. The average horizontal hydraulic conductivity of the Magothy aquifer is 70 feet per day, and of the upper glacial aquifer 350 feet per day. Transmissivity of the Magothy aquifer on the South Fork ranges from 600 to 24,100 feet squared per day; transmissivity of the upper glacial aquifer ranges from 5,400 feet to 22,700 feet squared per day. No potable water is available from the underlying Lloyd aquifer. The position of the freshwater to saline-water interface is depicted in maps. In the southern part of the area, the freshwater reservoir follows the Ghyben-Herzberg principle, but in the northern part, the depth to interface is less than expected owing to a greater degree of anisotropy of the geologic units. Total public-supply pumpage on the South Fork is estimated to be about 3 Mgal/day, (million gallons per day). Public-supply withdrawals in 1976 averaged 2.75 Mgal/day; of this amount, 2.55 Mgal/day was withdrawn from the upper glacial aquifer, and 0.17 Mgal/day from the Magothy aquifer. Ground water and fresh surface water on the South Fork are generally of suitable quality for drinking and most other uses. However, some substances, for example, iron, chloride, and nitrate, may occur locally in objectionable concentrations.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1981

Geochemistry of spring water, southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

The chemical quality of water in the southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado, is important to the future development of the abundant oil-shale resources of the area. This report examines the observed changes in chemistry as water circulates in both shallow and deep ground-water systems. Mass-balance and mass- transfer calculations are used to define reactions that simulate the observed water chemistry in the mixed sandstone, siltstone, and carbonate lithology of the Green River Formation of Tertiary age. The mass-transfer calculations determine a reaction path particular to this system. The early dominance of calcite dissolution produces a calcium carbonate water. After calcite saturation, deeper circulation and further rock-water interaction cause the reprecipitation of calcite, the dissolution of dolomite and plagioclase, and the oxidation of pyrite; all combining to produce a calcium magnesium sodium bicarbonate sulfate water. The calculations suggest that silica concentrations are controlled by a kaolinite-Ca-montmorillonite phase boundary. Close agreement of mineral-saturation indices calculated by both an aqueous-equilibrium model and the mass-transfer model support the selection of reactions from the mass-transfer calculations.

Colorado, Utah↗
USGS1981

Tracing ground-water movement by using the stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen, upper Penitencia Creek alluvial fan, Santa Clara Valley, California

Starting in 1965 the Santa Clara Valley Water District began importing about i00,000 acre-feet per year of northern California water. About one-half of this water was used to artificially recharge the Upper Penitencia Creek alluvial fan in Santa Clara Valley. In order to determine the relative amounts of local ground water and recharged imported water being pumped from the wells, stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen were used to trace the movement of the imported water in the alluvial fan. To trace the movement of imported water in the Upper Penitencia Creek alluvial fan, well samples were selected to give areal and depth coverage for the whole fan. The stable isotopes of oxygen-16, oxygen-18, and deuterium were measured in the water samples of imported water and from the wells and streams in the Santa Clara Valley. The d18oand dD compositions of the local runoff were about -6.00 o/oo (parts per thousand) and -40 o/oo, respectively; the average compositions for the local native ground-water samples were about -6.1 o/oo and -41 o/oo, respectively; and the average compositions of the imported water samples were -10.2 o/oo and -74 o/oo, respectively. (The oxygen isotopic composition of water samples is reported relative to Standard Mean Ocean Water, in parts per thousand.) The difference between local ground water and recharged imported water was about 4.1 o/oo in d18o and 33 o/oo in dL. The isotopic data indicate dilution of northern California water with local ground water in a downgradient direction. Two wells contain approximately 74 percent northern California water, six wells more than 50 percent. Data indicate that there may be a correlation between the percentage of northern California water and the depth or length of perforated intervals in wells.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1982

Some chemical characteristics of mine drainage in Illinois

Surface mining for coal in Illinois has affected runoff from the mined areas and altered water quality in the streams. Average annual sulfate loads in streams are 3,000-4,000 tons per square mile of mined land in the Big Muddy and Saline River basins in southern Illinois. Relatively high concentrations of dissolved aluminum, arsenic, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, and zinc are commonly associated with concentrations of sulfate greater than about 2,000 milligrams per liter.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1982

An annotated key to the identification of commonly occurring and dominant genera of algae observed in the phytoplankton of the United States

In early 1979, a retrieval was made for all phytoplankton data contained in the computerized data file of the U. S. Geological Survey. The retrieval revealed the analytical results of 17,959 samples collected and processed between October 1973 and October 1978. Of the approximately 500 genera of freshwater algae reported in the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey observed 321 genera in the phytoplankton. Fifty-two genera were considered to be commonly occurring and 42 genera were considered to be community dominants. The report lists, describes, and provides a detailed taxonomic key to the identification of 58 genera of algae considered either commonly occurring or dominant. Also included is a summary of environmental conditions under which each algal genus was observed, as well as a glossary and an extensive list of selected references.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1981

Dendroclimatic estimates of a drought index for northern Virginia

A 230-year record of the Palmer drought-severity index (PDSI) was estimated for northern Virginia from variations in widths of tree rings. Increment cores were extracted from eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr., at three locations in northern Virginia. Measurements of annual growth increments were made and converted to standardized indices of growth. A response function was derived for hemlock to determine the growth-climate relationship. Growth was positively correlated with precipitation and negatively correlated with temperature during the May-July growing season. Combined standardized indices of growth were calibrated with the July PDSI. Growth accounted for 20-30 percent of the PDSI variance. Further regressions using factor scores of combined tree growth indices resulted in a small but significant improvement. Greatest improvement was made by using factor scores of growth indices of individual trees, thereby accounting for 64 percent of the July PDSI variance in the regression. Comparison of the results with a 241-year reconstruction from New York showed good agreement between low-frequency climatic trends. Analysis of the estimated Central Mountain climatic division of Virginia PDSI record indicated that, relative to the long-term record (1746-1975), dry years have occurred in disproportionally larger numbers during the last half of the 19th century and the mid-20th century. This trend appears reversed for the last half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. Although these results are considered first-generation products, they are encouraging, suggesting that once additional tree-ring chronologies are constructed and techniques are refined, it will be possible to obtain more accurate estimates of prior climatic conditions in the mid-Atlantic region.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1981

Hydraulic characteristics of an underdrained irrigation circle, Muskegon County, wastewater disposal system, Michigan

Muskegon County, Michigan, disposes of waste water by spray irrigating farmland on its waste-disposal site. Buried drains in the highly permeable unconfined aquifer at the site control the level of the water table. Hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer and drain-leakance, the reciprocal of resistance to flow into the drains, was determined at a representative irrigation circle while calibrating a model of the ground-water flow system. Hydraulic conductivity is 0.00055 meter per second in the north zone of the circle and 0.00039 meter per second in the south zone. Drain leakance is low in both zones: 2.9 x 10-6 meters per second in the north and 9.5 x 10-6 meters per second in the south. Low drain leakance is responsible for waterlogging when irrigation rates are maintained at design levels. The capacity of the study circle to accept waste water is 35 percent less than design capacity.

Michigan↗
USGS1982

Low-flow characteristics of Alabama streams

A new procedure for estimating the 7-day, 2-year and the 7-day, 10-year low flow of ungaged Alabama streams is based on geology, drainage area, and mean annual precipitation. One equation for each of the two low-flow frequencies applies statewide to all natural flow streams; the equations do not apply to streams where flow is significantly altered by activities of man. The standard error of estimate of each equation based on map values is 40 percent for 7-day, 2-year low flow and 44 percent for 7-day, 10-year low flow. The rate of streamflow recession is used to account for the effects of geology on low flow. Streamflow recession rate depends primarily on transmissivity and storage characteristics of the aquifers, and average distance from stream channels to divides. Relations of low-flow discharge to geology, drainage area, and mean annual precipitation were analyzed by multiple regression techniques.

Water Supply Paper↗