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

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At least 1,441 records · Page 80Linked to original sources
USGS2007

Acid rain in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Visitors to Shenandoah National Park (SNP) enjoy the animal and plant life and the scenery but may not realize how vulnerable these features are to various threats, such as invasion of exotic plants and insects, improper use of park resources by humans, and air and water pollution. The National Park Service strives to protect natural resources from such threats to ensure that the resources will be available for enjoyment now and in the future. Because SNP has limited influence over the air pollution that envelops the region, acidic deposition--commonly known as acid rain--is one of the more challenging threats facing park managers. With the help of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists, park managers can understand how acid rain interacts with ground- and surface-water resources, which enables them to explain why reductions in air pollution can help preserve park resources. Such understanding also provides essential insight into ecosystem processes, as managers strive to unravel and resolve other environmental problems that are interrelated to acid rain.

Virginia↗
USGS2011

Simulation of streamflow in the Pleasant, Narraguagus, Sheepscot, and Royal Rivers, Maine, using watershed models

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study in 2008 to investigate anticipated changes in summer streamflows and stream temperatures in four coastal Maine river basins and the potential effects of those changes on populations of endangered Atlantic salmon. To achieve this purpose, it was necessary to characterize the quantity and timing of streamflow in these rivers by developing and evaluating a distributed-parameter watershed model for a part of each river basin by using the USGS Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS). The GIS (geographic information system) Weasel, a USGS software application, was used to delineate the four study basins and their many subbasins, and to derive parameters for their geographic features. The models were calibrated using a four-step optimization procedure in which model output was evaluated against four datasets for calibrating solar radiation, potential evapotranspiration, annual and seasonal water balances, and daily streamflows. The calibration procedure involved thousands of model runs that used the USGS software application Luca (Let us calibrate). Luca uses the Shuffled Complex Evolution (SCE) global search algorithm to calibrate the model parameters. The calibrated watershed models performed satisfactorily, in that Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) statistic values for the calibration periods ranged from 0.59 to 0.75 (on a scale of negative infinity to 1) and NSE statistic values for the evaluation periods ranged from 0.55 to 0.73. The calibrated watershed models simulate daily streamflow at many locations in each study basin. These models enable natural resources managers to characterize the timing and amount of streamflow in order to support a variety of water-resources efforts including water-quality calculations, assessments of water use, modeling of population dynamics and migration of Atlantic salmon, modeling and assessment of habitat, and simulation of anticipated changes to streamflow and water temperature resulting from changes forecast for air temperature and precipitation.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2016

The Water-Quality Partnership for National Parks—U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service, 1998–2016

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Park Service (NPS) work together through the USGS–NPS Water-Quality Partnership to support a broad range of policy and management needs related to high-priority water-quality issues in national parks. The program was initiated in 1998 as part of the Clean Water Action Plan, a Presidential initiative to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Partnership projects are developed jointly by the USGS and the NPS. Studies are conducted by the USGS and findings are used by the NPS to guide policy and management actions aimed at protecting and improving water quality. The National Park Service manages many of our Nation’s most highly valued aquatic systems across the country, including portions of the Great Lakes, ocean and coastal zones, historic canals, reservoirs, large rivers, high-elevation lakes and streams, geysers, springs, and wetlands. So far, the Water-Quality Partnership has undertaken 217 projects in 119 national parks. In each project, USGS studies and assessments ( http://water.usgs.gov/nps_partnership/pubs.php ) have supported science-based management by the NPS to protect and improve water quality in parks. Some of the current projects are highlighted in the NPS Call to Action Centennial initiative, Crystal Clear, which celebrates national park water-resource efforts to ensure clean water for the next century of park management ( http://www.nature.nps.gov/water/crystalclear/ ). New projects are proposed each year by USGS scientists working in collaboration with NPS staff in specific parks. Project selection is highly competitive, with an average of only eight new projects funded each year out of approximately 75 proposals that are submitted. Since the beginning of the Partnership in 1998, 189 publications detailing project findings have been completed. The 217 studies have been conducted in 119 NPS-administered lands, extending from Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska to Everglades National Park in Florida, and from Acadia National Park in the Northeast to park lands in Hawaii and Pacific Island territories in the West. Project goals range from periodic stream monitoring, to determining the occurrence and concentrations of contaminants and the potential for them to exceed human health or aquatic life criteria, to conducting interpretive studies to evaluate the effect(s) on or vulnerability of national park resources to visitor usage and other natural and anthropogenic activities.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2015

Persistence at distributional edges: Columbia spotted frog habitat in the arid Great Basin, USA

A common challenge in the conservation of broadly distributed, yet imperiled species is understanding which factors facilitate persistence at distributional edges, locations where populations are often vulnerable to extirpation due to changes in climate, land use, or distributions of other species. For Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris) in the Great Basin (USA), a genetically distinct population segment of conservation concern, we approached this problem by examining (1) landscape-scale habitat availability and distribution, (2) water body-scale habitat associations, and (3) resource management-identified threats to persistence. We found that areas with perennial aquatic habitat and suitable climate are extremely limited in the southern portion of the species’ range. Within these suitable areas, native and non-native predators (trout and American bullfrogs [Lithobates catesbeianus]) are widespread and may further limit habitat availability in upper- and lower-elevation areas, respectively. At the water body scale, spotted frog occupancy was associated with deeper sites containing abundant emergent vegetation and nontrout fish species. Streams with American beaver (Castor canadensis) frequently had these structural characteristics and were significantly more likely to be occupied than ponds, lakes, streams without beaver, or streams with inactive beaver ponds, highlighting the importance of active manipulation of stream environments by beaver. Native and non-native trout reduced the likelihood of spotted frog occupancy, especially where emergent vegetation cover was sparse. Intensive livestock grazing, low aquatic connectivity, and ephemeral hydroperiods were also negatively associated with spotted frog occupancy. We conclude that persistence of this species at the arid end of its range has been largely facilitated by habitat stability (i.e., permanent hydroperiod), connectivity, predator-free refugia, and a commensalistic interaction with an ecosystem engineer. Beaver-induced changes to habitat quality, stability, and connectivity may increase spotted frog population resistance and resilience to seasonal drought, grazing, non-native predators, and climate change, factors which threaten local or regional persistence.

California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Utah↗
USGS2010

Quantification of surface water and groundwater flows to open‐ and closed‐basin lakes in a headwaters watershed using a descriptive oxygen stable isotope model

Accurate quantification of hydrologic fluxes in lakes is important to resource management and for placing hydrologic solute flux in an appropriate biogeochemical context. Water stable isotopes can be used to describe water movements, but they are typically only effective in lakes with long water residence times. We developed a descriptive time series model of lake surface water oxygen‐18 stable isotope signature ( δL ) that was equally useful in open‐ and closed‐basin lakes with very different hydrologic residence times. The model was applied to six lakes, including two closed‐basin lakes and four lakes arranged in a chain connected by a river, located in a headwaters watershed. Groundwater discharge was calculated by manual optimization, and other hydrologic flows were constrained by measured values including precipitation, evaporation, and streamflow at several stream gages. Modeled and observed δL were highly correlated in all lakes ( r = 0.84–0.98), suggesting that the model adequately described δL in these lakes. Average modeled stream discharge at two points along the river, 16,000 and 11,800 m 3 d −1 , compares favorably with synoptic measurement of stream discharge at these sites, 17,600 and 13,700 m 3 d −1 , respectively. Water yields in this watershed were much higher, 0.23–0.45 m, than water yields calculated from gaged streamflow in regional rivers, approximately 0.10 m, suggesting that regional groundwater discharge supports water flux through these headwaters lakes. Sensitivity and robustness analyses also emphasized the importance of considering hydrologic residence time when designing a sampling protocol for stable isotope use in lake hydrology studies.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS1980

Estimated water use in Mississippi, 1980

Large quantities of good quality ground and surface water are readily available in nearly all parts of Mississippi, and there is also an abundant supply of saline water in the estuaries along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The total estimated water use in the State in 1980 from groundwater and surface water was 3532 million gallons/day (mgd), including 662 mgd of saline water. Freshwater used from all sources in Mississippi during the period 1975 through 1980 increased from 2510 mgd to > 2870 mgd, a 14% increase. Although modest increases of freshwater use may be expected in public, self-supplied industrial, and thermoelectric supplies, large future increases in the use of freshwater may be expected primarily as a result of growth in irrigation and aquaculture. Management and protection of the quantity and quality of the available freshwater supply are often problems associated with increased use. Water use data, both temporal and spatial, are needed by the State of Mississippi to provide for intelligent, long-term management of the resources; one table gives data on the principal categories of water use, sources, and use by county. (Lantz-PTT)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1986

Water-resources activities in New York, 1985-86

The U.S. Geologic Survey conducts water-resources investigations and hydrologic data collection in all states to provide the data and understanding needed for optimum use and management of the nation 's surface water and groundwater. This is achieved through jointly funded programs with state, county, municipal, and other Federal agencies. The Geological Survey conducted 37 water resources investigations in New York during 1985-86, several of which are continuous. This report describes each project in terms of problems, objectives, progress to date, and future plans and gives the period of funding, project chief, principal coordinating agency, field location, and completed reports. It also lists all reports resulting from the Survey 's water resources studies in New York during 1982-86. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS2001

Preface; Water quality of large U.S. rivers; results from the U.S. Geological Survey's National Stream Quality Accounting Network

The mission of the US Geological Survey (USGS) is to assess the quantity and quality of the earth resources of the USA and to provide information that will assist resource managers and policymakers at federal, state and local levels in making sound decisions. Characterizing the water quality of the largest rivers of the USA is a daunting prospect, especially given the resources available for the task. The most effective approach is uncertain and is legitimately a research topic. The National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) was redesigned in 1995 to estimate the annual mass flux of constituents at a network of fixed stations in the Mississippi, Rio Grande, Colorado, and Columbia River basins. This special volume of Hydrological Processes contains a series of papers evaluating the data collected by NASQAN during its first 3 years of operation under this design. The NASQAN network complements other USGS national programs that are designed to address water quality at different scales. The National Water-Quality Assessment Program (Hirsch et al., 1988) is designed around river basins of 10 000 to 100 000 km2 (versus these NASQAN basins, which are 650 000 to 3 100 000 km2 at their most downstream stations). The USGS also operates the Hydrologic Benchmark Network that is focused on relatively pristine basins of only 10 to 100 km2 (Mast and Turk, 1999a,b; Clark et al., 2000; Mast et al., 2000).

Hydrological Processes↗
USGS1998

U.S. Geological Survey Activities Related to American Indians and Alaska Natives Fiscal Year 1998

Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is an impartial scientific organization that strives to produce scientific results that are relevant to the people of the United States and their land and resource managers. In cooperation with American Indian and Alaska Native governments, the USGS conducts research on water and mineral resources, animals and plants of environmental, economic, or subsistence importance, natural hazards, and geologic resources. Digital data on cartography, mineral resources, stream flows, biota, and other data sets are available to American Indian and Alaska Native institutions. The USGS recognizes the need learn from and to share knowledge with Native peoples. This report describes most of the activities that the USGS conducted with American Indian and Alaska Native governments, educational institutions, and individuals during Federal fiscal year 1998.

Report↗
USGS2015

Reintroduction of Lake Sturgeon ( Acipenser fulvescens ) into the St. Regis River, NY: Post-release assessment of habitat use and growth

One of the depleted endemic fish species of the Great Lakes, Acipenser fulvescens (Lake Sturgeon), has been the target of extensive conservation efforts. One strategy is reintroduction into historically productive waters. The St. Regis River, NY, represents one such adaptive-management effort, with shared management between New York and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. Between 1998 and 2004, a total of 4977 young-of-year Lake Sturgeon were released. Adaptive management requires intermediate progress metrics. During 2004 and 2005, we measured growth, habitat use, and survivorship metrics of the released fish. We captured a total of 95 individuals of all stocked ages. Year-class minimal-survival rates ranged from 0.19–2.1%. The size-at-age and length/biomass relationships were comparable to those reported for juveniles in other Great Lakes waters. These intermediate assessment metrics can provide feedback to resource managers who make restoration-program decisions on a much shorter time-scale than the time-frame in which the ultimate goal of a self-sustaining population can be attained.

New York↗
USGS2007

A method to estimate groundwater depletion from confining layers

Although depletion of storage in low‐permeability confining layers is the source of much of the groundwater produced from many confined aquifer systems, it is all too frequently overlooked or ignored. This makes effective management of groundwater resources difficult by masking how much water has been derived from storage and, in some cases, the total amount of water that has been extracted from an aquifer system. Analyzing confining layer storage is viewed as troublesome because of the additional computational burden and because the hydraulic properties of confining layers are poorly known. In this paper we propose a simplified method for computing estimates of confining layer depletion, as well as procedures for approximating confining layer hydraulic conductivity ( K ) and specific storage ( S s ) using geologic information. The latter makes the technique useful in developing countries and other settings where minimal data are available or when scoping calculations are needed. As such, our approach may be helpful for estimating the global transfer of groundwater to surface water. A test of the method on a synthetic system suggests that the computational errors will generally be small. Larger errors will probably result from inaccuracy in confining layer property estimates, but these may be no greater than errors in more sophisticated analyses. The technique is demonstrated by application to two aquifer systems: the Dakota artesian aquifer system in South Dakota and the coastal plain aquifer system in Virginia. In both cases, depletion from confining layers was substantially larger than depletion from the aquifers.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2010

Hydromythology and ethnohydrology in the New World

From mythology, archeology, and chronicles of early explorers we can learn how early Americans viewed the cause and effect relations of hydrologic phenomena. Hopes and fears are the basis of religion, and it was through religion that water management was first practiced. Early people used their water resources to develop diverse civilizations in various parts of the western hemisphere. Not only was the rise of these earlier civilizations hydrologically influenced, but also the downfall of some was related to natural or man-made hydrological crises in which gods and mythology continued to play a role.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2006

Using role analysis to plan for stakeholder involvement: a Wyoming case study

Prior to implementing laws and policies regulating water, wildlife, wetlands, endangered species, and recreation, natural resource managers often solicit public input. Concomitantly, managers are continually seeking more effective ways to involve stakeholders. In the autumn of 1999, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department sought to develop a state management plan for its portion of the Yellowstone grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) population if it was removed from the federal threatened species list. A key aspect of developing this plan was the involvement of federal, state, and local agencies, representatives from nongovernmental organizations, and citizens. Wyoming wildlife managers asked researchers from the United States Geological Survey to demonstrate how the Legal-Institutional Analysis Model could be used to initiate this process. To address these needs, we conducted similar workshops for a group of state and federal managers or staffers and a broad group of stakeholders. Although we found similarities among the workshop groups, we also recorded differences in perspective between stakeholder groups. The managers group acknowledged the importance of varied stakeholders but viewed the grizzly bear planning process as one centered on state interests, influenced by state policies, and amenable to negotiation. The other workshops identified many stakeholders and viewed the decision process as diffuse, with many opportunities for entry into the process. These latter groups were less certain about the chance for a successful negotiation. We concluded that if these assumptions and differences were not reconciled, the public involvement effort was not likely to succeed.

Wildlife Society Bulletin↗
USGS2009

Boundary of the Eagle River watershed valley-fill aquifer, Eagle County, north-central Colorado, 2006-2007

This vector data set delineates the approximate boundary of the Eagle River watershed valley-fill aquifer (ERWVFA). This data set was developed by a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey, Eagle County, the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, the Town of Eagle, the Town of Gypsum, and the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority. This project was designed to evaluate potential land-development effects on groundwater and surface-water resources so that informed land-use and water management decisions can be made. The boundary of the ERWVFA was developed by combining information from two data sources. The first data source was a 1:250,000-scale geologic map of the Leadville quadrangle developed by Day and others (1999). The location of Quaternary sediments was used as a first approximation of the ERWVFA. The boundary of the ERWVFA was further refined by overlaying the geologic map with Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) scanned images of 1:24,000 topographic maps (U.S. Geological Survey, 2001). Where appropriate, the boundary of the ERWVFA was remapped to correspond with the edge of the valley-fill aquifer marked by an abrupt change in topography at the edge of the valley floor throughout the Eagle River watershed. The boundary of the ERWVFA more closely resembles a hydrogeomorphic region presented by Rupert (2003, p. 8) because it is based upon general geographic extents of geologic materials and not on an actual aquifer location as would be determined through a rigorous hydrogeologic investigation.

Colorado↗
USGS2009

Probability of Elevated Nitrate Concentrations in Groundwater in the Eagle River Watershed Valley-Fill Aquifer, Eagle County, North-Central Colorado, 2006-2007

This raster data set delineates the predicted probability of elevated nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Eagle River watershed valley-fill aquifer, Eagle County, North-Central Colorado, 2006-2007. This data set was developed by a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey, Eagle County, the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, the Town of Eagle, the Town of Gypsum, and the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority. This project was designed to evaluate potential land-development effects on groundwater and surface-water resources so that informed land-use and water management decisions can be made. This groundwater probability map and its associated probability maps was developed as follows: (1) A point data set of wells with groundwater quality and groundwater age data was overlaid with thematic layers of anthropogenic (related to human activities) and hydrogeologic data by using a geographic information system to assign each well values for depth to groundwater, distance to major streams and canals, distance to gypsum beds, precipitation, soils, and well depth. These data then were downloaded to a statistical software package for analysis by logistic regression. (2) Statistical models predicting the probability of elevated nitrate concentrations, the probability of unmixed young water (using chlorofluorocarbon-11 concentrations and tritium activities), and the probability of elevated volatile organic compound concentrations were developed using logistic regression techniques. (3) The statistical models were entered into a GIS and the probability map was constructed.

Data Series↗
USGS2009

Probability of Unmixed Young Groundwater (defined using chlorofluorocarbon-11 concentrations and tritium activities) in the Eagle River Watershed Valley-Fill Aquifer, Eagle County, North-Central Colorado, 2006-2007

This raster data set delineates the predicted probability of unmixed young groundwater (defined using chlorofluorocarbon-11 concentrations and tritium activities) in groundwater in the Eagle River watershed valley-fill aquifer, Eagle County, North-Central Colorado, 2006-2007. This data set was developed by a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey, Eagle County, the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, the Town of Eagle, the Town of Gypsum, and the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority. This project was designed to evaluate potential land-development effects on groundwater and surface-water resources so that informed land-use and water management decisions can be made. This groundwater probability map and its associated probability maps were developed as follows: (1) A point data set of wells with groundwater quality and groundwater age data was overlaid with thematic layers of anthropogenic (related to human activities) and hydrogeologic data by using a geographic information system to assign each well values for depth to groundwater, distance to major streams and canals, distance to gypsum beds, precipitation, soils, and well depth. These data then were downloaded to a statistical software package for analysis by logistic regression. (2) Statistical models predicting the probability of elevated nitrate concentrations, the probability of unmixed young water (using chlorofluorocarbon-11 concentrations and tritium activities), and the probability of elevated volatile organic compound concentrations were developed using logistic regression techniques. (3) The statistical models were entered into a GIS and the probability map was constructed.

Data Series↗
USGS2009

Probability of Elevated Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Concentrations in Groundwater in the Eagle River Watershed Valley-Fill Aquifer, Eagle County, North-Central Colorado, 2006-2007

This raster data set delineates the predicted probability of elevated volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations in groundwater in the Eagle River watershed valley-fill aquifer, Eagle County, North-Central Colorado, 2006-2007. This data set was developed by a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey, Eagle County, the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, the Town of Eagle, the Town of Gypsum, and the Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority. This project was designed to evaluate potential land-development effects on groundwater and surface-water resources so that informed land-use and water management decisions can be made. This groundwater probability map and its associated probability maps was developed as follows: (1) A point data set of wells with groundwater quality and groundwater age data was overlaid with thematic layers of anthropogenic (related to human activities) and hydrogeologic data by using a geographic information system to assign each well values for depth to groundwater, distance to major streams and canals, distance to gypsum beds, precipitation, soils, and well depth. These data then were downloaded to a statistical software package for analysis by logistic regression. (2) Statistical models predicting the probability of elevated nitrate concentrations, the probability of unmixed young water (using chlorofluorocarbon-11 concentrations and tritium activities), and the probability of elevated volatile organic compound concentrations were developed using logistic regression techniques. (3) The statistical models were entered into a GIS and the probability map was constructed.

Data Series↗
USGS2021

Virginia and Landsat

From the shores of Jamestown and spreading north, south, and west, the lands that became the State of Virginia were some of the first in North America top experience rapid landscape change from European settlement. Imagery and data from the USGS Landsat series of satellites offer an unparalleled resource for the study, understanding, and preservation of Virginia’s land and water resources. From monitoring the health of water bodies to managing invasive species to planning for a range of climate change effects, the USGS National Land Imaging Program’s stewardship and public delivery of Landsat data have benefitted Virginians in myriad ways.

Virginia↗