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USGS1985

National water summary 1984: Hydrologic events, selected water-quality trends, and ground-water resources

Water year 1984 was a year of extreme hydrologic conditions. For the third consecutive year, precipitation and resulting runoff were well above long-term averages in most of the Nation and as much as 400 percent above average in the Southwest. National flood damages during the year were the third highest in a 10-year period (1975-84) an estimated $3.5 to $4 billion. In many of the larger river systems, monthly stream discharges were above normal, as they have been for the last 2 water years, and, with the exception of a few reservoir systems, end-of-month reservoir storage also remained above normal. The Great Salt Lake reached its highest level since 1873 as a result of these conditions. During a 9.6-foot rise from September 1982 to July 1984, the area of the lake expanded by 600 square miles (an increase of 35 percent), resulting in an estimated $212 million in damages to recreational facilities and industrial installations built on the exposed lake bed during former lower levels. Other lake levels in closed basins of the Western United States also have risen over the past few years, thereby flooding communities, recreational facilities, and agricultural lands. In contrast to this predominant pattern of wet conditions, several areas of the country, mainly west Texas and Hawaii, have experienced persistent droughts. Most recently, very dry conditions existed in parts of northern Montana. These hydrologic conditions and 100 specific events are reviewed in the "Hydrologic Conditions and Water-Related Events, Water Year 1984" part of the 1984 National Water Summary .

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1986

Techniques for estimating streamflow characteristics in the Eastern and Interior coal provinces of the United States

Techniques are presented for estimating various streamflow characteristics, such as peak flows, mean monthly and annual flows, flow durations, and flow volumes, at ungaged sites on unregulated streams in the Eastern Coal region. Streamflow data and basin characteristics for 629 gaging stations were used to develop multiple-linear-regression equations. Separate equations were developed for the Eastern and Interior Coal Provinces. Drainage area is an independent variable common to all equations. Other variables needed, depending on the streamflow characteristic, are mean annual precipitation, mean basin elevation, main channel length, basin storage, main channel slope, and forest cover. A ratio of the observed 50- to 90-percent flow durations was used in the development of relations to estimate low-flow frequencies in the Eastern Coal Province. Relations to estimate low flows in the Interior Coal Province are not presented because the standard errors were greater than 0.7500 log units and were considered to be of poor reliability.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1985

A primer on trace metal-sediment chemistry

In most aquatic systems, concentrations of trace metals in suspended sediment and the top few centimeters of bottom sediment are far greater than concentrations of trace metals dissolved in the water column. Consequently, the distribution, transport, and availability of these constituents can not be intelligently evaluated, nor can their environmental impact be determined or predicted solely through the sampling and analysis of dissolved phases. This Primer is designed to acquaint the reader with the basic principles that govern the concentration and distribution of trace metals associated with bottom and suspended sediments. The sampling and analysis of suspended and bottom sediments are very important for monitoring studies, not only because trace metal concentrations associated with them are orders of magnitude higher than in the dissolved phase, but also because of several other factors. Riverine transport of trace metals is dominated by sediment. In addition, bottom sediments serve as a source for suspended sediment and can provide a historical record of chemical conditions. This record will help establish area baseline metal levels against which existing conditions can be compared. Many physical and chemical factors affect a sediment's capacity to collect and concentrate trace metals. The physical factors include grain size, surface area, surface charge, cation exchange capacity, composition, and so forth. Increases in metal concentrations are strongly correlated with decreasing grain size and increasing surface area, surface charge, cation exchange capacity, and increasing concentrations of iron and manganese oxides, organic matter, and clay minerals. Chemical factors are equally important, especially for differentiating between samples having similar bulk chemistries and for inferring or predicting environmental availability. Chemical factors entail phase associations (with such sedimentary components as interstitial water, sulfides, carbonates, and organic matter) and ways in which the metals are entrained by the sediments (such as adsorption, complexation, and within mineral lattices).

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1986

Magnitude and frequency of high flows of unregulated streams in Kansas

Information on high-flow magnitude and frequency is needed for hydrologic evaluation of such factors as flood-control storage and dam safety. High-flow information given in this report is for streamflows unaffected by major regulation, such as by large reservoirs. High-flow magnitude and frequency data are given for 91 streamflow-gaging stations throughout Kansas. Results of frequency calculations are given for durations of high flow of 1, 3, 7, 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 183 consecutive days. Accuracy of the magnitude-frequency values is influenced by the variability of flow, the number of years of flow record, and the recurrence interval calculated. High-flow magnitude and frequency for ungaged sites can be estimated from regression equations using significant drainage-basin characteristics of contributing-drainage area; 50-year, 24-hour rainfall; and free-water-surface evaporation. Standard errors of estimate for ungaged sites on ungaged streams range from 31 to 49 percent, generally increasing with recurrence interval. If an ungaged site is near a gaging station having 10 or more years of record on the same stream, the data for the gaging station may be used to improve the regression estimates.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1987

Tidal-flow, circulation, and flushing changes caused by dredge and fill in Tampa Bay, Florida

Tampa Bay, Florida, underwent extensive physical changes between 1880 and 1972 because of construction of causeways, islands, channels, and shoreline fills. These changes resulted in a progressive reduction in the quantity of tidal water that enters and leaves the bay. Dredging and filling also changed the magnitude and direction of tidal flows in large parts of the bay. A two-dimensional, finite-difference, hydrodynamic model was used to simulate flood, ebb, and residual transport of both water and a dissolved constituent for the physical conditions that existed in Tampa Bay during 1880 and 1972 and for the conditions that are likely to exist in 1985. The calibrated and verified model was used to hindcast water- and constituent-transport changes caused by construction in the bay between 1880 and 1972. The model was used also to forecast changes that can be expected to occur as a result of a major Federal dredging project scheduled for completion in 1985. The model forecasted transport changes caused by the Federal dredging project to be much less areally extensive than the corresponding transport changes caused by construction in Tampa Bay between 1880 and 1972. Dredging-caused changes of more than 50 percent in flood and ebb transport were computed to occur over only 8 or 9 square miles of the bay's 390-square-mile surface area between 1972 and 1985. The model computed that construction between 1880 and 1972 caused changes of similar magnitude over 58 square miles of the bay. Dredging-caused changes of more than 50 percent in residual transport were computed to occur over 58 square miles of the bay between 1972 and 1985. According to the model simulation, construction between 1880 and 1972 caused changes of similar magnitude over 167 square miles. Computations reveal historical tide-induced circulation patterns. The patterns consist of a series of about 20 interconnected circulatory features that range in diameter from 1 to 6 miles. Dredging- and construction-caused changes in size, position, shape, and intensity of the circulatory features increase tide-induced circulation and flushing throughout most of the bay. As a result of past and projected physical changes, the bay can and will more rapidly transfer waterborne constituents that have landward sources to the Gulf of Mexico. Conversely, the bay can and will more rapidly transfer constituents that have their source in the Gulf into the upper parts of the bay. Model results show that the bay can be functionally subdivided into eight circulation zones. The zones near the entrances to Tampa Bay and the major bay subunits, Hillsborough Bay and Old Tampa Bay, have several times greater average circulation than do adjacent and more landward zones. Circulation generally decreases from the Gulf of Mexico to the head of Hillsborough and Old Tampa Bays, with a striking exception in zone 3 in mid-Tampa Bay. This 10-mile section of the bay has significantly lower average circulation than that of adjacent zones, particularly for conditions in 1880. The section is thought to be a circulation constriction that reduces the potential transport of dissolved and suspended constituents. Circulation in the constricted section was computed as having increased 6 percent because of dredge and fill construction between 1880 and 1972. An additional increase of 21 percent, due to the Federal dredging project, is calculated. With these increases, this zone acts as less of a constriction than it did in 1880. This and other circulation increases may have contributed to increased bay salinity and to more rapid flushing of constituents from the bay to the Gulf of Mexico.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1988

Evaluation of the ground-water resources of the lower Susquehanna River basin, Pennsylvania and Maryland

Ground water in the 3,458-square-mile lower Susquehanna River basin occupies secondary openings in bedrock. The distribution of openings is a function of lithology, depth, and topography. Local flow systems account for most of the total ground-water flow. Average annual recharge for the lower basin is 1,857 million gallons per day, most of which discharges to streams. The water table is a subdued replica of land surface; its depth varies with topography but is generally 20 to 70 feet below land surface. Ground water circulates to depths of 500 to 600 feet below the water table. A digital model of regional, unconfined groundwater flow was developed and used to evaluate the ground-water resources of the lower basin. On the basis of lithologic and hydrologic differences, the area was subdivided into 21 hydrogeologic units, each with different hydrologic characteristics. Each unit was divided into two layers to take into account decreasing secondary permeability with depth. A finite-difference grid with square blocks approximately 1 mile on a side was used. The model was calibrated under steady-state and transient conditions. In the steady-state calibration, the model-generated results were compared with estimated water-table altitudes and estimated base flows. In the transient calibration, the model-generated results were compared with observed changes in water-table altitude from November 1, 1980, through April 22, 1981. Hydraulic conductivity increases from hilltops to Valley bottoms. The average hydraulic conductivity for carbonate units is about 21 feet per day, which is an order of magnitude greater than the corresponding averages for Paleozoic sedimentary, Triassic sedimentary, and crystalline units. The Cumberland Valley carbonate rocks have the greatest average hydraulic conductivity-about 174 feet per day in valley bottoms. The average gaining-stream leakage coefficient for all carbonate units is about 16 feet per day, which is two orders of magnitude greater than the corresponding averages for the other lithologies. The Cumberland Valley carbonate rocks have the greatest gaining-stream leakage coefficient--about 43 feet per day. The specific yields are 0.035, 0.020, 0.020, and 0.007 for the carbonate, Paleozoic sedimentary, crystalline, and Triassic sedimentary units, respectively. The calibrated model was used to simulate the effects of a ground-water withdrawal of 1 inch per year on water-table altitudes and average annual base flows in the modeled area. The overall effect is least for the carbonate units and greatest for the Triassic sedimentary units. The model also was used to simulate a standardized potential yield for each unit by assuming that the maximum acceptable consequence of a hypothetical withdrawal scheme is an ultimate 50-percent reduction in average annual base flow. Based on this, the potential yield for the modeled area is 891 million gallons per day. The Cumberland Valley carbonate rocks have the greatest potential yield--0.47 million gallons per day per square mile. The carbonate units have the greatest average potential yield, followed by the Paleozoic sedimentary, crystalline, and Triassic sedimentary units. About 90 percent of the eventual decline in water-table altitudes and the eventual reduction in average annual base flows occurs within 5 years of the implementation of the hypothetical withdrawal scheme. Nearly all of the ground water withdrawn is derived from reduced discharge to streams. The calibrated model can be used to estimate the impacts of ground-water development schemes on regional ground-water levels and base flows of streams, it cannot be used to simulate local cones of depression or local base-flow changes. The reliability of the model is a function of its approximation of the physical characteristics of the ground-water flow system, the two calibrations, various simplifying assumptions, and the lack of calibration under ground-water withdrawal conditions, it ca

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1986

Gas-film coefficients for the volatilization of ketones from water

Volatilization is a significant process in determining the fate of many organic compounds in streams and rivers. Quantifying this process requires knowledge of the mass-transfer coefficient from water, which is a function of the gas-film and liquid-film coefficients. The gas-film coefficient can be determined by measuring the flux for the volatilization of pure organic liquids. Volatilization fluxes for acetone, 2-butanone, 2-pentanone, 3-pentanone, 4-methyl-2-pentanone, 2-heptanone, and 2-octanone were measured in the laboratory over a range of temperatures. Gas-film coefficients were then calculated from these fluxes and from vapor pressure data from the literature. An equation was developed for predicting the volatilization flux of pure liquid ketones as a function of vapor pressure and molecular weight. Large deviations were found for acetone, and these were attributed to the possibility that acetone may be hydrogen bonded. A second equation for predicting the flux as a function of molecular weight and temperature resulted in large deviations for 4methyl-2-pentanone. These deviations were attributed to the branched structure of this ketone. Four factors based on the theory of volatilization and relating the volatilization flux or rate to the vapor pressure, molecular weight, temperature, and molecular diffusion coefficient were not constant as suggested by the literature. The factors generally increased with molecular weight and with temperature. Values for acetone corresponded to ketones with a larger molecular weight, and the acetone factors showed the greatest dependence on temperature. Both of these results are characteristic of compounds that are hydrogen bonded. Relations from the literature commonly used for describing the dependence of the gas-film coefficient on molecular weight and molecular diffusion coefficient were not applicable to the ketone gas-film coefficients. The dependence on molecular weight and molecular diffusion coefficient was in general U-shaped with the largest coefficients observed for acetone, the next largest for 2octanone, and the smallest for 2-pentanone and 3-pentanone. The gas-film coefficient for acetone was much more dependent on temperature than were the coefficients for the other ketones. Such behavior is characteristic of hydrogen-bonded substances. Temperature dependencies of the other ketones were about twice the theoretical value, but were comparable to a literature value for water. Ratios of the ketone gas-film coefficients to the gasfilm coefficients for the evaporation of water were approximately constant for all the ketones except for acetone, whose values were considerably larger. The ratios increased with temperature; however, the increases were small except for acetone. These ratios can be combined with an equation from the literaure for predicting the gasfilm coefficient for evaporation of water from a canal to predict the gas-film coefficients for the volatilization of ketones from streams and rivers.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1986

Artesian pressures and water quality in Paleozoic aquifers in the Ten Sleep area of the Bighorn Basin, north-central Wyoming

The major Paleozoic artesian aquifers, the aquifers most favorable for continued development, in the Ten Sleep area of the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming are the Tensleep Sandstone, the Madison Limestone and Bighorn Dolomite (Madison-Bighorn aquifer), and the Flathead Sandstone. The minor aquifers include the Goose Egg and Park City Formations (considered in the Ten Sleep area to be the lateral equivalent of the Phosphoria Formation) and the Amsden Formation. Most wells completed in the major and minor aquifers flow at the land surface. Wellhead pressures generally are less than 50 pounds per square inch for the Tensleep Sandstone, 150-250 pounds per square inch for the Madison-Bighorn aquifer, and more than 400 pounds per square inch for the Flathead Sandstone. Flowing wells completed in the Madison-Bighorn aquifer and the Flathead Sandstone yield more than 1,000 gallons per minute. The initial test of one well completed in the Madison-Bighorn aquifer indicated a flow rate of 14,000 gallons per minute. Transmissivities range from 500 to 1,900 feet squared per day for the Madison-Bighorn aquifer and from about 90 to 325 feet squared per day for the Tensleep and Flathead Sandstones. Significant secondary permeability from fracturing in the Paleozoic aquifers allows local upward interformational movement of water, and this affects the altitude of the potentiometric surfaces of the Tensleep Sandstone and the Madison-Bighorn aquifer. Water moves upward from the Tensleep and other formations, through the Goose Egg Formation, to discharge at the land surface as springs. Much of the spring flow is diverted for irrigation or is used for rearing fish. Decreases from original well pressures were not apparent in wells completed in the Tensleep Sandstone or in the Madison-Bighorn aquifer in the study area except for a few wells in or near the town of Ten Sleep. Most wells completed in the Flathead Sandstone, which also are open to the Madison-Bighorn aquifer, show a decrease of pressure from the time of completion to 1978. The decrease of pressure is partly the result of water moving from the Flathead Sandstone into the Madison-Bighorn aquifer, which has a lower potentiometric surface than does the Flathead Sandstone, even during the time the wells are not in operation. Pressure in some small-capacity wells completed in the Goose Egg Formation also has decreased near Ten Sleep. Most of the wells, particularly the irrigation wells, show a progressive decrease in pressure during the irrigation season but recover during periods of nonuse. Measurements of the pressure were made principally in 1953, 1962, 1970, and 1975-78. Well water from the Paleozoic aquifers generally contains minimal concentrations of dissolved solids and individual constituents but excessive hardness. Dissolved-solids concentrations of water are less than 300 milligrams per liter in the Tensleep Sandstone and the Madison-Bighorn aquifer, less than 200 milligrams per liter in the Flathead Sandstone, and as much as 450 milligrams per liter in the Goose Egg Formation. Bicarbonate is the major constituent, followed by calcium and magnesium. Relatively large concentrations of sulfate, as much as 490 milligrams per liter, were found, mainly in water from the Goose Egg Formation. The water has low sodium (alkali) and medium salinity; therefore, the water is satisfactory for irrigation and most other uses, if excessive hardness is not a detrimental factor. Wellhead temperatures range from 11 ? to 27.5 ? Celsius (51 ? to 81.5 ? Fahrenheit) within a range in depth of approximately 250 to 4,000 feet. This gives a geothermal gradient of about 0.44 ? Celsius per 100 feet (0.79 ? Fahrenheit per 100 feet).

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1987

Statistical analysis of surface-water-quality data in and near the coal-mining region of southwestern Indiana, 1957-80

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 requires that applications for coal-mining permits contain information about the water quality of streams at and near a proposed mine. To meet this need for information, streamflow, specific conductance, pH, and concentrations of total alkalinity, sulfate, dissolved solids, suspended solids, total iron, and total manganese at 37 stations were analyzed to determine the spatial and seasonal variations in water quality and to develop equations for predicting water quality. The season of lowest median streamflow was related to the size of the drainage area. Median streamflow was least during fall at 15 of 16 stations having drainage areas greater than 1,000 square miles but was least during summer at 17 of 21 stations having drainage areas less than 1,000 square miles. In general, the season of lowest median specific conductance occurred during the season of highest streamflow except at stations on the Wabash River. Median specific conductance was least during summer at 9 of 9 stations on the Wabash River, but was least during winter or spring (the seasons of highest streamflow) at 27 of the remaining 28 stations. Linear, inverse, semilog, log-log, and hyperbolic regression models were used to investigate the functional relations between water-quality characteristics and streamflow. Of 186 relations investigated, 143 were statistically significant. Specific conductance and concentrations of total alkalinity and sulfate were negatively related to streamflow at all stations except for a positive relation between total alkalinity concentration and streamflow at Patoka River near Princeton. Concentrations of total alkalinity and sulfate were positively related to specific conductance at all stations except for a negative relation at Patoka River near Princeton and for a positive and negative relation at Patoka River at Jasper. Most of these relations are good, have small confidence intervals, and will give reliable predictions of the water-quality variables listed above. The poorest relations are typically at stations in the Patoka River watershed. Suspended-solids concentration was positively related to streamflow at all but two stations on the Patoka River. These relations are poor, have large confidence intervals, and will give less reliable predictions of suspended-solids concentration. Predictive equations for the regional relations between dissolved-solids concentration and specific conductance and between sulfate concentration and specific conductance, and the seasonal patterns of water quality, are probably valid for the coal-mining regions of Illinois and western Kentucky.

Indiana↗
USGS1990

Geohydrology and simulated effects of large ground-water withdrawals on the Mississippi River alluvial aquifer in northwestern Mississippi

The 7,000-square-mile Mississippi River alluvial plain in northwestern Mississippi, locally known as the 'Delta,' is underlain by a prolific aquifer that yielded about 1,100 million gallons per day of water to irrigation wells in 1983. About 20 feet of clay underlying the Delta land surface commonly is underlain by about 80 to 180 feet of sand and gravel that forms the Mississippi River alluvial aquifer. This study of the alluvial aquifer was prompted by recent declines of water levels. The study was designed to better define the hydrology of the aquifer and to quantify availability of water from the aquifer. The Mississippi River is in good hydraulic connection with the alluvial aquifer. Generally, smaller streams are less likely to recharge the aquifer than larger streams. Direct vertical recharge to the alluvial aquifer from the 52 inches per year of precipitation is small, especially in the central part of the Delta. A two-dimensional finite-difference computer model of the alluvial aquifer was constructed, calibrated, and verified using water levels observed for five dates from April 1981 to September 1983. The values of some of the calibration-derived parameters are hydraulic conductivity, 400 feet per day; specific yield, 0.30; and infiltration of precipitation to the aquifer, 0.5 inch per year. The model showed that the aquifer had a net loss in storage of about 360 million gallons per day from April 1981 to April 1983. During this period, pumpage was about 1,100 million gallons per day (1,270,000 acre-feet per year), and the net inflows from the sources of recharge were as follows, in million gallons per day: Mississippi River, 390; recharge along the east edge of the Delta, 170; streams within the Delta, 57; areal recharge from infiltration, 180; and oxbow lakes, 24. The effects of several levels of pumpage by wells--0, 670, 1,100, 1,900, and 4,000 million gallons per day--were projected 20 years into the future. In 2003, the 1,100-milliongallon-per-day pumping rate, about average for the early 1980's, would take 46 percent of the water withdrawn from aquifer storage, water levels would be lowered more than 20 feet in a large area in the central part of the Delta, and groundwater levels would continue to decline in future years.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1989

Evaluation of methods used from 1965 through 1982 to determine inorganic constituents in water samples

Since 1962, the U.S. Geological Survey has prepared and distributed Standard Reference Water Samples (SRWS) to participating laboratories in order to alert them to possible analytical deficiencies. This report marks the first time that a concentrated effort has been made to examine and compare the SRWS data for each constituent by the analytical method that was used to obtain the data. Unlike laboratories that participate in interlaboratory studies that are designed to determine the precision and accuracy of a particular analytical method, laboratories that participate in the SRWS program are allowed to select the method used to analyze a reference sample and are requested to report the method used. Data for a particular method could not be compared with a 'true' value because the data were obtained from analyses of reference samples that were prepared using natural waters; however, where possible a comparison was made between the mean concentrations obtained by the various analytical methods that were used to determine each constituent. Where enough information is available, models for predicting the precisions of the methods have been developed, and the precisions have been compared. In addition to the data presented in the reports, this evaluation provides a good indication of methods that were used routinely to analyze water samples during the 18 years of study.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1987

Hydrologic unit maps

A set of maps depicting approved boundaries of, and numerical codes for, river-basin units of the United States has been developed by the U.S . Geological Survey. These 'Hydrologic Unit Maps' are four-color maps that present information on drainage, culture, hydrography, and hydrologic boundaries and codes of (1) the 21 major water-resources regions and the 222 subregions designated by the U.S . Water Resources Council, (2) the 352 accounting units of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water Data Network, and (3) the 2,149 cataloging units of the U.S . Geological Survey's 'Catalog of information on Water Data:' The maps are plotted on the Geological Survey State base-map series at a scale of 1 :500,000 and, except for Alaska, depict hydrologic unit boundaries for all drainage basins greater than 700 square miles (1,813 square kilometers). A complete list of all the hydrologic units, along with their drainage areas, their names, and the names of the States or outlying areas in which they reside, is contained in the report. These maps and associated codes provide a standardized base for use by water-resources organizations in locating, storing, retrieving, and exchanging hydrologic data, in indexing and inventorying hydrologic data and information, in cataloging water-data acquisition activities, and in a variety of other applications. Because the maps have undergone extensive review by all principal Federal, regional, and State water-resource agencies, they are widely accepted for use in planning and describing water-use and related land-use activities, and in geographically organizing hydrologic data . Examples of these uses are given in the report . The hydrologic unit codes shown on the maps have been approved as a Federal Information Processing Standard for use by the Federal establishment.

Water Supply Paper↗