Geology topics

Charles Richard Murray

Publications and source records attributed to Charles Richard Murray.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2023

Seasonal spatial ecology of Lake Trout in Lake Erie

Objective Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush are native coldwater apex predators that play an important role in maintaining ecosystem functionality and diversity in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Following population collapses, rehabilitation efforts were widely initiated in the Great Lakes to reestablish self‐sustaining Lake Trout populations. Lake Erie may pose a challenge to these rehabilitation efforts due to limited availability of appropriate oxythermal habitat. Our goal was to investigate seasonal habitat use of adult Lake Trout in Lake Erie to inform management and rehabilitation efforts. Methods We used acoustic telemetry in Lake Erie, which was equipepd with a lake‐wide acoustic receiver grid, to quantify Lake Trout seasonal region occupancy, dispersal distances, bottom depth occupancy, space use extent, and space use overlap. Result We found that 32% of fish tagged in the eastern basin and all fish from the western basin dispersed more than 100 km from their tagging location, which represents a greater proportion of the population moving long distances than what has been previously documented in the Great Lakes. During stratification, Lake Trout were detected almost exclusively in the offshore eastern basin in areas where water depth exceeded 25 m. During nonstratified seasons, fish used other regions of the lake, occupying areas of highly variable depths. During fall, most fish tagged in the eastern basin occupied habitat along the southern shore of the eastern basin. Fish tagged in the western basin returned to this region in the fall of subsequent years despite occupying the offshore eastern basin during stratification and having depth occupancy, home range size, and overlap similar to that of eastern basin‐tagged fish. Fish size was positively correlated with receiver depth during winter and spring, and with home range overlap during spring and summer. Conclusion The results of this study can begin to inform management decisions regarding stocking locations, harvest regulations, and habitat restoration to facilitate the continued rehabilitation of this important native species.

Lake Erie↗

USGS1972

Estimated use of water in the United States in 1970

Estimates of water use in the United States in 1970 indicate that an average of about 370 bgd (billion gallons per day)about 1,800 gallons per capita per day--was withdrawn for the four principal off-channel uses which are (1) public-supply (for domestic, commercial, and industrial uses), (2) rural (domestic and livestock), (3) irrigation, and (4) self-supplied industrial (including thermoelectric power). In 1970, withdrawals for these uses exceeded by 19 percent the 310 bgd estimated for 1965. Increases in the various categories of off-channel water use since 1965 were: approximately 25 percent for self-supplied industry (mainly in electric-utility thermoelectric plants), 13 percent for public supplies, 13 percent for rural supplies, and 8 percent for irrigation. Industrial water withdrawals included 54 bgd of saline water, a 20 percent increase in 5 years. The fifth principal withdrawal use, hydroelectric power (an in-channel use), amounted to 2,800 bgd, a 5-year increase of 22 percent. In computing total withdrawals, recycling within a plant (reuse) is not counted, but withdrawal of the same water by a downstream user (cumulative withdrawals) is counted. The quantity of fresh water consumed--that is, water made unavailable for further possible withdrawal because of evaporation, incorporation in crops and manufactured products, and other causes--was estimated to average 87 bgd for 1970, an increase of about 12 percent since 1965. Estimates of water withdrawn from the principal sources indicated that 68 bgd came from fresh ground water, l bgd came from saline ground water, 250 bgd came from fresh surface water, 53 bgd came from saline surface water, and 0.5 bgd was reclaimed sewage. The average annual streamflow--simplified measure of the total available water supply--is approximately 1,200 bgd in the conterminous United States. Total water withdrawn in 1970 for off-channel uses (withdrawals other than for hydroelectric power) amounted to about 30 percent of the average annual streamflow: 7 percent of the 1,200 bgd basic supply was consumed. However, comparisons of Water Resources Council regions indicate that the rate of withdrawal was higher than the locally dependable supply in the Middle Atlantic, Texas-Gulf, Rio Grande, Lower Colorado, and California-South Pacific regions. Consumption amounted to nearly 25 percent of withdrawals in the conterminous United States; however, fresh-water consumption amounted to only 14 percent of off-channel withdrawals in the 31 Eastern States and ranged from 30 percent to nearly 70 percent of off-channel withdrawals in the Water Resources Council regions in the West. In the Rio Grande and Lower Colorado regions, fresh-water consumption in 1970 exceeded the estimated dependable supply of fresh water.

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USGS1968

Estimated use of water in the United States, 1965

Estimates of water use in the United States for 1965 indicate that an average of about 310 bgd (billion gallons per day) were withdrawn for public-supply, rural domestic and livestock, irrigation, and industrial (including thermoelectric power)uses--that is, about 1,600 gallons per capita per day. This represents an increase of 15 percent over the withdrawal of 270 bgd reported for 1960. Fresh water withdrawals for thermoelectric power generation increased nearly 25 percent during the 5 years, and saline water withdrawals increased 33 percent. An additional 2,300 bgd was used for hydroelectric power generation (waterpower), which also represented a 15-percent increase in 5 years. The quantity of water consumed-that is, water made unavailable for further possible withdrawal because of evaporation, incorporation in manufactured products, and other causes - was estimated to average 78 bgd for 1965, an increase of about 28 percent since 1960. Estimates made of the quantities of water withdrawn from surface and ground-water sources indicate withdrawals of 61 bgd of ground water, of which nearly 0.5 bgd was saline, and 250 bgd of surface water, of which 44 bgd was saline. The estimated amount of saline water used by industry increased 36 percent from 1960 to 1965. In addition to surface and ground water sources, reclaimed sewage supplied two-thirds of a billion gallons per day, mainly to irrigation and industry. The average annual streamflow in the United States is approximately 1,200 bgd, about four times the amount withdrawn for all purposes (except hydroelectric power) in 1965, and more than 15 times the estimated quantity of water consumed. However, comparisons of supply and demand in many river basins show that repeated use of the water is made, and at times in some basins all the available supply is consumed. In addition to tabulations of water-use data by States and by the water-use regions previously used, water-use tables are also given for the regions recently defined by the Water Resources Council for its national assessment.

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