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At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources
USGS2024

Realizing the potential of eDNA biodiversity monitoring tools in the marine environment with application to offshore renewable energy

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researches the biological diversity and distribution of species to support management, conservation, and resource use decisions. USGS scientists advance detection and monitoring technologies to assess changes in fish and wildlife populations, biodiversity, and the health of ecosystems. The United States is planning to install 30 gigawatts of offshore marine and wind energy by 2030. However, the effects on fish and wildlife and their habitats are not well understood. The USGS is a leader in the field of eDNA technologies and has helped advance robotic eDNA samplers, has extensive experience working in the offshore environment, and has developed novel and actionable statistical methods and standards for eDNA monitoring applications. This fact sheet presents key eDNA research and development advances needed for realizing the potential of eDNA biodiversity monitoring tools in the marine environment and applying eDNA monitoring to offshore renewable energy development. New and cost-effective tools for measuring changes in biodiversity in response to offshore renewable energy development can help to inform natural resource management and project planning and permitting decisions.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2007

U.S. Geological Survey Streamgaging...from the National Streamflow Information Program

This Fact Sheet is one in a series that highlights information or recent research findings from the USGS National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP). The investigations and scientific results reported in this series require a nationally consistent streamgaging network with stable long-term monitoring sites and a rigorous program of data, quality assurance, management, archiving, and synthesis. NSIP produces multipurpose, unbiased surface-water information that is readily accessible to all.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2007

From the River to You: USGS Real-Time Streamflow Information...from the National Streamflow Information Program

This Fact Sheet is one in a series that highlights information or recent research findings from the USGS National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP). The investigations and scientific results reported in this series require a nationally consistent streamgaging network with stable long-term monitoring sites and a rigorous program of data, quality assurance, management, archiving, and synthesis. NSIP produces multipurpose, unbiased surface-water information that is readily accessible to all.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2013

Water resources of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana

This fact sheet presents a brief overview of groundwater and surface-water resources in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. Information on the availability, past and current use trends, and water quality from groundwater and surface-water sources in the parish is discussed. Previously published reports and data stored in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis) are the primary sources of the information presented here.

Louisiana↗
USGS2016

Assessing wildlife benefits and carbon storage from restored and natural coastal marshes in the Nisqually River Delta: Determining marsh net ecosystem carbon balance

Working in partnership since 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nisqually Indian Tribe have restored 902 acres of tidally influenced coastal marsh in the Nisqually River Delta (NRD), making it the largest estuary-restoration project in the Pacific Northwest to date. Marsh restoration increases the capacity of the estuary to support a diversity of wildlife species. Restoration also increases carbon (C) production of marsh plant communities that support food webs for wildlife and can help mitigate climate change through long-term C storage in marsh soils. In 2015, an interdisciplinary team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers began to study the benefits of carbon for wetland wildlife and storage in the NRD. Our primary goals are (1) to identify the relative importance of the different carbon sources that support juvenile chinook ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) food webs and contribute to current and historic peat formation, (2) to determine the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) in a reference marsh and a restoration marsh site, and (3) to model the sustainability of the reference and restoration marshes under projected sea-level rise conditions along with historical vegetation change. In this fact sheet, we focus on the main C sources and exchanges to determine NECB, including carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) uptake through plant photosynthesis, the loss of CO 2 through plant and soil respiration, emissions of methane (CH 4 ), and the lateral movement or leaching loss of C in tidal waters.

Washington↗
USGS2005

Changes in streamflow timing in New England during the 20th century... from the National Streamflow Information Program

This Fact Sheet is one in a series that highlights information or recent research findings from the USGS National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP). The investigations and scientific results reported in this series require a nationally consistent streamgaging network with stable long-term monitoring sites and a rigorous program of data quality assurance, management, archiving, and synthesis. NSIP produces multi-purpose, unbiased surface water information that is readily accessible to all.

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, ↗
USGS1999

Phosphorus loads entering Long Pond, a small embayment of Lake Ontario near Rochester, New York

Introduction Long Pond is one of many small, shallow embayments along the southern edge of Lake Ontario (fig. 1). These embayments are an important recreational resource and wildlife habitat; thus, maintaining their natural state is essential to their continued use. In recent decades, Long Pond and the adjacent Cranberry Pond have become hypereutrophic (overly enriched with nutrients) (Makarewicz and others, 1990) as a result of nitrogen and phosphorus transported to those waters by Northrup Creek from sources within the drainage basin. In 1989, the Monroe County Department of Health and the Town of Greece, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), began a water-quality-monitoring program on Northrup Creek near North Greece at a site of a gaging station about 5 mi north (downstream) of the Village of Spencerport and the Spencerport wastewater-treatment plant. The program included the collection of water samples from October 1989 through September 1998 for chemical analysis and the collection of streamflow data for use in calculating phosphorus loads at the site. This fact sheet addresses the issue of concentration and loads of phosphorus in Northrup Creek, the principal tributary to Long Pond. Northrup Creek begins just south of the Village of Spencerport in Monroe County and flows northward into Long Pond. It drains a total of 23.5 mi2 in the towns of Ogden, Parma, and Greece (fig. 1). The drainage basin contains agricultural land, housing developments, and a small amount of urban land (table 1).

New York↗
USGS1997

Herbicides in the Pecatonica and Yahara Rivers in Southwestern Wisconsin, May 1996-July 1996

Herbicides, particularly those applied to corn, can be found in surface water and ground water in Wisconsin (Sullivan and Richards, 1996; Matzen and Saad, 1996). Wisconsin farmers applied 7.6 million pounds of corn herbicides during 1996. Because of public concern about the amount of herbicides applied to Wisconsin farm fields and the impact on surrounding watersheds, a study was conducted to measure herbicide runoff in sections of two rivers in southwestern Wisconsin. This is a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). Prior to this study, surface-water samples had not been collected frequently enough to calculate herbicide loads for entire watersheds in southwestern and south-central Wisconsin. This fact sheet summarizes herbicide concentrations in samples collected from the Pecatonica River at Martintown and the Yahara River near Fulton from May 15 to July 15, 1996. Herbicide loads and unit area loads are calculated for these two watersheds. This study monitored commonly applied corn herbicides: alachlor, atrazine, metolachlor, cyanazine, and acetochlor. Acetochlor was introduced to the market in 1994 as a replacement for corn herbicides such as alachlor.

Wisconsin↗
USGS2002

Assessment of stream quality using biological indices at selected sites in the Schuylkill River basin, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1981-97

Introduction In 1970, the Chester County Water Resources Authority (Pennsylvania) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established a long-term water-quality network with the goal of assessing the quality of streams in the county and understanding stream changes in response to urbanization using benthic-macroinvertebrate data. This database represents one of the longest continuous water-quality data sets in the country. Benthic macroinvertebrates are aquatic insects, such as mayflies, caddisflies, riffle beetles, and midges, and other invertebrates that live on the stream bottom. Benthic macroinvertebrates are useful in evaluating stream quality because their habitat preferences and low motility cause them to be affected directly by substances that enter the aquatic system. By evaluating the diversity and community structure of benthic-macroinvertebrate populations, a determination of stream quality can be made. Between 1981 and 1997, the network consisted of 43 sites in 5 major basins in Chester County—Delaware, Schuylkill, Brandywine, Big Elk and Octoraro, and Red and White Clay. Benthic-macroinvertebrate, water-chemistry, and habitat data were collected each year in October or November during base-flow conditions. Using these data, Reif evaluated the overall water-quality condition of Chester County streams. This Fact Sheet summarizes the key findings from Reif for streams in the Schuylkill River Basin. These streams include Pigeon Creek (site 10), Stony Run (site 6), French Creek (sites 12-16), Pickering Creek (sites 1-5), Little Valley Creek (site 49), and Valley Creek (site 50). This summary includes an analysis of stream conditions based on benthic-macroinvertebrate samples and an analysis of trends in stream conditions for the 17-year study period.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2002

Assessment of stream quality using biological indices at selected sites in the Big Elk and Octoraro Creek basins, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1981-97

Introduction In 1970, the Chester County Water Resources Authority (Pennsylvania) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established a long-term water-quality network with the goal of assessing the quality of streams in the county and understanding stream changes in response to urbanization using benthic-macroinvertebrate data. This database represents one of the longest continuous water-quality data sets in the country. Benthic macroinvertebrates are aquatic insects, such as mayflies, caddisflies, riffle beetles, and midges, and other invertebrates that live on the stream bottom. Benthic macroin-vertebrates are useful in evaluating stream quality because their habitat preference and low motility cause them to be affected directly by substances that enter the aquatic system. By evaluating the diversity and community structure of benthic-macroinvertebrate populations, a determination of stream quality can be made. Between 1981 and 1997, the water-quality network consisted of 43 sites in 5 major basins in Chester County—Delaware, Schuylkill, Brandywine, Big Elk and Octoraro, and Red and White Clay. Benthic-macroinvertebrate, water-chemistry, and habitat data were collected each year in October or November during base-flow conditions. Using these data, Reif evaluates the overall water-quality condition of Chester County streams. This Fact Sheet summarizes the key findings from Reif for streams in the Big Elk and Octoraro Creek Basins. These streams include East Branch Big Elk Creek (site 31), West Branch Big Elk Creek (site 32), East Branch Octoraro Creek (site 33) and Valley Creek (site 34). This summary includes an analysis of stream conditions based on benthic-macroinvertebrate samples and an analysis of trends in stream conditions for the 17-year study period.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2002

Occurrence of selected volatile organic compounds and soluble pesticides in Texas public water-supply source waters, 1999-2001

During 1999–2001, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, collected samples of untreated water from 48 public water-supply reservoirs and 174 public water-supply wells. The samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and soluble pesticides; in addition, well samples were analyzed for nitrite plus nitrate and tritium. This fact sheet summarizes the findings of the source-water sampling and analyses. Both VOCs and pesticides were detected much more frequently in surface water than in ground water. The only constituent detected at concentrations exceeding the maximum contaminant level for drinking water was nitrate. These results will be used in the Texas SourceWater Assessment Program to evaluate the susceptibility of public water-supply source waters to contamination.

Texas↗
USGS2009

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Iodophor Disinfection of Walleye and Northern Pike Eggs to Eliminate Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus

Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSv) is a serious fish pathogen that has been responsible for large-scale fish kills in the Great Lakes since 2005. It causes high mortality and resulting outbreaks have severe economic consequences for aquaculture. Iodophor disinfection of salmonid eggs is a standard hatchery practice to reduce the risk of pathogen transfer during gamete collection ('spawning') operations and is thus a leading candidate for reducing VHSv transmission during and after spawning of nonsalmonid fishes. However, before it is incorporated by hatcheries during nonsalmonid fish spawning efforts, its safety and effectiveness needs to be evaluated. The USGS Fact Sheet 2009-3107, 'Evaluation of the Efficacy of Iodophor Disinfection of Walleye and Northern Pike Eggs to Eliminate Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus' presents the results of a study to assess the effectiveness of iodophor disinfection for eliminating VHSv (strain IVb) from fertilized eggs of walleye and northern pike intentionally challenged with VHSv following egg fertilization. Walleye and northern pike egg survival (hatch) following iodophor egg disinfection also was assessed.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2017

Water resources of the Southern Hills regional aquifer system, southeastern Louisiana

Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of groundwater in the 10 parishes overlying the Southern Hills regional aquifer system of Louisiana (fig. 1) is critical for water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on the availability, past and current use, use trends, and water quality from groundwater sources in these parishes is presented. Previously published reports (see References Cited section) and data stored in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System (U.S. Geological Survey, 2017) are the primary sources of the information presented here.

Louisiana↗
USGS2018

Brackish groundwater and its potential as a resource in the southwestern United States

Secure, reliable, and sustainable water resources are fundamental to food production, energy independence, and the health of humans and ecosystems. But the large-scale development of fresh groundwater resources has stressed aquifers in some areas, causing declines in the amount of groundwater in storage and decreases in discharge to surface-water bodies like rivers and springs (Reilly and others, 2008). In some parts of the southwestern United States, the water supply is not adequate to meet demand without substantial effects on groundwater storage or surface discharge, and severe drought intensifies the stresses affecting water resources. In support of the national census of water resources, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed the national brackish groundwater assessment to provide information about brackish groundwater as a potential resource to augment or replace freshwater supplies (Stanton and others, 2017). The objectives of the brackish groundwater assessment were to consolidate available data into a comprehensive database of brackish groundwater resources in the United States and to produce a summary report about the distribution, physical and chemical characteristics, and use of brackish groundwater. This fact sheet summarizes the occurrence of brackish groundwater and factors affecting its usability in the southwestern United States (specifically the Southwest Basins region) reported for the national study. The map below (fig. 1) summarizes the brackish zones for the five largest principal aquifers within the southwestern United States, along with groundwater resources in the remaining part of the region (Reilly and others, 2008).

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2002

Assessment of stream quality using biological indices at selected sites in the Delaware River basin, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1981-97

Introduction In 1970, the Chester County Water Resources Authority (Penn-sylvania) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established a long-term water-quality network with the goal of assessing the quality of streams in the county and understanding stream changes in response to urbanization using benthic-macroinvertebrate data. This database represents one of the longest continuous water-quality data sets in the country. Benthic macroinvertebrates are aquatic insects, such as mayflies, caddisflies, riffle beetles, and midges, and other invertebrates that live on the stream bottom. Benthic macroinvertebrates are useful in evaluating stream quality because their habitat preferences and low motility cause them to be affected directly by substances that enter the aquatic system. By evaluating the diversity and community structure of benthic-macroinvertebrate populations, a determination of stream quality can be made. Between 1981 and 1997, the water-quality network consisted of 43 sites in 5 major basins in Chester County—Delaware, Schuylkill, Brandywine, Big Elk and Octoraro, and Red and White Clay. Benthic-macroinvertebrate, water-chemistry, and habitat data were collected each year in October or November during base-flow condition. Using these data, Reif evaluates the overall water-quality condition of Chester County streams. This Fact Sheet summarizes the key findings from Reif for streams in the Delaware River Basin. These streams include Darby Creek (site 17), Crum Creek (site 19), Ridley Creek (sites 20 and 21), East Branch Chester Creek (sites 22-24, and 51), and Goose Creek (site 25). This summary includes an analysis of stream conditions on the basis of benthic-macroinvertebrate samples and an analysis of trends in stream conditions for the 17-year study period.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2014

Water resources of Acadia Parish, Louisiana

Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on the availability, past and current use, use trends, and water quality from groundwater and surface-water sources in the parish is presented. Previously published reports and data stored in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System ( http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis ) are the primary sources of the information presented here.

Louisiana↗
USGS2014

Water resources of Caldwell Parish, Louisiana

Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on the availability, past and current use, use trends, and water quality from groundwater and surface-water sources in the parish is presented. Previously published reports and data stored in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System ( http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis ) are the primary sources of the information presented here.

Louisiana↗
USGS2014

Water resources of Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana

Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on the availability, past and current use, use trends, and water quality from groundwater and surface-water sources in the parish is presented. Previously published reports and data stored in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Information System (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis) are the primary sources of the information presented here.

Louisiana↗