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Sustainable fisheries management: Pacific salmon

What has happened to the salmon resource in the Pacific Northwest? Who is responsible and what can be done to reverse the decline in salmon populations? The responsibly falls on everyone involved - fishermen, resource managers and concerned citizens alike - to take the steps necessary to ensure that salmon populations make a full recovery. This collection of papers examines the state of the salmon fisheries in the Pacific Northwest. They cover existing methods and supply model approaches for alternative solutions. The editors stress the importance of input from and cooperation with all parties involved to create a viable solution. Grass roots education and participation is the key to public support - and ultimately the success - of whatever management solutions are developed. A unique and valuable scientific publication, Sustainable Fisheries Management: Pacific Salmon clearly articulates the current state of the Pacific salmon resource, describes the key features of its management, and provides important guidance on how we can make the transition towards sustainable fisheries. The solutions presented in this book provide the basis of a strategy for sustainable fisheries, requiring society and governmental agencies to establish a shared vision, common policies, and a process for collaborative management.

Book↗

Comparison of two parametric methods to estimate pesticide mass loads in California's Central Valley

Mass loadings were calculated for four pesticides in two watersheds with different land uses in the Central Valley, California, by using two parametric models: (1) the Seasonal Wave model (SeaWave), in which a pulse signal is used to describe the annual cycle of pesticide occurrence in a stream, and (2) the Sine Wave model, in which first-order Fourier series sine and cosine terms are used to simulate seasonal mass loading patterns. The models were applied to data collected during water years 1997 through 2005. The pesticides modeled were carbaryl, diazinon, metolachlor, and molinate. Results from the two models show that the ability to capture seasonal variations in pesticide concentrations was affected by pesticide use patterns and the methods by which pesticides are transported to streams. Estimated seasonal loads compared well with results from previous studies for both models. Loads estimated by the two models did not differ significantly from each other, with the exceptions of carbaryl and molinate during the precipitation season, where loads were affected by application patterns and rainfall. However, in watersheds with variable and intermittent pesticide applications, the SeaWave model is more suitable for use on the basis of its robust capability of describing seasonal variation of pesticide concentrations.

California↗

Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposits of the World - Database and Grade and Tonnage Models

Grade and tonnage models are useful in quantitative mineral-resource assessments. The models and database presented in this report are an update of earlier publications about volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits. These VMS deposits include what were formerly classified as kuroko, Cyprus, and Besshi deposits. The update was necessary because of new information about some deposits, changes in information in some deposits, such as grades, tonnages, or ages, revised locations of some deposits, and reclassification of subtypes. In this report we have added new VMS deposits and removed a few incorrectly classified deposits. This global compilation of VMS deposits contains 1,090 deposits; however, it was not our intent to include every known deposit in the world. The data was recently used for mineral-deposit density models (Mosier and others, 2007; Singer, 2008). In this paper, 867 deposits were used to construct revised grade and tonnage models. Our new models are based on a reclassification of deposits based on host lithologies: Felsic, Bimodal-Mafic, and Mafic volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits. Mineral-deposit models are important in exploration planning and quantitative resource assessments for two reasons: (1) grades and tonnages among deposit types vary significantly, and (2) deposits of different types occur in distinct geologic settings that can be identified from geologic maps. Mineral-deposit models combine the diverse geoscience information on geology, mineral occurrences, geophysics, and geochemistry used in resource assessments and mineral exploration. Globally based deposit models allow recognition of important features and demonstrate how common different features are. Well-designed deposit models allow geologists to deduce possible mineral-deposit types in a given geologic environment and economists to determine the possible economic viability of these resources. Thus, mineral-deposit models play a central role in presenting geoscience information in a useful form to policy makers. The foundation of mineral-deposit models is information about known deposits. The purpose of this publication is to present the latest geologic information and newly developed grade and tonnage models for VMS deposits in digital form. This publication contains computer files with information on VMS deposits from around the world. It also presents new grade and tonnage models for three subtypes of VMS deposits and a text file allowing locations of all deposits to be plotted in geographic information system (GIS) programs. The data are presented in FileMaker Pro and text files to make the information available to a wider audience. The value of this information and any derived analyses depends critically on the consistent manner of data gathering. For this reason, we first discuss the rules used in this compilation. Next, we provide new grade and tonnage models and analysis of the information in the file. Finally, the fields of the data file are explained. Appendix A gives the summary statistics for the new grade-tonnage models and Appendix B displays the country codes used in the database.

Open-File Report↗

Chapter A3. Cleaning of equipment for water sampling

The National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data (National Field Manual) describes protocols and provides guidelines for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) personnel who collect data used to assess the quality of the Nation's surface-water and ground-water resources. Chapter A3 describes procedures for cleaning the equipment used to collect and process samples of surface water and ground water and procedures for assessing the efficacy of the equipment-cleaning process. This chapter is designed for use with the other chapters of this field manual. Each chapter of the National Field Manual is published separately and revised periodically. Newly published and revised chapters will be announced on the USGS Home Page on the World Wide Web under 'New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey.'

Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations↗

Chapter A5. Processing of water samples

The National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data (National Field Manual) describes protocols and provides guidelines for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) personnel who collect data used to assess the quality of the Nation's surface-water and ground-water resources. This chapter addresses methods to be used in processing water samples to be analyzed for inorganic and organic chemical substances, including the bottling of composite, pumped, and bailed samples and subsamples; sample filtration; solid-phase extraction for pesticide analyses; sample preservation; and sample handling and shipping. Each chapter of the National Field Manual is published separately and revised periodically. Newly published and revised chapters will be announced on the USGS Home Page on the World Wide Web under 'New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey.'

Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations↗

Stable isotopes and volatile organic compounds along seven ground-water flow paths in divergent and convergent flow systems, southern California, 2000

Ground water is a major source of drinking water in southern California. In an effort to understand factors influencing the susceptibility of ground water tapped by public supply wells, the U.S. Geological Survey has undertaken studies in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board. The vertical and lateral distribution of stable isotopes (deuterium and oxygen-18) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) were examined along seven ground-water flow paths in three urban ground-water basins in southern California: Central Basin in Los Angeles County, Main Basin in Orange County, and Bunker Hill Basin in San Bernardino County. Forty-seven monitoring wells and 100 public supply wells were sampled. The results of this study suggest that the direction of flow and perhaps the degree of confinement in an aquifer system are important controls on the distribution of VOCs. Ground-water flow in the Central and Main Basins in the southern California coastal plain is characterized as radially divergent, with ground-water flow directions moving outward from focused areas of recharge in the unconfined part of the aquifer system toward dispersed areas of discharge in the more confined part. In these basins, there is a volume of water containing VOCs that extends out into a volume of water containing no VOCs. This pattern suggests that radially divergent flow systems disperse VOCs in distal areas. The overall pattern also suggests that ground water in the pressure area is generally insulated from compounds introduced at land surface. These two factors?dispersion of VOCs due to divergence of flow and insulation from land-surface inputs?suggest that the susceptibility of public supply wells to surface contamination decreases with distance in radially divergent, well confined ground-water flow system. In the inland Bunker Hill Basin, ground-water flow is characterized as radially convergent; ground-water flow directions move inward from dispersed recharge areas in the unconfined part of the aquifer system, toward an area of focused discharge in the more confined part. The number of VOCs increased and the concentrations of individual VOCs increased, or remained the same, with increasing travel distance. Methyl tert-butyl ether was detected only in wells in the confined part of the aquifer system, suggesting that the confining units present in the distal part of the Bunker Hill Basin do not prevent VOCs from reaching ground water. These results suggest that VOCs in the Bunker Hill Basin are collected and concentrated as ground water moves downgradient because of radial convergenence of flow. They also suggest that ground water in the Bunker Hill Basin has an increasing opportunity to pick up VOCs introduced at land surface as it moves along a flow path. Some of the downgradient increase in VOC occurrence and concentration may be due to pumping that selectively removes cleaner ground water, thus leaving ground water containing more VOCs in the aquifer. These two factors?collection of VOCs due to convergence of flow and increasing opportunity to collect surficial contaminants perhaps due to a relative absence of confinement?suggest that the susceptibility of public supply wells to surface contamination increases with distance in radially convergent ground-water flow systems, particularly those that are unconfined.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

Regional Water-Resources Studies in Nevada

Introduction: Water-resources information for the State of Nevada should be readily accessible to community planners and the general public in a user-friendly web environment and should be actively managed and maintained with accurate historic and current hydrologic data. The USGS, in cooperation with State of Nevada and local government agencies, has established a data framework that provides critical hydrologic information to meet the challenges of water resources planning for Nevada.

Fact Sheet↗

Estimated water use in Ohio, 1990 -- Mining data

Our Nation's social and economic development has depended on and will continue to depend on the availability of usable water. In 1950, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began publishing water-use data on a national level every 5 years to assist in the management of our Nation's water resources. The USGS currently collects and (or) estimates water-use data for the following categories: public supply, domestic, commercial, industrial, thermoelectric power, mining, livestock, animal specialties, irrigation, hydroelectric power (instream use), sewage treatment, and reservoir evaporation. In 1977, Congress authorized the National Water-Use Information Program. The program encourages the USGS and a State-level agency in each of the 50 States to cooperate in the collection and dissemination of water-use data. In Ohio, the USGS and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water (ODNR-DW), are cooperators in this effort. In 1990, ODNR-DW implemented the Water Withdrawal Facility Registration Program for Ohio, which requires those water consumers who have the capacity to withdraw 100,000 gallons of water daily to register with the ODNR-DW. Consumers whose daily capacity is less than 100,000 gallons are not required to register. The information collected from the registrants is maintained in computerized data bases at the ODNR-DW and the Ohio District Office of the USGS. This Fact Sheet, which summarizes Ohio's 1990 mining water-use data, is one of a series that supplements, by category, the national USGS publication on water use.

Ohio↗

Sand and gravel resources of Puerto Rico

Many of Puerto Rico's beaches are eroding, and though rates of erosion vary, it is a major concern for the tourism and residential development industries. More than 85 percent of the population lives within 7 kilometers of the coast and they are heavily dependent on tourists that are attracted by the island's beaches and coral reefs. High-quality scientific data are needed to help formulate public policy regarding residential and commercial construction along the coast, beach replenishment, and future use of marine resources. Scientists have long recognized that the causes of coastal land loss are not limited to a relative rise in sea level, but can be manmade as well. For example, sediment supply to beaches especially along the north shore of Puerto Rico has been strongly affected by upstream river channeling, dam construction, various agricultural practices, paving and urbanization, as well as shallow-water oceanographic processes. The response to coastal erosion in Puerto Rico has been mostly crisis based leading to engineered solutions that have a negative effect on the coastal environment.

Puerto Rico↗

Water-quality assessment of the Las Vegas Valley area and the Carson and Truckee River basins, Nevada and California: Nutrients, pesticides, and suspended sediment, October 1969-April 1990

The U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) is designed to provide long-term, consistent information on water quality that can be used to describe local, regional, and national conditions. The full-scale NAWQA Program, initiated in 1991, includes both study-unit and national synthesis activities. Study-unit investigations provide scientific data and interpretations that will be integrated by national synthesis studies to assess the quality of the Nation's water resources. The Nevada Basin and Range (NVBR) study unit is one of 60 proposed NAWQA study units in the United States. These riverbasin-scale areas were selected to represent large proportions of the Nation's water use and population served by public supplies, and the Nation's geographic diversity. The NVBR study unit includes the Las Vegas Valley area, approximately 1,640 mi in southern Nevada, and the Carson River Basin (3,970 mi 2 ) and Truckee River Basin (3,230 mi 2 ) in northwestern Nevada and northeastern California. The areas are typical of Basin and Range physiography. Snowfall in high mountains provides streamflow and ground-water recharge in adjacent basins. Unconsolidated basin-fill deposits commonly exceed 1,000 ft in thickness and are principal aquifers in the study unit. The study-unit climate varies from humid continental in the Sierra Nevada where the Carson and Truckee Rivers originate (annual precipitation exceeds 30 in.) to desert in terminal parts of the basins, including the Carson Desert and lower altitudes in Las Vegas Valley, where annual precipitation is less than 5 in. In 1990, Nevada had the greatest population growth rate and the fourth greatest percentage of population residing in urban areas in the Nation. More than 90 percent of Nevada's population (about 1,090,000 in 1990) resided in the study unit; the Las Vegas Valley area (about 710,000) was the most populous area. In 1990, water use in the study unit was about 1,117,000 acre-ft. Water use in the Las Vegas Valley area was about 317,000 acre-ft; 91 percent was for public supplies. Las Vegas Valley was 79 percent range land, but the 5 percent urban land use has significantly affected water resources. Water use in the Carson River Basin was 538,000 acre-ft in 1990. About 95 percent of the water was used for irrigation, although only 5 percent of the land was used for irrigated agriculture. Water use in the Truckee River Basin was 262,000 acre-ft in 1990. Public supply used about 36 percent of the water, although only 3 percent of the land was urban. Nutrients, pesticides, and suspended sediments are important water-quality issues in the study unit. Urban runoff and treated sewage effluent contribute these constituents to Las Vegas Wash and the Truckee River. Urban and agricultural activities in the Carson and Truckee River Basins are also sources of these constituents.

California, Nevada↗

The US Geological Survey’s Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)—Providing framework geologic, geophysical, and elevation data to the nation’s critical mineral-bearing regions

New detailed mapping of the geologic resources of the Nation has the potential to significantly close the gap in the essential data needed to fuel a modern era of economic development and technological innovation, while at the same time dramatically enhancing our understanding of the fundamental way geology impacts everyday life, from the domestic critical mineral resources that are necessary for modern technology and the economy, to domestic energy and water resources, geologic hazards, agriculture, and other pressing needs. The U.S. Geological Survey established the Earth Resources Mapping Initiative (Earth MRI) to address the shortfall in geologic, geophysical, and elevation data with sufficient detail to support evaluation of regions in the United States that have potential to host critical mineral resources. The new effort is a collaboration with the Association of American State Geologists, who are providing new detailed geologic maps and making available online archived data and information related to critical mineral resources. The geophysical and lidar surveys are being contracted through industry specialists to assure that high-quality data are available to the public. This article provides an overview of the Earth MRI effort with discussions on the initial geophysical surveys funded for areas that have known potential for rare earth element resources. Subsequent projects are being designed to address areas that may host other critical mineral resources.

Fast Times↗

A Servicewide Benthic Mapping Program for National Parks

In 2007, the National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program directed the initiation of a benthic habitat mapping program in ocean and coastal parks in alignment with the NPS Ocean Park Stewardship 2007-2008 Action Plan. With 74 ocean and Great Lakes parks stretching over more than 5,000 miles of coastline across 26 States and territories, this Servicewide Benthic Mapping Program (SBMP) is essential. This program will deliver benthic habitat maps and their associated inventory reports to NPS managers in a consistent, servicewide format to support informed management and protection of 3 million acres of submerged National Park System natural and cultural resources. The NPS and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) convened a workshop June 3-5, 2008, in Lakewood, Colo., to discuss the goals and develop the design of the NPS SBMP with an assembly of experts (Moses and others, 2010) who identified park needs and suggested best practices for inventory and mapping of bathymetry, benthic cover, geology, geomorphology, and some water-column properties. The recommended SBMP protocols include servicewide standards (such as gap analysis, minimum accuracy, final products) as well as standards that can be adapted to fit network and park unit needs (for example, minimum mapping unit, mapping priorities). SBMP Mapping Process. The SBMP calls for a multi-step mapping process for each park, beginning with a gap assessment and data mining to determine data resources and needs. An interagency announcement of intent to acquire new data will provide opportunities to leverage partnerships. Prior to new data acquisition, all involved parties should be included in a scoping meeting held at network scale. Data collection will be followed by processing and interpretation, and finally expert review and publication. After publication, all digital materials will be archived in a common format. SBMP Classification Scheme. The SBMP will map using the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) that is being modified to include all NPS needs, such as lacustrine ecosystems and submerged cultural resources. CMECS Version III (Madden and others, 2010) includes components for water column, biotic cover, surface geology, sub-benthic, and geoform. SBMP Data Archiving. The SBMP calls for the storage of all raw data and final products in common-use data formats. The concept of 'collect once, use often' is essential to efficient use of mapping resources. Data should also be shared with other agencies and the public through various digital clearing houses, such as Geospatial One-Stop (http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos). To be most useful for managing submerged resources, the SBMP advocates the inventory and mapping of the five components of marine ecosystems: surface geology, biotic cover, geoform, sub-benthic, and water column. A complete benthic inventory of a park would include maps of bathymetry and the five components of CMECS. The completion of mapping for any set of components, such as bathymetry and surface geology, or a particular theme (for example, submerged aquatic vegetation) should also include a printed report.

Open-File Report↗

Fishing activities

Unlike the major anthropogenic changes that terrestrial and coastal habitats underwent during the last centuries such as deforestation, river engineering, agricultural practices or urbanism, those occurring underwater are veiled from our eyes and have continued nearly unnoticed. Only recent advances in remote sensing and deep marine sampling technologies have revealed the extent and magnitude of the anthropogenic impacts to the seafloor. In particular, bottom trawling, a fishing technique consisting of dragging a net and fishing gear over the seafloor to capture bottom-dwelling living resources has gained attention among the scientific community, policy makers and the general public due to its destructive effects on the seabed. Trawling gear produces acute impacts on biota and the physical substratum of the seafloor by disrupting the sediment column structure, overturning boulders, resuspending sediments and imprinting deep scars on muddy bottoms. Also, the repetitive passage of trawling gear over the same areas creates long-lasting, cumulative impacts that modify the cohesiveness and texture of sediments. It can be asserted nowadays that due to its recurrence, mobility and wide geographical extent, industrial trawling has become a major force driving seafloor change and affecting not only its physical integrity on short spatial scales but also imprinting measurable modifications to the geomorphology of entire continental margins.

Book chapter↗

Vulnerability of different Colorado Plateau land types to drivers of change

Public lands are challenged by a range of pressures—changing climate, increasing visitation, resource extraction—and their effects can span spatial scales, often crossing land management jurisdictional boundaries. Research approaches which explicitly span jurisdictions can support strategies to contend with regional pressures. We assess management-relevant drivers of change—aridification, livestock grazing, invasive species, surface disturbance, and fire—across a patchwork of land management units and agencies on the Colorado Plateau, focusing on southeastern Utah, USA. We use vulnerability analysis, first evaluating exposure to drivers across the landscape, then quantifying sensitivity to each driver across different land types, defined by mapped Ecological Site Groups, a system for classifying landscapes according to physical factors including climate, soils, and topographic setting. We address the questions: 1) how are drivers spatially distributed across the study region; and, 2) based on exposure and sensitivity, are certain land types more vulnerable to these drivers? We find that the study region has high exposure and sensitivity—and thus high vulnerability—to aridification and grazing, but low exposure and vulnerability to other drivers. Although more sensitive land types were not generally more exposed, identifying which areas are most sensitive can guide adaptive measures, like where new uses or disturbances would be least harmful and which areas could be prioritized for restoration. The method we demonstrate is a flexible tool for assessing landscape-scale impacts, is built on nationally available datasets, and can be tailored to different datasets and sensitivity metrics.

Utah↗

Insect communities in big sagebrush habitat are altered by wildfire and post‐fire restoration seeding

Natural resource managers sow grass, forb, and shrub seeds across millions of hectares of public lands in the western United States to restore sagebrush‐steppe ecosystems burned by wildfire. The effects of post‐fire vegetation treatments on insect communities in these ecosystems have not been investigated. We conducted the first investigation of insect community responses to post‐fire seeding on public rangelands by comparing the composition of insect communities at burned‐and‐seeded (treatment) and burned‐and‐unseeded (control) sagebrush‐steppe ecological sites in southwestern Idaho. Insect communities in burned areas were compared to unburned (reference) areas. Insect communities in burned plots did not resemble those in reference plots. Treatment plots had greater inter‐annual variability in insect community composition than control or reference plots, suggesting that communities may be less stable in seeded areas. The vegetation composition of the landscape surrounding plots influenced mobile species. Wildfire and post‐fire seeding may have lasting effects on insect communities in sagebrush‐steppe ecosystems. Wildfires decrease shrub cover. Post‐fire seeding increases perennial bunchgrasses and, where successful, reduces non‐native annual grasses. These habitat changes influence insect community composition. Future studies are needed to expand the inference of this study.

Insect Conservation and Diversity↗

Managing for a changing climate: A bended interdisciplinary climate course

We developed a blended (or hybrid) interactive course— Managing for a Changing Climate —that provides a holistic view of climate change. The course results from communication with university students and natural and cultural resource managers as well as the need for educational efforts aimed at the public, legislators, and decision-makers. Content includes the components of the physical climate system, natural climate variability, anthropogenic drivers of climate change, climate models and projections, climate assessments, energy economics, environmental policy, vulnerabilities to climate hazards, impacts of climate change, and decision-making related to climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. To convey most of the content, the course-development team created over 50 short videos (3–10 min each) in partnership with experts from a variety of academic, government, and industry institutions. The blended course has been offered as an upper-division, undergraduate course in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability and School of Meteorology (four times) and College of International Studies (in Italy, once) at the University of Oklahoma with over 100 total students. The course has also been presented online-only at no cost to the participants in four fall semesters with over 1,000 total registrations. Videos created for this course are freely available on the YouTube page of the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center. This course and its associated materials comprise high-quality, formal climate training and education that can be adapted to other formal and informal education settings beyond the walls of the university.

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society↗

Water rights in areas of ground-water mining

Ground-water mining, the progressive depletion of storage in a ground-water reservoir, has been going on for several years in some areas, chiefly in the Southwestern States. In some of these States a water right is based on ownership of land overlying the ground-water reservoir and does not depend upon putting the water to use; in some States a right is based upon priority of appropriation and use and may be forfeited if the water is allowed to go unused for a specified period, but ownership of land is not essential; and in several States both these doctrines or modifications thereof are accepted, and each applies to certain classes of water or to certain conditions of development. Experience to date indicates that a cure for ground-water mining does not necessarily depend upon the water-rights doctrine that is accepted in the area. Indeed, some recent court decisions have incorporated both the areal factor of the landownership doctrines and the time factor of the appropriation doctrine. Overdraft can be eliminated if water is available from another source to replace some of the water taken from the affected aquifer. In areas where no alternate source of supply is available at reasonable cost, public opinion so far appears to favor treating ground water as a nonrenewable resource comparable to petroleum and metals, and mining it until the supply is exhausted, rather than curbing the withdrawals at an earlier date.

Circular↗

The Virginia Beach shallow ground-water study

Introduction Virginia Beach is a rapidly growing city of more than 425,000 people. Sources of fresh water within the city, however, are limited. Prior to 1998, the Virginia Beach Public Utilities Department met the city's water needs by purchasing treated drinking water from the City of Norfolk. Because Norfolk had to meet its own requirements, the amount of water available to Virginia Beach was limited to about 30 million gallons per day (mgd) and even less during droughts. This water supply was supplemented with ground water from city-owned, community, and private wells. In many parts of the city, however, ground water cannot be used because of high concentrations of chloride, iron, and (or) sulfur, which give the water an unpleasant taste. In early 1998, a pipeline came on-line that can carry up to 45 mgd of water from Lake Gaston to Virginia Beach. The Gaston pipeline has alleviated concerns about water supply and quality for most residents living north of the "Green Line." These residents primarily use ground water only for small-scale domestic activities such as watering lawns, filling ponds and pools, and washing cars. City water and sewer services have been extended beyond the Green Line into the "Transition Area." Residents and businesses south of the Transition Area, however, continue to rely on ground water to meet most of their needs for potable and non-potable water. To help assure a continued, reliable supply of ground water, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the City of Virginia Beach Public Utilities Department, has begun an assessment of the shallow ground-water resources underlying the City of Virginia Beach.

Fact Sheet↗