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At least 1,207 records · Page 67Linked to original sources
USGS2023

The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Oregon's economy

Introduction Oregon’s physical environments and vegetation are diverse. The varied geologic and climatic conditions combined with increasing population have created the need for high-quality elevation data that can be used for infrastructure management, forestry and wildfire management, agriculture, natural resources conservation, and other business uses. Critical applications that meet the State’s management needs depend on light detection and ranging (lidar) data that provide a highly detailed three-dimensional (3D) model of the Earth’s surface and aboveground features.

Oregon↗
USGS2012

The U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystem Science Strategy, 2012-2022 - Advancing discovery and application through collaboration

Ecosystem science is critical to making informed decisions about natural resources that can sustain our Nation’s economic and environmental well-being. Resource managers and policy-makers are faced with countless decisions each year at local, state, tribal, territorial, and national levels on issues as diverse as renewable and non-renewable energy development, agriculture, forestry, water supply, and resource allocations at the urban-rural interface. The urgency for sound decision-making is increasing dramatically as the world is being transformed at an unprecedented pace and in uncertain directions. Environmental changes are associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, land, food, energy, mineral, and living resources. At risk is the Nation’s environmental capital, the goods and services provided by resilient ecosystems that are vital to the health and well-being of human societies. Ecosystem science—the study of systems of organisms interacting with their environment and the consequences of natural and human-induced change on these systems—is necessary to inform decision-makers as they develop policies to adapt to these changes. This Ecosystems Science Strategy is built on a framework that includes basic and applied science. It highlights the critical roles that USGS scientists and partners can play in building scientific understanding and providing timely information to decision-makers. The strategy underscores the connection between scientific discoveries and the application of new knowledge. The strategy integrates ecosystem science and decision-making, producing new scientific outcomes to assist resource managers and providing public benefits. The USGS is uniquely positioned to play an important role in ecosystem science. With its wide range of expertise, the agency can bring holistic, cross-scale, interdisciplinary capabilities to the design and conduct of monitoring, research, and modeling and to new technologies for data collection, management, and visualization. Collectively, these capabilities can be used to reveal ecological patterns and processes, explain how and why ecosystems change, and forecast change over different spatial and temporal scales. USGS science can provide managers with options and decision-support tools to use resources sustainably. The USGS has long-standing, collaborative relationships with the DOI and other partners in the natural sciences, in both conducting science and its application. The USGS engages these partners in cooperative investigations that otherwise would lack the necessary support or be too expensive for a single bureau to conduct. The heart of this strategy is a framework and vision for USGS ecosystems science that focuses on five long-term goals, which are seen as interconnected and reinforcing components: • Improve understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and processes. The focus for this goal is an understanding of how ecosystems work, including the dynamics of species, their populations, interactions, and genetics, and how they change across spatial and temporal scales. • Advance understanding of how drivers influence ecosystem change. The challenges here are explaining the drivers of ecosystem change, their spatio-temporal patterns, their uncertainties and interactions, and their influence on ecosystem processes and dynamics. • Improve understanding of the services that ecosystems provide to society. Here the emphasis is on the measurement of environmental capital and ecosystem services, and the identification of sources and patterns of change in space and time. • Develop tools, technologies, and capacities to inform decision-making about ecosystems. This includes developing new technologies and approaches for conducting applications-oriented ecosystem science. A principal challenge will be how to quantify uncertainty and incorporate it in decision analysis. • Apply science to enhance strategies for management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems. These challenges include development of novel approaches to monitoring, assessment, and restoration of ecosystems; new methods to address species of concern and communities at risk; and innovations in decision analysis and support to address imminent ecosystem changes or those that are underway. Closely integrated with the five goals are four strategic approaches that provide the path forward for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. These approaches cross-cut all of the goals and are seen as essential to the implementation of this strategy: • Assess information needs for ecosystem science through enhanced partnerships. Work with the DOI and other agencies and institutions to identify, design, and implement priority decision-driven ecological research. • Promote the use of interdisciplinary ecosystem science. Design and conduct interdisciplinary process-oriented research in ecosystem science. • Enhance modeling and forecasting. Build models to forecast ecosystem change, assess future management scenarios, and reduce uncertainties through an adaptive learning process. • Support decision-making. Use quantitative approaches to assess the vulnerabilities of ecosystems, habitats, and species, and evaluate strategies for adaptation, restoration, and sustainable management. Following the strategic approaches are a set of proposed actions that represent a sampling of specific activities that align with this strategy and that address the Nation’s most pressing environmental needs. The strategy emphasizes coordination of activities across the USGS mission areas pursuant to these goals. Ecosystem science is inherently interdisciplinary and requires a broad perspective that incorporates the biological and physical sciences, climate science, information technology, and scientific capacity in mission areas across the Bureau. With its emphasis on coordination, this strategy can provide a critical underpinning for integrated science efforts with scientists from multiple mission areas of the USGS working together. Of course, the USGS will continue to conduct both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary investigations, and both will continue to be vital parts of the ecosystem science portfolio. Finally, the strategy stresses the importance of coordination with other Federal agencies and organizations in the natural resources community. The USGS collaborates with resource agencies in the DOI and other organizations throughout the world to meet societal needs for species and ecosystem management. Working with these agencies and organizations, the USGS will play a key role over the next decade in advancing the scientific foundation for sustaining the natural resources that diverse, productive, resilient ecosystems provide.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1999

Learning to live with geologic and hydrologic hazards

The Seattle, Washington, area is known for its livability and its magnificent natural setting. The city and nearby communities are surrounded by an abundance of rivers and lakes and by the bays of Puget Sound. Two majestic mountain ranges, the Olympics and the Cascades, rim the region. These splendid natural features are products of dynamic forces -- landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, glaciers, volcanoes, and floods. The same processes that formed this beautiful landscape pose hazards to the ever-growing population of the region. To maintain the Seattle area's livability, public and private policymakers must learn to manage the area's vulnerability to natural hazards to protect its three million residents from loss and damage from future disasters. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working with other Federal and State agencies, the city of Seattle, and other local governments to provide necessary scientific information that will help communities manage the natural hazards. This information will be useful in planning future development, siting public facilities and businesses, and developing effective emergency plans. -- Gori, et.al., 1999

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2010

Shaded seafloor relief, backscatter strength, and surficial geology; German Bank, Scotian Shelf, offshore Nova Scotia

This map is part of a three-map series of German Bank, located on the Scotian Shelf off southern Nova Scotia. This map is the product of a number of surveys (1997-2003) that used a multibeam sonar system to map 5321 km 2 of the seafloor. Other surveys collected geological data for scientific interpretation. This map sheet shows the seafloor topography of German Bank in shaded-relief view and seafloor depth (coded by colour) at a scale of 1:1000,000. Topographic contours generated from the multibeam data are shown (in white) on the colour-coded multibeam topography at a depth interval of 20 m. Bathymetic contours (in blue) outside the multibeam survey area, presented at a depth interval of 10 m, are from the Natural Resource Map series (Canadian Hydrographic Service, 1967, 1971a, 1971b, 1972). Sheet 2 shows coloured backscatter strength in shaded-relief view. Sheet 3 shows seafloor topography in shaded-relief view with colour-coded surficial geological units.

Nova Scotia↗
USGS2015

Characterizing and simulating sediment loads and transport in the lower part of the San Antonio River Basin

This extended abstract is based on the U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Reports by Crow et al. (2013) and Banta and Ockerman (2014). Suspended sediment in rivers and streams can play an important role in ecological health of rivers and estuaries and consequently is an important issue for water-resource managers. The quantity and type of suspended sediment can affect the biological communities (Wood and Armitage, 1997), the concentration and movement of natural constituents and anthropogenic contaminants (Moran and others, 2012), and the amount of sediment deposition in coastal environments (Milliman and Meade, 1983). To better understand suspended-sediment characteristics in the San Antonio River Basin, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the San Antonio River Authority and Texas Water Development Board, conducted a two-phase study to (1) collect and analyze sediment data to characterize sediment conditions in the San Antonio River downstream of San Antonio, Texas, and (2) develop and calibrate a watershed model to simulate hydrologic conditions and suspended-sediment loads for four watersheds in the San Antonio River Basin, downstream from San Antonio, Texas.

Texas↗
USGS2016

Riparian groundwater and baseflow studies in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Executive summary As part of an ongoing effort to understand baseflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) and implications for stream-dependent ecosystems, we conducted a brief review of literature related to groundwater and baseflow in the UCRB. We included primary literature, federal and state resources, databases and gray literature studies on groundwater, baseflow, and springs in the UCRB region. This review provides examples of the types of groundwater and baseflow studies published for the UCRB with sections on whole-basin studies, catchment and reach studies and their locations, water quality studies, studies adjacent to the UCRB, state and federal groundwater resources, and finally a discussion of potential further directions. Despite the limited nature of the review, we summarize numerous studies related to groundwater in the UCRB which will be valuable to researchers interested in groundwater and baseflow dynamics in the region.

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming↗
USGS2020

Fisheries research and monitoring activities of the Lake Erie Biological Station, 2019

A comprehensive understanding of fish populations and their interactions is the cornerstone of modern fishery management and the basis for Fish Community Goals and Objectives for Lake Erie (Ryan et al. 2003). This report is responsive to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) obligations via Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Great Lakes Council of Lake Committees (CLC) to provide scientific information in support of fishery management. Goals for the USGS Great Lakes Deepwater Fish Assessment and Ecological Studies in 2019 were to monitor long-term changes in the fish community and population dynamics of key fishes of interest to management agencies. Specific to Lake Erie, expectations of this agreement were sustained investigations of native percids, forage (prey) fish populations, and Lake Trout. Our 2019 deepwater program operations began in April and concluded in December, and utilized trawl, gillnet, hydroacoustic, lower trophic sampling, and telemetry methods. This work resulted in 88 bottom trawls covering 65 ha of lake-bottom and catching 24,140 fish totaling 3,622 kg during three separate trawl surveys in the West and Central basins of Lake Erie. Overnight gillnet sets (n=44) for cold water species were performed at 42 unique locations in the West and East basins of Lake Erie. A total of 8.0 km of gillnet was deployed during these surveys, which caught 286 fish, 114 of which were native coldwater species: Lake Trout, Burbot, and Lake Whitefish. USGS hydroacoustic surveys in 2019 produced 240 km of transects, and lower trophic sampling provided data from zooplankton samples (n=21) and water quality profiles (n=21) to populate a database maintained by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF), Ohio Division of Natural Resources (ODNR), Michigan Division of Natural Resources (MDNR), Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). USGS also assisted CLC member agencies with deployment and maintenance of the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System (GLATOS) throughout all three Lake Erie sub-basins, supporting multiple coordinated telemetry investigations. In 2019, Lake Trout investigations included annual gill net surveys and acoustic telemetry of spawning migration and habitat use in coordination with OMNRF, NYSDEC, and PFBC. Results from Lake Trout investigations were reported in the Coldwater Task Group annual report to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and the CLC (Coldwater Task Group 2020). Likewise, interagency forage fish assessments conducted with hydroacoustics were summarized and reported in the Forage Task Group annual report (Forage Task Group 2020). This report presents biomass-based summaries of fish communities in western Lake Erie derived from USGS bottom trawl surveys conducted from 2013 to 2019 during June and September. The survey design provided temporal and spatial coverage that did not exist in the historic interagency trawl database, and thus complemented the August ODNR-OMNRF effort to reinforce stock assessments with more robust data. Analyses herein evaluated trends in: total biomass, abundance of dominant predator and forage species, non-native species composition, biodiversity and community structure. Data from this effort can be explored interactively online (https://lebs.shinyapps.io/western-basin/), and are accessible for download (https://doi.org/10.5066/P9LL6YOR, Keretz et al. 2020). Annual survey data are added to these sources as the data become available.

Lake Erie↗
USGS1999

Use of environmental tracers to evaluate ground-water age and water-quality trends in a buried-valley aquifer, Dayton area, southwestern Ohio

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC method) and tritium and helium isotopes (3H-3He method) were used as environmental tracers to estimate ground-water age in conjunction with efforts to develop a regional ground-water flow model of the buried-valley aquifer in the Dayton area, southwestern Ohio. This report describes results of CFC and water-quality sampling, summarizes relevant aspects of previously published work, and describes the use of 3H-3He ages to characterize temporal trends in ground-water quality of the buried-valley aquifer near Dayton, Ohio. Results of CFC sampling indicate that approximately 25 percent of the 137 sampled wells were contaminated with excess CFC's that rendered the ground water unsuitable for age dating. Evaluation of CFC ages obtained for the remaining samples indicated that the CFC compounds used for dating were being affected by microbial degradation. The degradation occurred under anoxic conditions that are found in most parts of the buried-valley aquifer. As a result, ground-water ages derived by the CFC method were too old and were inconsistent with measured tritium concentrations and independently derived 3H-3He ages. Limited data indicate that dissolved methane may play an important role in the degradation of the CFC's. In contrast, the 3H-3He technique was found to yield ground-water ages that were chemically and hydrologically reasonable. Ground-water ages derived by the 3H-3He technique were compared to values for selected water- quality characteristics to evaluate temporal trends in ground-water quality in the buried- valley aquifer. Distinct temporal trends were not identified for pH, alkalinity, or calcium and magnesium because of rapid equilibration of ground-water with calcite and dolomite in aquifer sediments. Temporal trends in which the amount of scatter and the number of outlier concentrations increased as ground-water age decreased were noted for sodium, potassium, boron, bromide, chloride, ammonia, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, and organic carbon. Elevated concentrations of these constituents in shallow ground water are probably related to human activities. Temporal trends in which concentrations declined as ground-water age increased may reflect natural processes that reduce constituent concentrations to low levels. For example, the absence of nitrate detections in ground water recharged before 1980 may indicate natural removal of nitrate by bacterially mediated denitrification. Temporal trends observed for dissolved oxygen, iron, nitrate and silica indicate that these constituents may help identify recently (post-1990) recharged ground water.

Ohio↗
USGS2014

Geologic implications of gas hydrates in the offshore of India: Krishna-Godavari Basin, Mahanadi Basin, Andaman Sea, Kerala-Konkan Basin

Gas hydrate resource assessments that indicate enormous global volumes of gas present within hydrate accumulations have been one of the primary driving forces behind the growing interest in gas hydrates. Gas hydrate volumetric estimates in recent years have focused on documenting the geologic parameters in the “gas hydrate petroleum system” that control the occurrence of gas hydrates in nature. The primary goals of this report are to review our present understanding of the geologic controls on the occurrence of gas hydrate in the offshore of India and to document the application of the petroleum system approach to the study of gas hydrates. National Gas Hydrate Program of India executed the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 01 (NGHP-01) in 2006 in four areas located on the eastern and western margins of the Indian Peninsula and in the Andaman Sea. These areas have experienced very different tectonic and depositional histories. The peninsular margins are passive continental margins resulting from a series of rifting episodes during the breakup and dispersion of Gondwanaland to form the present Indian Ocean. The Andaman Sea is bounded on its western side by a convergent margin where the Indian plate lithosphere is being subducted beneath southeast Asia. NGHP-01 drilled, logged, and/or cored 15 sites (31 holes) in the Krishna–Godavari Basin, 4 sites (5 holes) in the Mahanadi Basin, 1 site (2 holes) in the Andaman Sea, and 1 site (1 hole) in the Kerala–Konkan Basin. Holes were drilled using standard drilling methods for the purpose of logging-while-drilling and dedicated wireline logging; as well as through the use of a variety of standard coring systems and specialized pressure coring systems. NGHP-01 yielded evidence of gas hydrate from downhole log and core data obtained from all the sites in the Krishna–Godavari Basin, the Mahanadi Basin, and in the Andaman Sea. The site drilled in the Kerala–Konkan Basin during NGHP-01 did not yield any evidence of gas hydrate. Most of the downhole log-inferred gas hydrate and core-recovered gas hydrate were characterized as either fracture-filling in clay-dominated sediments or as pore-filling or grain-displacement particles disseminated in both fine- and coarse-grained sediments. Geochemical analyses of gases obtained from sediment cores recovered during NGHP-01 indicated that the gas in most all of the hydrates in the offshore of India is derived from microbial sources; only one site in the Andaman Sea exhibited limited evidence of a thermogenic gas source. The gas hydrate petroleum system concept has been used to effectively characterize the geologic controls on the occurrence of gas hydrates in the offshore of India.

Marine and Petroleum Geology↗
USGS2000

Managers' summary - Ecological studies of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, 1992-1997

Ecological Studies of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, 1992-1997 provides a synthesis of key findings of landscape-scale, interdisciplinary studies of the effects of wild horses and native ungulates on a rugged, mountain ecosystem. This is perhaps the most comprehensive study of a wild horse herd conducted. This was a complex study and one involving a truly interagency approach. Six agencies either provided input to research priority setting, funding, or both. The agencies included the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and U.S. Forest Service. The major research direction and effort came from the U.S. Geological Survey and Natural Resources Ecology Lab, Colorado State University with Montana State University and the University of Kentucky also participating. Ungulate monitoring was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Bureau of Land Management, Billings Field Office and the Montana Fish and Wildlife Parks, with funding by Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Many other individuals and groups were involved and deserve credit. The report printing was made possible with funds from the Bureau of Land Management, Wild Horse and Burro Program, Washington Office. This report was prepared by the Information Management Project, Midcontinent Ecological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey.

Montana, Wyoming↗
USGS1977

The EROS Data Center

The Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Program of the U.S. Department of the Interior, administered by the Geological Survey, was established in 1966 to apply remote-sensing techniques to the inventory, monitoring, and management of natural resources. To meet its primary objective, the EROS Program includes research and training in the interpretation and application of remotely sensed data and provides remotely sensed data at nominal cost to scientists, resource planners, managers, and the public.

South Dakota↗
USGS2011

Digitized generalized areas where surface-water resources likely or potentially are susceptible to groundwater withdrawals in adjacent valleys, Great Basin National Park area, Nevada

Abstract Polygons delineate generalized areas in and around Great Basin National Park where surface-water resources likely or potentially are susceptible to groundwater withdrawals in adjacent valleys. Purpose This data set was created as part of a U.S. Geological Survey study, done in cooperation with the National Park Service, to characterize surface-water resources in and around Great Basin National Park. The intended uses of this data set include, but are not limited to, natural resource modeling, mapping, and visualization applications. Source Information SIR 2006-5099, Plate 1: Generalized areas where surface-water resources likely or potentially are susceptible to ground-water withdrawals in adjacent valleys, Great Basin National Park area, Nevada.

Nevada↗
USGS2004

Conventional natural gas resource potential, Alaska North Slope

An estimate of total natural gas resource potential of northern Alaska can be obtained by summing known gas reserves in oil and gas fields (35 TCF), mean estimates of undiscovered nonassociated (61 TCF) and associated (12 TCF) gas resources in NPRA, and mean estimates of undiscovered nonassociated (4 TCF) and associated (5 TCF) gas resources in the 1002 area of ANWR; this yields a total of 117 TCF. When estimates of undiscovered gas resources for non-Federal lands are released in 2005, that total will increase by a non-trivial amount. Thus, the conventional natural gas resource potential of onshore and State offshore areas totals well over 100 TCF. The inclusion of the MMS mean estimate (96 TCF) for undiscovered gas resources in the Beaufort and Chukchi planning areas of the Federal offshore extends that total above 200 TCF.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2003

Water-quality and algal conditions in the Clackamas River basin, Oregon, and their relations to land and water management

In 1998, the U.S. Geological Survey sampled the Clackamas River, its major tributaries, and reservoirs to characterize basic water quality (nutrients, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, and conductance), water quantity (water sources within the basin), and algal conditions (biomass and species composition). Sampling locations reflected the dominant land uses in the basin (forest management, agriculture, and urban development) as well as the influence of hydroelectric projects, to examine how these human influences might be affecting water quality and algal conditions. Nuisance algal growths, with accompanying negative effects on water quality, were observed at several locations in the basin during this study. Algal biomass in the lower Clackamas River reached a maximum of 300 mg/m2 chlorophyll a, producing nuisance algal conditions, including fouled stream channels and daily fluctuations in pH and dissolved oxygen concentrations to levels that did not meet water-quality standards. Algal biomass was highest at sites immediately downstream from the hydroelectric project's reservoirs and/or powerhouses. Nuisance algal conditions also were observed in some of the tributaries, including the North Fork of the Clackamas River, Clear Creek, Rock Creek, and Sieben Creek. High amounts of drifting algae increased turbidity levels in the Clackamas River during June, which coincided with a general increase in the concentration of disinfection by-products found in treated Clackamas River water used for drinking, presumably due to the greater amounts of organic matter in the river. The highest nutrient concentrations were found in the four lowermost tributaries (Deep, Richardson, Rock, and Sieben Creeks), where most of the agriculture and urban development is concentrated. Of these, the greatest load of nutrients came from Deep Creek, which had both high nutrient concentrations and relatively high streamflow. Streams draining forestland in the upper basin (upper Clackamas River and Oak Grove Fork) had the highest concentrations of phosphorus (and lowest concentrations of nitrogen), and streams draining forestland in the middle basin (Clear Creek, Eagle Creek, and the North Fork of the Clackamas River) had relatively high concentrations of nitrogen (and low concentrations of phosphorus). In contrast, relatively low concentrations of both nitrogen and phosphorus were found at the two reference streams, reflecting their pristine condition. Relatively high phosphorus levels in the upper basin are probably due to the erosion of naturally occurring phosphorus deposits in this area. Likely sources of nitrogen (mostly nitrate) in the forested watersheds include nitrogen-fixing plants, atmospheric deposition, timber harvesting, and applications of urea fertilizers.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2014

Description of landscape features, summary of existing hydrologic data, and identification of data gaps for the Osage Nation, northeastern Oklahoma, 1890-2012

The Osage Nation of northeastern Oklahoma, conterminous with Osage County, is characterized by gently rolling uplands and incised stream valleys that have downcut into underlying sedimentary rock units of Pennsylvanian through Permian age. Cattle ranching and petroleum and natural-gas extraction are the principal land uses in this rural area. Freshwater resources in the Osage Nation include water flowing in the Arkansas River and several smaller streams, water stored in several lakes, and groundwater contained in unconsolidated alluvial aquifers and bedrock aquifers. The Vamoosa-Ada aquifer is the primary source of fresh groundwater in this area. Fresh groundwater is underlain by saline groundwater in aquifers underlying the Osage Nation. Because of the potential for future population increases, demands for water from neighboring areas such as the Tulsa metropolitan area, and expansion of petroleum and natural-gas extraction on water resources of this area, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Osage Nation, summarized existing hydrologic data and identified data gaps to provide information for planning of future development of water resources in the Osage Nation. Streamflows in the Osage Nation are substantially affected by precipitation. During the relatively wet periods from the 1970s to 2000, the annual streamflows in the Osage Nation increased by as much as a factor of 2 relative to preceding decades, with subsequent decreases in streamflow of as much as 50 percent being recorded during intermittent drier years of the early 2000s. This report summarizes hydrologic data from 3 surface-water sites and 91 wells distributed across the Osage Nation. Data collected at those sites indicate that surface water in the Osage Nation generally has sufficient dissolved oxygen for survival of both coldwater and warmwater aquatic biota. Total dissolved solids concentration exceeded the secondary drinking-water standard of 500 milligrams per liter (mg/L) in up to 75 percent of the surface-water samples, indicating limited availability of potable water at some sites. Some surface-water samples collected in the Osage Nation contained dissolved chloride concentrations exceeding the secondary drinking-water standard of 250 mg/L, with greater chloride concentrations in selected basins appearing to be associated with greater densities of petroleum well locations. Several lakes sampled in the Osage Nation from 2011–12 contained sufficient chlorophyll-a concentrations to be ranked as mesotrophic to eutrophic, indicating impairment by nutrients. Relatively large dissolved phosphorus concentrations in many surface-water samples, compared to water-quality standards, indicate that eutrophication can occur in local streams and lakes. The amount of fresh groundwater stored in alluvial aquifers and the Vamoosa-Ada bedrock aquifer is adequate for domestic and other purposes in the Osage Nation at the current rate of usage. In areas where these aquifers are absent, groundwater must be pumped from minor bedrock aquifers that produce smaller volumes of water. About 30 and 60 percent of 32 and 54 water samples collected from the alluvial and Vamoosa-Ada aquifers, respectively, contained total dissolved solids concentrations larger than the secondary drinking-water standard of 500 mg/L. Local factors, such as natural seepage of brines or leakage from petroleum and natural-gas extraction activities, may cause substantial variations in dissolved chloride concentration in groundwater in the Osage Nation. Total phosphorus concentrations measured in groundwater samples were similar to dissolved phosphorus concentrations measured in the base flow of several streams. Total fresh surface-water withdrawals (use) and fresh groundwater withdrawals in the Osage Nation were estimated to have increased from 0.75 to 16.19 million gallons per day and from 0.13 to 2.39 million gallons per day, respectively, over the period from 1890 through 2010. Estimated saline-groundwater reinjection volumes at the heavily developed Burbank Oil Field in the Osage Nation from 1950 through 2012 were many times larger than the total amounts of freshwater withdrawn in this area, with estimated increases in saline-groundwater reinjection in the 2000s probably being related to increased petroleum extraction. Estimates of freshwater resources in local streams, lakes, and freshwater aquifers and of net annual precipitation indicate that less than 1 percent of freshwater resources and net annual precipitation currently is being withdrawn annually in the Osage Nation. In addition to freshwater resources, the Osage Nation may be underlain by 45,000,000 million gallons of brines, a small portion of which are withdrawn and reinjected during petroleum and natural-gas extraction. Ongoing development of desalinization technology may lead to the ability to expand use of these saline waters in the future. Several additional studies could improve understanding of the hydrologic resources of the Osage Nation. Development of computer models (simulations) of groundwater and surface-water flow for this area could enable testing of scenarios of localized and widespread effects of future climate variations and water-use changes on streamflows, lake-water levels, and groundwater levels in the Osage Nation. Installation of additional long-term streamflow and water-quality sampling stations, some with continuous water-quality monitors, could expand and improve understanding of surface-water quality. Periodic measurement of groundwater levels and sampling of water from a network of wells could provide better information about trends of groundwater quantity and quality with time. Measurement of water withdrawals at selected sites could enable more accurate estimates of water use. Lastly, better understanding of aquifer properties and spatial distribution of saline groundwater provided by geophysical surveys could improve understanding of fresh and saline groundwater resources underlying the Osage Nation.

Oklahoma↗
USGS2016

Volcanic aquifers of Hawai‘i—Hydrogeology, water budgets, and conceptual models

Hawai‘i’s aquifers have limited capacity to store fresh groundwater because each island is small and surrounded by saltwater. Saltwater also underlies much of the fresh groundwater. Fresh groundwater resources are, therefore, particularly vulnerable to human activity, short-term climate cycles, and long-term climate change. Availability of fresh groundwater for human use is constrained by the degree to which the impacts of withdrawal—such as lowering of the water table, saltwater intrusion, and reduction in the natural discharge to springs, streams, wetlands, and submarine seeps—are deemed acceptable. This report describes the hydrogeologic framework, groundwater budgets (inflows and outflows), conceptual models of groundwater occurrence and movement, and the factors limiting groundwater availability for the largest and most populated of the Hawaiian Islands—Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, and Hawai‘i Island. The bulk of each of Hawai‘i’s islands is built of many thin lava flows erupted from shield volcanoes; the great piles of lava flows form highly permeable aquifers. In some areas, low-permeability dikes cutting across the lava flows, or low-permeability ash and soil horizons interlayered with the lava flows, can substantially alter groundwater flow. On some islands, sedimentary rocks form thick semiconfining coastal-plain deposits, locally known as caprock, that impede natural groundwater discharge to the ocean. In some regions, thick lava flows that ponded in preexisting depressions form aquifers that are much less permeable than aquifers formed by thin lava flows. Fresh groundwater inflow to Hawai‘i’s aquifers comes from recharge. For predevelopment conditions (1870), estimates of groundwater recharge from this study are 871, 675, 1,279, and 5,291 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) for Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, and Hawai‘i Island, respectively. Estimates of recharge for recent conditions (2010 land cover and 1978–2007 rainfall for Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, and Maui; 2008 land cover and 1916–1983 rainfall for Hawai‘i Island) are 875, 660, 1,308, and 6,595 Mgal/d for Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, and Hawai‘i Island, respectively. Recent recharge values differ from predevelopment recharge values by only a few percent for all islands except Hawai‘i Island, where changes in forest cover affected recharge. Spatial distribution of recharge mimics the orographic rainfall pattern—recharge is high on windward slopes and mountain peaks below the top of the trade-wind inversion. Human activity such as irrigation also contributes to recharge in some areas. Outflows from Hawai‘i’s aquifers include withdrawals from wells and natural groundwater discharge to springs, streams, wetlands, and submarine seeps. Under predevelopment conditions, groundwater withdrawal is assumed to be negligible and natural groundwater discharge probably was equal, or close, to recharge. Under recent conditions (2000–2010), groundwater withdrawal averaged 19, 209, 104, and 103 Mgal/d on Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, and Hawai‘i Island, respectively. If recent withdrawal and recharge rates are maintained until steady state is achieved, natural groundwater discharge will be reduced by an amount equal to the withdrawal rate. Total recent withdrawal for the four islands is only about 5 percent of total recharge, but about half of the withdrawal comes from O‘ahu, whereas O‘ahu receives only 7 percent of the total recharge. Effects of high withdrawals on O‘ahu cannot be mitigated by the lower withdrawals on other islands because no freshwater flows between islands. Even within an island, high withdrawals from one area cannot be completely mitigated by recharge in another area. Water-level, saltwater/freshwater-transition-zone, spring, and stream base-flow data indicate an overall reduction in storage for most areas where groundwater has been developed. Groundwater occurrence and movement in Hawai‘i’s volcanic aquifers can be described in terms of four conceptual models: (1) fresh groundwater lenses in high-permeability lava-flow aquifers, (2) aquifers with groundwater impounded by dikes, (3) thickly saturated low-permeability aquifers, and (4) perched aquifers. In Hawai‘i, most fresh groundwater withdrawn for human use comes from freshwater lenses in the dike-free high-permeability lava-flow aquifers where the principal limiting factor to groundwater availability is saltwater intrusion, but impacts of reduced natural groundwater discharge may also limit availability. Dike-impounded groundwater is common near the center of Hawaiian shield volcanoes, where water moves and is stored in permeable lava flows between the dikes; groundwater availability in these aquifers is primarily limited by storage depletion and reduction of flow to adjacent aquifers and natural groundwater discharge. Thickly saturated low-permeability aquifers have been identified on Kaua‘i and Maui; groundwater availability is primarily limited by streamflow depletion and water-table decline. Perched groundwater is postulated to exist in some areas of Hawai‘i, but store much less water than other modes ofgroundwater occurrence. Limits on groundwater availability in perched aquifers include the potential of reducing inflow to other groundwater settings and reducing natural discharge and stream seepage. Some groundwater bodies in Hawai‘i are enigmatic; consequences of groundwater development in these bodies and their relation to groundwater availability are not completely understood.

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