Mission Areas
Water
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Water information is fundamental to national and local economic well-being, protection of life and property, and effective management of the Nation’s water resources. The USGS works with partners to monitor, assess, conduct targeted research, and deliver information on a wide range of water resources and conditions including streamflow, groundwater, water quality, and water use and availability.
Water is one of seven science mission areas of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Water's mission is to collect and disseminate reliable, impartial, and timely information that is needed to understand the Nation's water resources.
Read Science PlanExpertise in large river research provides science information to inform decisions on river management and restoration in the Midwest Region. Connectivity is a fundamental concept in river ecology and refers to opportunities for water to flow along and through riverine ecosystems. It is considered one of the primary drivers of river productivity, biological diversity and ecosystem health.
Sediment fingerprinting has been used successfully to identify land uses that are the major sources of sediment. This study will apply these techniques in a predominantly rural, volcanic landscape.
"SELDM facilitates analysis by providing precipitation, pre-storm streamflow, and other variables by region or from hydrologically similar sites."
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Blaine County and The Nature Conservancy, evaluated the status of macroinvertebrate1 communities prior to and following a channel restoration project in Silver Creek, Blaine County, Idaho. The objective of the evaluation was to determine whether 2014 remediation efforts to restore natural channel conditions in an impounded area of Silver Creek...
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Gem County and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, is assessing the quality of groundwater from freshwater aquifers used for drinking-water supplies.
We monitor groundwater and surface-water quality as well as streamflow and reservoir levels at nine surface-water sites.
Water samples are collected...
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been monitoring water quality in the Willamette River for many years. The USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) collects water samples from the Willamette River at Portland, as well as from select sites upstream, as part of a continuing effort to assess the quality of the Nation's waters. The USGS Oregon Water Science Center has multiple...
Climate change raises concern that risks of hydrological drought may be increasing. We estimate hydrological drought probabilities for rivers and streams in the United States (U.S.) using maximum likelihood logistic regression (MLLR). Streamflow data from winter months are used to estimate the chance of hydrological drought during summer months. Daily streamflow data collected from 9,144...
Organic contaminants with designed molecular bioactivity, such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals, originate from human and agricultural sources, occur frequently in surface waters, and threaten the structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Congaree National Park in South Carolina (USA) is a vulnerable park unit due to its location downstream of multiple urban and...
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), is monitoring the water quality of multiple high-priority streams where natural gas pipeline crossings have been proposed. The purpose of the monitoring effort is to collect baseline water-quality data and, if the pipeline construction is approved, to monitor water quality in these...
Colorado Plateaus Regional Groundwater Availability Study
Pilot phase
This study is in a pilot phase during fiscal years 2017 and 2018. The purpose of the pilot phase is to identify possible technical challenges of using the USGS code GSFLOW for simulating groundwater and surface-water flow in the Colorado Plateau principal aquifer system. During the pilot phase, the project will...
Numerical models are being used to better understand the flow of groundwater and the transport of radiochemical and chemical constituents in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer system.
The models, developed at the INL, afford scientists a framework to organize their knowledge and concepts of groundwater systems and to provide insights for water-resource managers for future water...
The USGS collects, analyzes, and distributes data on a wide variety of water-related issues and resources. Much of our data is publicly available through the National Water Information System (NWIS), but additional datasets and analytical tools are also available.
Access NWISWebStream Sites in the Johnson Creek Basin, OR
Find stream data (streamflow, level, and water quality) for Johnson Creek, OR, using a map.
USGS Streamstats
StreamStats is a Web-based tool that provides streamflow statistics, drainage-basin characteristics, and other information for USGS streamgaging stations and for user-selected ungaged sites on streams.
Water-Quality Data for the Willamette River
Willamette River at Portland, OR, is one of the most extensively monitoring streams in the US. The monitor located at the Morrsion Bridge in downtown Portland measures thirteen real-time parameters.
Current Conditions for Arkansas - Streamflow
To view current streamflow conditions for Arkansas click here
Clackamas River Water Quality Monitors
Access to Clackamas River water-quality monitor data.
National Water Information System (NWIS)
The National Water Information System (NWIS) web application provides access to surface-water, groundwater, water-quality, and water-use data collected at approximately 1.5 million sites across all 50 states.
National Water Information System (NWIS) Mapper
The National Water Information System (NWIS) Mapper provides access to water-resources data at over 1.5 million sites across the U.S., including current and historical data. Users can search by site type, data type, site number, or place.
National Water Census Data Portal
The National Water Census Data Portal contains national estimates of water budget components for local watersheds, water withdrawal data for counties, tools to calculate statistics of daily streamflow records, modeled daily streamflow at ungaged stations, and access to records of aquatic biology observations.
North Dakota Ground Water Data
Data from wells, springs, test holes, tunnels, drains, and excavations in North Dakota; well location data includes information such as latitude and longitude, well depth, and aquifer. Groundwater level data are collected and stored as either discrete field-water-level measurements or as continuous time-series data from automated recorders.
Water-Quality Monitor Network in Michigan
The USGS operates a network of real-time water-quality monitoring stations that measure up to five physical parameters. The parameters are temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. One to four of those parameters are measured at 26 sites, while all five parameters are measured at 13 sites.
Water use data for the South Atlantic Water Science Center (NWISWeb)
Water-use data are collected by area type (state, county, watershed, or aquifer) and source (rivers or groundwater), and category (such as public supply or irrigation). Water-use data has been reported every five years since 1950. The USGS works with local, State, and Federal agencies as well as other organizations to collect and report withdrawals.
Downloadable spatial data files for exploration and analysis.
Following Hurricane Sandy, the US Geological Survey (USGS) received $18.8 million in supplemental funding to better understand coastal flooding, to improve our preparedness for future coastal storms, and to increase the resilience of coastal cities, infrastructure and natural systems.
Current stream conditions and NWS forecast stream conditions.
The Texas Water Dashboard presents USGS real-time stream, lake and reservoir, precipitation and groundwater data for more than 750 USGS real-time observation stations in Texas.
Ascension Parish
Amite River Basin
Long Island Water District Areas
The clickable sites, Water Resources Conditions List, and Data Table at the bottom of the map are all connected. Interacting with any of them will activate pop-ups and display the site in both the Map, List and Table.
This interactive map shows current and cumulative rainfall total for precipitation sites in Virginia. Map provides real-time precipitation radar image to overlay from National Weather Service.
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) threaten the reproductive success and long-term survival of sensitive aquatic populations in the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). The project employs a standardized EDC risk assessment framework to link new and ongoing research efforts in individual Parks and in Park Monitoring Networks, in order to provide a service-wide assessment of EDC risk in the NPS.
River and Coastal Forecast Information
Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center, Slidell, Louisiana—(NWS)
Network wells depicted on the Climate Response Network location map
Note: Color shading in the table below indicates multiple wells that plot as a single point on the state location map above.
Note: BLS = Water Level in Feet Below Land Surface, RVD = Water Level referenced to a vertical datum
Combining remote sensing and water-balance evapotranspiration estimates for the conterminous United States
Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key component of the hydrologic cycle, accounting for ~70% of precipitation in the conterminous U.S. (CONUS), but it has been a challenge to predict accurately across different spatio-temporal scales. The increasing availability of remotely sensed data has led to significant advances in the frequency and spatial...
Reitz, Meredith; Senay, Gabriel; Sanford, Ward E.Conceptual model for invasive bivalve control on wetland productivity
Tidal wetlands were the historically dominant features of many coastal regions around the world, including the San Francisco Estuary (Callaway et al. 2011; Whipple et al. 2012). These mosaics of varied interconnected habitats (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993) provide a host of ecosystem services, including biodiversity maintenance, fish and wildlife...
Hartman, Rosemary; Brown, Larry R.; Thompson, Janet K.; Parchaso, FrancisMonitoring gas and heat emissions at Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, USA based on a combined eddy covariance and Multi-GAS approach
We quantified gas and heat emissions in an acid-sulfate, vapor-dominated area (0.04-km2) of Norris Geyser Basin, located just north of the 0.63 Ma Yellowstone Caldera and near an area of anomalous uplift. From 14 May to 3 October 2016, an eddy covariance system measured half-hourly CO2, H2O and sensible (H) and latent (LE) heat fluxes and a...
Lewicki, Jennifer L.; Kelly, Peter; Bergfeld, Deborah; Vaughan, R. Greg; Lowenstern, Jacob B.Biological relevance of streamflow metrics: Regional and national perspectives
Protecting the health of streams and rivers requires identifying ecologically significant attributes of the natural flow regime. Streamflow regimes are routinely quantified using a plethora of hydrologic metrics (HMs), most of which have unknown relevance to biological communities. At regional and national scales, we evaluated which of 509...
Carlisle, Daren M.; Grantham, Theodore E.; Eng, Kenny; Wolock, David M.Association between degradation of pharmaceuticals and endocrine-disrupting compounds and microbial communities along a treated wastewater effluent gradient in Lake Mead
The role of microbial communities in the degradation of trace organic contaminants in the environment is little understood. In this study, the biotransformation potential of 27 pharmaceuticals and endocrine-disrupting compounds was examined in parallel with a characterization of the native microbial community in water samples from four sites...
Blunt, Susanna M.; Sackett, Joshua D.; Rosen, Michael R.; Benotti, Mark J.; Trenholm, Rebecca A.; Vanderford, Brett J.; Hedlund, Brian P.; Moser, Duane P.Perspectives on chemical oceanography in the 21st century: Participants of the COME ABOARD Meeting examine aspects of the field in the context of 40 years of DISCO
The questions that chemical oceanographers prioritize over the coming decades, and the methods we use to address these questions, will define our field's contribution to 21st century science. In recognition of this, the U.S. National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration galvanized a community effort (the Chemical...
Fassbender, Andrea J.; Palevsky, Hilary I.; Martz, Todd R.; Ingalls, Anitra E.; Gledhill, Martha; Fawcett, Sarah E.; Brandes, Jay; Aluwihare, Lihini; Anderson, Robert M.; Bender, Sara; Boyle, Ed; Bronk, Debbie; Buesseler, Ken; Burdige, David J.; Casciotti, Karen; Close, Hilary; Conte, Maureen; Cutter, Greg; Estapa, Meg; Fennel, Katja; Ferron, Sara; Glazer, Brian; Goni, Miguel; Grand, Max; Guay, Chris; Hatta, Mariko; Hayes, Chris; Horner, Tristan; Ingall, Ellery; Johnson, Kenneth G.; Juranek, Laurie; Knapp, Angela; Lam, Phoebe; Luther, George; Matrai, Paty; Nicholson, David; Paytan, Adina; Pellenbarg, Robert; Popendorf, Kim; Reddy, Christopher M.; Ruttenberg, Kathleen; Sabine, Chris; Sansone, Frank; Shaltout, Nayrah; Sikes, Liz; Sundquist, Eric T.; Valentine, David; Wang, Zhao (Aleck); Wilson, Sam; Barrett, Pamela; Behrens, Melanie; Belcher, Anna; Biermann, Lauren; Boiteau, Rene; Clarke, Jennifer; Collins, Jamie; Coppola, Alysha; Ebling, Alina M.; Garcia-Tigreros, Fenix; Goldman, Johanna; Guallart, Elisa F.; Haskell, William; Hurley, Sarah; Janssen, David; Johnson, Winn; Lennhartz, Sinikka; Liu, Shuting; Rahman, Shaily; Ray, Daisy; Sarkar, Amit; Steiner, Zvika; Widner, Brittany; Yang, BoPredicting outcomes of restored Everglades high flow: A model system for scientifically managed floodplains
Restoration of higher flows through the Everglades is intended to reestablish sheetflow to rebuild a well-functioning ridge and slough landscape that supports a productive and diverse ecosystem. Our objective of the study was to use hydrologic simulations and biophysical analysis to predict restoration outcomes for five major subbasins of the...
Choi, Jay; Harvey, JudsonNear-field receiving water monitoring of trace metals and a benthic community near the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in south San Francisco Bay, California; 2016
Trace-metal concentrations in sediment and in the clam Macoma petalum (formerly reported as Macoma balthica), clam reproductive activity, and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure were investigated in a mudflat 1 kilometer south of the discharge of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (PARWQCP) in south San Francisco Bay,...
Cain, Daniel J.; Thompson, Janet K.; Parchaso, Francis; Pearson, Sarah; Stewart, Robin; Turner, Mathew; Barasch, David; Luoma, Samuel N.New biotite and muscovite isotopic reference materials, USGS57 and USGS58, for δ2H measurements–A replacement for NBS 30
The advent of continuous-flow isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS) coupled with a high temperature conversion (HTC) system enabled faster, more cost effective, and more precise δ2H analysis of hydrogen-bearing solids. Accurate hydrogen isotopic analysis by on-line or off-line techniques requires appropriate isotopic reference materials (...
Qi, Haiping; Coplen, Tyler B.; Gehre, Matthias; Vennemann, Torsten W.; Brand, Willi A.; Geilmann, Heike; Olack, Gerard; Bindeman, Ilya N.; Palandri, Jim; Huang, Li; Longstaffe, Fred J.Seasonality of stable isotope composition of atmospheric water input at the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
To understand the moisture regime at the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, we analysed the isotopic variability of oxygen (δ18O) and hydrogen (δD) of rainfall, throughfall, and fog from a total of 2,140 samples collected weekly over 2 years at 9 study sites along an elevation transect ranging from 950 to 3,880 m above sea level....
Otte, Insa; Detsch, Florian; Gutlein, Adrian; Scholl, Martha A.; Kiese, Ralf; Appelhans, Tim; Nauss, ThomasAssessment of the potential respiratory hazard of volcanic ash from future Icelandic eruptions: A study of archived basaltic to rhyolitic ash samples
BackgroundThe eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull (2010) and Grímsvötn (2011), Iceland, triggered immediate, international consideration of the respiratory health hazard of inhaling volcanic ash, and prompted the need to estimate the potential hazard posed by future eruptions of Iceland’s volcanoes to Icelandic and Northern European populations. ...
Damby, David; Horwell, Claire J.; Larsen, Gudrun; Thordarson, Thorvaldur; Tomatis, Maura; Fubini, Bice; Donaldson, KenThe effect of aluminium and sodium impurities on the in vitro toxicity and pro-inflammatory potential of cristobalite
BackgroundExposure to crystalline silica (SiO2), in the form of quartz, tridymite or cristobalite, can cause respiratory diseases, such as silicosis. However, the observed toxicity and pathogenicity of crystalline silica is highly variable. This has been attributed to a number of inherent and external factors, including the presence of impurities...
Nattrass, C.; Horwell, Claire J.; Damby, David; Brown, David; Stone, VickiSoftware and related material (data and documentation) are made available by the USGS to be used in the public interest and the advancement of science.
SELDM is a database application where users can easily create and run highway-runoff simulations. SELDM simulates storm flows, concentrations, and loads. SELDM calculates the risk of exceeding water-quality criteria with and without user-defined BMPs. SELDM calculates annual runoff loads and is able to do a simple annual lake-loading analysis.
CE-QUAL-W2 is a water quality and hydrodynamic model in 2D (longitudinal-vertical) for rivers, estuaries, lakes, reservoirs and river basin systems. W2 models basic eutrophication processes such as temperature-nutrient-algae-dissolved oxygen-organic matter and sediment relationships.
GCLAS is a program designed primarily to compute daily and annual loadings of constituents transported in streamflow.
Model archive for Wood River Valley groundwater-flow model
The R package wrv is for processing the groundwater-flow model of the Wood River Valley (WRV) aquifer system, south-central Idaho. The groundwater-flow model is described in the associated model report and model archive. Included in the package is MODFLOW-USG version 1.3, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) computer code that solves the groundwater-flow equation.
In 1977, the Congress of the United States recognized the need for uniform, current, and reliable information on water use and directed the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to establish a National Water-Use Information Program (NWUIP) to complement the Survey's data on the availability and quality of the Nations water resources.
Software and related material (data and documentation) are made available by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to be used in the public interest and the advancement of science.
The Shoreline Management Tool—An ArcMap Tool for Analyzing Water Depth, Inundated Area, Volume, and Selected Habitats, with an Example for the Lower Wood River Valley, Oregon
STRMDEPL08—An Extended Version of STRMDEPL with Additional Analytical Solutions to Calculate Streamflow Depletion by Nearby Pumping Well
The USGS produces many types of multimedia products. Use the links below to browse our offerings of photograph galleries, podcasts and sound files, videos, aerial photos, and posters related to water. The USGS Newsroom has a Web page that highlights the main collection of multimedia products.
Oxygen levels, dissolved minerals among factors responsible for high concentrations of radium in untreated water from aquifer that underlies six states
The U.S. Geological Survey just added more than 800 fish and macroinvertebrate data samples from Fountain Creek, Colorado, to the USGS BioData Retrieval system.
TACOMA, Wash. — The U.S. Geological Survey recently published the results of a new five-year suspended-sediment and water temperature study from the Sauk River. The purpose of this study is to improve understanding of the magnitude and timing of suspended sediment from the Sauk River and its tributaries to the Skagit River.
A new assessment of channel bed erosion near 13 highway bridges in the greater St. Louis, Missouri, area is now available in an online report from the U.S. Geological Survey, produced in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Levels of a potential human carcinogen, 1,4-dioxane, have mostly declined in wells in the commercial and residential areas of the Tucson International Airport Area Superfund Site during 2002-2017, according to a new map published by the U.S. Geological Survey.
MODFLOW 6, the newest version of the world’s most widely used groundwater modeling software, is now available for download from the U.S. Geological Survey
To learn more about USGS’ role providing science to decision makers before, during and after Hurricane Jose, visit the USGS Hurricane Jose page at https://www.usgs.gov/jose.
To learn more about USGS’ role providing science to decision makers before, during and after Hurricane Jose, visit the USGS Hurricane Jose page at https://www.usgs.gov/jose.
To learn more about USGS’ role providing science to decision makers before, during and after Hurricane Maria, visit the USGS Hurricane Maria page at https://www.usgs.gov/maria.
BONNERS FERRY, Idaho — From Sept. 24 through 29, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey will conduct dye tracer and aerial mapping studies on northern Idaho’s Kootenai River. Data from the studies will support Idaho Department of Fish and Game and Kootenai Tribe of Idaho fisheries and river restoration projects.
Digital borehole geophysical logs and related data files are now easily accessible through GeoLog Locator a new web-based, map view and retrieval tool developed by the U.S. Geological Survey.
When a major storm is on the horizon, the USGS uses its water monitoring, coastal change, mapping, and modeling expertise to help prepare for, respond to, and recover from hurricanes and tropical storms.