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Exploring: Runoff
Geochemical sourcing of runoff from a young volcanic watershed to an impacted coral reef in Pelekane Bay, Hawaii
Runoff of sediment and other contaminants from developed watersheds threatens coastal ecosystems and services. A sediment geochemical sourcing study was undertaken on a sediment-impacted coral reef flat to identify terrestrial sediment sources and how these changed over time. Geochemical signatures were identified for watershed...
Quantifying uncertainty in simulated streamflow and runoff from a continental-scale monthly water balance model
One important component of continental-scale hydrologic modeling is quantifying the level of uncertainty in long-term hydrologic simulations and providing a range of possible simulated streamflow and/or runoff values for gaged and ungaged locations. In this paper, uncertainty was quantified for simulated streamflow and runoff generated from a...
Land-cover changes associated with oil and natural-gas production and concentrations of selected constituents in surface-water and streambed-sediment samples collected upstream from and within an area of oil and natural-gas production, south Texas, 2008–17
The extensive development of oil and natural-gas resources in south Texas during the past 10 years has led to questions regarding possible environmental effects of processes associated with oil and natural-gas production, in particular the process of hydraulic fracturing, on water and other natural resources. Part of the lower San Antonio River...
Detections of current-use pesticides at 12 surface water sites in California during a 2-year period beginning in 2015
Surface water samples were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and multiple cooperators during base flow/irrigation runoff and storm runoff conditions from 12 sites throughout California, over 2 consecutive years beginning in April 2015, from both urban and agriculturally dominated watersheds. Water samples were analyzed by gas chromatography/...
Simulation of potential groundwater recharge for the glacial aquifer system east of the Rocky Mountains, 1980–2011, using the Soil-Water-Balance Model
An understanding of the spatial and temporal extent of groundwater recharge is critical for many types of hydrologic assessments involving water quality, contaminant transport, ecosystem health, and sustainable use of groundwater. Annual potential groundwater recharge was simulated at a 1-kilometer resolution with the Soil-Water-Balance (SWB)...
Insights from long-term ungrazed and grazed watersheds in a salt desert Colorado Plateau ecosystem
Dryland ecosystems cover over 41% of the earth’s land surface, and living within these important ecosystems are approximately 2 billion people, a large proportion of whom are subsistence agropastoralists. Improper grazing in drylands can negatively impact ecosystem productivity, soil conservation, hydrologic processes, downstream water...
Nearshore sediment monitoring for the Stormwater Action Monitoring (SAM) Program, Puget Sound, western Washington
Chemicals such as metals and organics (polychlorinated biphenyl [PCBs], polybrominated diphenyl ethers [PBDEs], polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs], and phthalates) continue to enter Puget Sound, western Washington, from point sources (such as industrial and municipal outfalls) and combined sewer outfalls and non-point sources (such as...
Hydraulic, water-quality, and temperature performance of three types of permeable pavement under high sediment loading conditions
Three permeable pavement surfaces - asphalt (PA), concrete (PC), and interlocking pavers (PIP) - were evaluated side-by-side to measure changes to the infiltrative capacity and water quality of stormwater runoff originating from a conventional asphalt parking lot in Madison, Wisconsin. During the 24-month monitoring period (2014-16), all three...
Climate model assessment of changes in winter-spring streamflow timing over North America
Over regions where snow-melt runoff substantially contributes to winter-spring streamflows, warming can accelerate snow melt and reduce dry-season streamflows. However, conclusive detection of changes and attribution to anthropogenic forcing is hindered by brevity of observational records, model uncertainty, and uncertainty concerning internal...
Assessing roadway contributions to stormwater flows, concentrations, and loads with the StreamStats application
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and other state departments of transportation need quantitative information about the percentages of different land cover categories above any given stream crossing in the state to assess and address roadway contributions to water-quality impairments and resulting total maximum daily loads. The U.S....
Hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin
Despite the importance of the Missouri River for navigation, recreation, habitat, hydroelectric power, and agriculture, relatively little is known about the basic hydroclimatology of the Missouri River basin (MRB). This is of particular concern given the droughts and floods that have occurred over the past several decades and the potential future...
Hydrologic characteristics and water quality of headwater streams and wetlands at the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, Summit area, Blair and Cambria Counties, Pennsylvania, 2014–16
The Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (ALPO) in Blair and Cambria Counties, Pennsylvania, protects historic features of the first railroad portage over the Allegheny Front and the first railroad tunnel in the United States. This report, which was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Park Service...
Hydrologic performance of retrofit rain gardens in a residential neighborhood (Cleveland Ohio USA) with a focus on monitoring methods
Green infrastructure refers to a range of urban stormwater management tools that can be flexibly implemented. These practices can aid in mitigating the negative impacts of runoff by increasing catchment detention capacity. We studied two engineered rain gardens (Cleveland OH) that were designed to infiltrate and detain direct runoff volume...
Water-quality observations of the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer, Texas, with an emphasis on processes influencing nutrient and pesticide geochemistry and factors affecting aquifer vulnerability, 2010–16
As questions regarding the influence of increasing urbanization on water quality in the Edwards aquifer are raised, a better understanding of the sources, fate, and transport of compounds of concern in the aquifer—in particular, nutrients and pesticides—is needed to improve water management decision-making capabilities. The U.S. Geological Survey...
Enhancement of a parsimonious water balance model to simulate surface hydrology in a glacierized watershed
The U.S. Geological Survey monthly water balance model (MWBM) was enhanced with the capability to simulate glaciers in order to make it more suitable for simulating cold region hydrology. The new model, MWBMglacier, is demonstrated in the heavily glacierized and ecologically important Copper River watershed in Southcentral Alaska. Simulated water...
Hydrogeologic setting, conceptual groundwater flow system, and hydrologic conditions 1995–2010 in Florida and parts of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina
The hydrogeologic setting and groundwater flow system in Florida and parts of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina is dominated by the highly transmissive Floridan aquifer system. This principal aquifer is a vital source of freshwater for public and domestic supply, as well as for industrial and agricultural uses throughout the southeastern United...
Characterization of stormwater runoff from bridge decks in eastern Massachusetts, 2014–16
The quality of stormwater runoff from bridge decks (hereafter referred to as “bridge-deck runoff”) was characterized in a field study from August 2014 through August 2016 in which concentrations of suspended sediment (SS) and total nutrients were monitored. These new data were collected to supplement existing highway-runoff data collected in...
Factors affecting long-term trends in surface-water quality in the Gwynns Falls watershed, Baltimore City and County, Maryland, 1998–2016
Factors affecting water-quality trends in urban streams are not well understood, despite current regulatory requirements and considerable ongoing investments in gray and green infrastructure. To address this gap, long-term water-quality trends and factors affecting these trends were examined in the Gwynns Falls, Maryland, watershed during 1998–...