Cooperative Water Program
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All Hydrologic, Stream Basin, and Lake Characteristics Products
Agriculture, Water Quality, and Aquatic Health in the Minnesota River Basin –USGS, in cooperation with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, published a study in the Journal of Environmental Quality that demonstrates the importance of agricultural land retirement on water quality and aquatic-community health in the Minnesota River Basin. Other factors assessed in statistical models included in-stream factors (water depth and substrate), and basin and riparian characteristics. (Full report; Press release) (Photo by Loren Engleby, Kandiyohi County)
Hydrologic recovery of wetlands in the Northern Tampa Bay area, Florida –USGS, in cooperation with the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Tampa Bay Water, summarized factors that influence recovery of wetlands, including the presence of karst features and the depth to the potentiometric surface of the Upper Floridan aquifer below the wetlands (USGS report).
Salmon spawning habitats in Matanuska River, south-central, Alaska –USGS, in cooperation with the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, released a report on the distribution, persistence, and hydrologic characteristics of salmon spawning habitats in the clearwater side channels of the Matanuska River, Southcentral Alaska. Turbid, glacially influenced rivers are often considered to be poor salmon spawning and rearing habitats and, consequently, little is known about salmon habitats that do occur within rivers of this type.
Lake assessments using Landsat imagery in Michigan and surrounding States in the upper Midwest –USGS, in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, developed methods to use Landsat-satellite imagery in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and elsewhere to predict the trophic state of unsampled inland lakes greater than 20 acres by statistically relating in-place Secchi-disk measurements to Landsat bands (USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5007)
Changes in hydrology, water quality, and floristic quality of wetlands in Lake County, Illinois –USGS, in cooperation with the Lake County Forest Preserve District and the Illinois State Geological Survey, evaluated effects of agriculture and urbanization on alterations in hydrology, water quality, and floristic quality in the coastal wetland complex along the shore of Lake Michigan at the Spring Bluff Nature Preserve and Illinois Beach State Park in northeastern Lake County, Ill., and the adjacent Chiwaukee Prairie State Natural Area in southeastern Wisconsin. (Full report)
Hydraulic conditions in the Kootenai River, Idaho –Modeled findings from a USGS study, done in cooperation with the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and the Bonneville Power Administration, were used to help assess the feasibility of a Kootenai River habitat restoration project in Boundary County, Idaho, which focuses on recovery of the endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) population, and simultaneously targets habitat-based recovery of other native river biota.
Assessing lake water clarity for Michigan inland lakes –USGS, in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, has been monitoring the quality of inland lakes in Michigan through the Lake Water Quality Assessment monitoring program. This program is funded through the Michigan Clean Michigan Initiative and the USGS Cooperative Water Program; however, only a portion of Michigan's inland lakes can be conventionally sampled each year. A technique was developed by USGS, modeled after Olmanson and others (2001), to predict water clarity and corresponding trophic state index (TSI) values based on the Carlson's Trophic State Index (TSI) in inland lakes greater than 20 acres using satellite remote sensing data. (More detail and Michigan Lake Water Clarity Interactive Map Viewer)
