Salmon, habitat management, and water quality of the Molalla River in northern Oregon - USGS, in cooperation with the Molalla River Improvement District, released a report that discusses the geomorphology, aquatic habitat, and water-quality conditions of the Molalla River, located in northern Oregon. The Molalla River is an important regional resource for people and salmon, and Congress recently nominated the upper section for Wild and Scenic River status. The river, however, has been flood prone in recent years, and the river has limited runs of anadromous salmon despite seemingly suitable and inviting aquatic habitat. This study is the most comprehensive of the Molalla River completed to date and offers important insight for the river-management and restoration community on this river as well as other Pacific Northwest rivers.

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.

Effects of water use and land use on fish communities in Boston, Massachusetts – USGS, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Department of Conservation and Recreation, developed a watershed model and fish-habitat analysis of the Sudbury-Assabet Basin, a semi-urbanized metro-Boston basin, which shows effects of water use and land use on fish communities and simulates effects of 2030 water use and land use on streamflow.

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)

Emerging contaminants in Minnesota streams - USGS, in cooperation with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Cloud State University, University of St. Thomas, and the University of Colorado, assessed endocrine active chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals of concern in surface water, wastewater-treatment plant effluent, and bed sediment, and biological characteristics in selected streams in Minnesota (USGS Data-Series Report 575; related report published in 2008 is USGS Data-Series Report 368)

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.

Aquatic insect communities in Autauga Creek Watershed, Autauga, Alabama – A cooperative study with the Alabama Clean Water Partnership evaluated aquatic insect (or “macroinvertebrate”) families within the orders of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera at sites sampled in 2009 in the Autauga Creek Watershed and compared them to those found a decade earlier during a 1999 survey (at which time the creek was placed on the Alabama Department of Environmental Management 303(d) list). (USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2011-1027).

Invasion of Zebra Mussels in Lakes in North Texas - USGS, in cooperation with Dallas Water Utilities, North Texas Municipal Water District, Greater Texoma Utility Authority, and the City of Sherman Water Utilities, are assessing the occurrence, distribution, and densities of zebra mussels in lakes in North Texas. (Contacts: Contact: Amy Beussink, ambeussi@usgs.gov and Tim Raines, thraines@usgs.gov;   http://tx.usgs.gov/)

Barnegat Bay Restoration in New Jersey – USGS, in collaboration with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and other interested parties, are developing an improved quantitative understanding of critical physical, chemical, and biological conditions and processes that are relevant to the health of this important coastal resource. This understanding will be the foundation for other scientific analyses of Barnegat Bay’s hydrologic and biologic systems that may proceed contemporaneously or subsequent to this project. (Read more)

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)

Nutrients and relations to biological communities in western Wyoming - USGS, in cooperation with the Teton Conservation District, characterized nutrients, habitat, and biological communities in Fish Creek, a tributary to the Snake River, in Teton County in western Wyoming. The study helps to address public concern about nuisance growth of aquatic plants in Fish Creek, which has been increasing in recent years. (Full report)

Urban contaminants and effects on ecological condition in the Little Blue River in Independence, Missouri – USGS, in cooperation with the City of Independence, Missouri, Water Pollution Control Department, evaluated sources of selected contaminants in urban streams and their effects on ecological conditions during base flow and storm flow conditions. (Full report)

60-year tracking of sediment in the Arkansas River near Tulsa Oklahoma - USGS, in cooperation with Tulsa County, assessed fluvial sediment transport and changing channel morphology in the Arkansas River near Tulsa, Oklahoma over a 60-year period since 1950. Sediment rating curves serve as simple models for estimating annual sediment fluxes and can assist planners in future riverine development and restoration projects. (Full report)

Post-wildfire debris flows near Marble, Colorado - USGS, in cooperation with Gunnison County, released a report and empirical models derived from statistical evaluation of data collected from burned basins throughout the intermountain western United States to estimate the probability of post wildfire debris-flow occurrence and debris-flow volumes for drainage basins occupied by Carbonate, Slate, Raspberry, and Milton Creeks near Marble, Colorado.

Recreational flow releases in New York - The USGS, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Cornell University, characterized the potential effects of recreational-flow releases from Lake Abanakee on natural resources in the Indian and Hudson Rivers. The USGS report shows that the releases generally had a limited effect on fish and macroinvertebrate communities in the Indian River and had no effect on communities in the Hudson River.

PCBs in Massachusetts – USGS, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Ecological Restoration, Riverways Program, released a  report on polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs) in the Neponset River and Neponset River Estuary, Eastern Massachusetts.