New & Noteworthy

Press Release: Irrigation Causing Declines in the High Plains Aquifer

Press Release: New Study Lends Insight to Decreasing Denver Basin Groundwater Availability

Press Release: Groundwater Storage Losses Substantial Across Eight State Aquifer System

Report: Groundwater availability of the Mississippi embayment

Report: New tool to assess groundwater resources in the Mississippi embayment

Report: Selected approaches to estimate water-budget components of the High Plains, 1940-1949 and 2000-2009

Past listings...

USGS Groundwater Watch

USGS maintains a network of active wells to provide basic statistics about groundwater levels.

Other Water Topics

 Water Resources

 Groundwater

 Surface Water

 Water Quality

 Water Use

USGS in Your State

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

Geophysical Methods & Applications

USGS Hydrologist Jason Sorenson (USGS Massachusetts/Rhode Island Water Science Center) prepares passive seismic equipment for survey.

USGS conducts research into new and emerging geophysical methods and applications for groundwater investigations.  Near-surface geophysical techniques can be used to rapidly and effectively characterize the shallow subsurface and to monitor hydrologic and remediation processes in ways not previously possible with standard technology.  Areas of recent hydrogeophysical applied research supported by Groundwater Resources Program have included:

• development of fiber-optics distributed temperature sensing system for field applications,
• development of rapid seismic subsurface imaging methods,
• development of an electrical-resistivity method to identify and model rate-limited mass transfer,
• development of an easy-to-use stepped-frequency electromagnetic tool for subsurface characterization, and
• initiation of gravity monitoring projects in varied hydrogeologic settings.

More information:

• USGS Office of Groundwater, Branch of Geophysics