USGS Monthly Groundwater News and Highlights: November 01, 2017

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Featured Product: Groundwater-level trends in the U.S. glacial aquifer system, 1964-2013

A recent USGS study analyzed groundwater-level trends in the U.S. glacial aquifer system from 1963 to 2013. This aquifer system is present in parts of 25 states and is a major source of water supply. However, our understanding of historical groundwater trends across the system was lacking. This new information can be used by local and regional policy makers and water resource managers in the study area to inform planning for future water needs.

[ Map: Geographic distribution of trends in mean annual groundwater levels of the U.S. glacial aquifer system from 1984 to 2013 ]

Geographic distribution of trends in mean annual groundwater levels of the U.S. glacial aquifer system from 1984 to 2013; (a) all qualifying wells (including wells with both low human-influence potential and high human-influence potential) and assuming data series independence; (b) wells with low influence potential and assuming data series independence. Source: Figure 1 from Hodgkins and others, 2017. Figure is in the public domain.

USGS Groundwater-Related Press Releases

Animation of Groundwater Watch Active Water Level Network, 30 days

The USGS Active Groundwater Level Network includes about 20,000 wells that have been measured by the USGS or USGS cooperators at least once within the past 13 months. The animation shows a daily snapshot of water-level statistics in the network for October 2017. Credit: USGS. The image is in the public domain.

Study Estimates about 2.1 Million People using Wells High in Arsenic

USGS Groundwater-Related Publications

Simulation of groundwater flow and pumping scenarios for 1900-2050 near Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (10/31/17)

Geochemical and Pb isotopic characterization of soil, groundwater, human hair, and corn samples from the Domizio Flegreo and Agro Aversano area (Campania region, Italy) (10/31/17)

Public supply and domestic water use in the United States, 2015 (10/30/17)

Evidence for a climate-induced ecohydrological state shift in wetland ecosystems of the southern Prairie Pothole Region (10/30/17)

Hydrogeology and water quality of sand and gravel aquifers in McHenry County, Illinois, 2009-14, and comparison to conditions in 1979 (10/26/17)

Assessing models of arsenic occurrence in drinking water from bedrock aquifers in New Hampshire (10/25/17)

Groundwater-level trends in the U.S. glacial aquifer system, 1964-2013 (10/25/17)

Simulation of daily streamflow for 12 river basins in western Iowa using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (10/24/17)

Groundwater development stress: Global-scale indices compared to regional modeling (10/23/17)

Simulation of groundwater and surface-water flow in the upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon (10/23/17)

Forecast first: An argument for groundwater modeling in reverse (10/17/17)

Millennial-scale variability in the local radiocarbon reservoir age of south Florida during the Holocene (10/17/17)

Simulated effects of Lower Floridan aquifer pumping on the Upper Floridan aquifer at Barbour Pointe, Chatham County, Georgia (10/26/17)

Estimation of the groundwater resources of the bedrock aquifers at the Kettle Moraine Springs State Fish Hatchery, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin (10/12/17)

Compilation of streamflow statistics calculated from daily mean streamflow data collected during water years 1901-2015 for selected U.S. Geological Survey streamgages (10/16/17)

Groundwater-quality data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, January through December 2014 and select quality-control data from May 2012 through December 2014 (10/05/17)

Short-term and long-term evapotranspiration rates at ecological restoration sites along a large river receiving rare flow events (10/04/17)

Forecasting the probability of future groundwater levels declining below specified low thresholds in the conterminous U.S. (10/04/17)

Water-quality data from an earthen dam site in southern Westchester County, New York, 2015 (10/12/17)

Model parameters for representative wetland plant functional groups (10/08/17)

Groundwater declines are linked to changes in Great Plains stream fish assemblages (10/26/17)

Isotopic characterization of late Neogene travertine deposits at Barrancas Blancas in the eastern Atacama Desert, Chile (10/23/17)

Streamflow alteration and habitat ramifications for a threatened fish species in the Central United States (10/17/17)

Geothermal implications of a refined composition-age geologic map for the volcanic terrains of southeast Oregon, northeast California, and southwest Idaho, USA (10/16/17)

Hypogene caves of the central Appalachian Shenandoah Valley in Virginia (10/03/17)

USGS Groundwater-Related Software Updates and New Releases

MODFLOW-USG v1.4

USGS Groundwater Flow and Transport Model Data Releases

Note: The following links take you to data.gov

GSFLOW model of the upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon

MODFLOW2000_FMP1_1 model used to simulate the groundwater flow of the Central Valley Aquifer, California

MODFLOW2000 model used to simulate the groundwater flow of the Denver Basin Aquifer System, Colorado

MODFLOW-NWT, MODPATH, and MT3DMS models used to study of hypothetical horizontal water-supply well design for New Hampshire and surrounding regions: U.S. Geological Survey data release

MODFLOW-NWT model of a hypothetical stream-aquifer system to assess capture map bias

MODFLOW-NWT model used in simulation of groundwater flow and availability in the North Fork Red River aquifer, southwest Oklahoma, 1980-2013

Field Photo

Borehole nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an emerging geophysical method being applied to groundwater investigations. In this photo, USGS scientists are conducting a pilot test of borehole NMR at the Armargosa Desert Research Site in Nevada to measure changes in water content in the ground. The borehole NMR tool (yellow tool with black cable) is shown in a narrow well (short white PVC casing) at the study site. Borehole NMR can help scientists characterize the advancement of contamination spills in arid settings. This is important information environmental site managers need to inform decisions about how to respond to contaminated sites to protect human health and the environment. You can learn more about borehole NMR in our new overview video.

[ Photo: Borehole geophysical tool in well in the desert. ]

Credit: USGS/Carole Johnson. Photo is in the public domain. Click on photo for larger version.

Archive of Past Highlights:

Past monthly summaries are available online.