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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has served as the Nation's principal
collector, repository, and interpreter of earth science data for more than
a century. The USGS has been assessing, mapping, and reporting on Iowa's
earth resources since the early 1900's. Ongoing USGS programs include
activities in water availability and quality, natural hazards, biological,
geographic and cartographic information, contaminated environments, land
and water use, and mineral resources. Examples of these programs, many of
which are conducted in partnership with State and local agencies, follow.
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Ground water is the primary source of drinking water for Iowa's population.
Information is needed by State and local governments to understand trends
in water levels and water quality in the principal aquifers and to develop
policy and management decisions related to their use. The USGS, in
cooperation with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), collects
and compiles water-level data from a statewide network of about 150
observation wells ( fig. 1). Information
from this network also is used by local governments and individuals that
require information on the depth to and availability of ground water at
specific locations throughout Iowa.
(Click on image for a larger version, 74K gif)
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Figure 1. Locatons of wells in the ground-water level
network in Iowa. | |
A statewide program of ground-water sample collection and analysis from the
principal aquifers is operated by the USGS in cooperation with the DNR and
the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory. The data from this program are
used by State agencies to track trends in water quality at various depths
and locations throughout Iowa and to respond to undesirable concentrations
of specific chemicals, such as pesticides, through policy and management
decisions. |
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As urban populations grow in Iowa, communities need to obtain additional
water supplies to meet their needs. The USGS, in cooperation with several
Iowa municipalities, is studying the availability and quality of
ground-water resources.
The USGS is evaluating the river-deposited sand and gravel aquifer along
the Cedar River near Cedar Rapids. The evaluation is focused on
determining the natural relation of the River to the aquifer and how the
aquifer is affected by pumping of alluvial wells. The availability and
quality of ground water in undeveloped areas of the aquifer also is being
determined. |
In Johnson County, the USGS is collecting ground-water level information
from the Silurian bedrock aquifer for the cities of Iowa City and
Coralville. The bedrock aquifer is used by several communities in the
area, as well as by numerous rural residents with private wells. Because
of the density of withdrawals within the greater Iowa City area, there has
been a history of alleged withdrawal interference problems in the bedrock
aquifer. As population growth results in continued development of the
aquifer, the potential for interference problems will likely increase. The
USGS is collecting background water-level information that can be used by
municipal and private well owners to manage their well withdrawals and to
document water levels in the aquifer. |
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The USGS provides information to Federal and State agencies on the rivers
and agricultural lands in Iowa. The USGS's Iowa Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Research Unit at Iowa State University is helping evaluate the
benefits of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to ring-necked
pheasants, which is a popular game bird in Iowa. The CRP, which is
administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has taken
millions of acres of marginal farmland out of production throughout the
United States and converted them to improve habitat for wildlife. Impacts
on population dynamics are being examined. The Unit investigates impacts
of habitat fragmentation on other, game and non-game bird and mammal
species. Agricultural chemical use also has been studied as it affects
other organisms. The fishery resources of the State and, especially the
Mississippi River, are a focus for aquatic ecosystem research.
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The USGS participates in the upper Mississippi and the lower Missouri River
initiatives that were developed in the wake of the catastrophic Mississippi
River flood of 1993. The programs were established to provide government
agencies in Iowa and adjacent States information to help restore and manage
the natural functions and economic values of the upper Mississippi, the
Illinois, and the lower Missouri Rivers. Other EMTC activities include the
administration of the Upper Mississippi River System Long Term Resource
Monitoring Program (LTRMP), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE) and the states of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri,
and Wisconsin. The State-operated LTRMP field stations collect inventory
and monitoring data on vegetation, water quality, fishes, and invertebrates
to support development of integrated resource-management options. |
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In an effort to assess properly the future energy resource potential of the
Nation, the USGS is conducting a National Petroleum Assessment of
undiscovered conventional and unconventional natural gas and oil resources.
With these estimates, energy planners can plan for the future.
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Iowa is situated along a geologic feature known as the midcontinent rift
system. This feature could have produced structures capable of trapping
natural gas and oil resources. As part of the USGS's ongoing National
Petroleum Assessment, this area is being evaluated for its potential to
contain and produce commercial quantities of petroleum. Scientists from
the USGS are working with DNR personnel to determine the potential for
hydrocarbon in this region. |
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The USGS is participating with the DNR and various State and Federal
agricultural agencies in efforts to determine the effects of changes in
land use and management on streamflow and water quality in several small
watersheds in Iowa. The primary purpose of these interagency efforts is to
implement best-management plans in a watershed and to observe the changes
in flow and water-quality that result from these changes. The observed
changes are often compared with data collected from a similar nearby stream
for which management practices have not been changed. Watersheds that are
selected for this type of comparison are used to demonstrate the
effectiveness of changes in land management to local land owners and to
provide public education on the effects of land use on water resources.
In northeastern Iowa, two studies of the effects of land use are in
progress. Streamflow is being measured in the Big Spring ground-water
basin, and streamflow and sediment data are being collected from the Sny
Magil and the Bloody Run watersheds. Data collected from the Big Spring
watershed, which is a ground-water basin that discharges primarily through
Big Spring near Elkader, are used by DNR and other agency managers to
evaluate the long-term effectiveness of intensive management changes and
public education efforts that were implemented during the 1980's. Sny
Magil, which is a small tributary stream to the Mississippi River, was
selected for implementation of improved land-management practices to reduce
sediment and nutrient inputs. Bloody Run is an adjacent watershed being
measured for comparison.
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The USGS, in cooperation with the DNR, is collecting streamflow and
sediment data in the Walnut Creek watershed in Jasper County. Much of the
Walnut Creek watershed is included in a recently established National
Wildlife Refuge. Refuge managers will eventually convert much of the
formerly intensively farmed land in the watershed to a restored prairie.
This conversion of land use offers a unique opportunity to determine its
effect on streamflow and suspended-sediment concentrations at a scale not
often available for study. |
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The goals of the USGS's National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program
are to describe the status and trends in the water quality of selected
watersheds throughout the Nation and to identify the factors that affect
their water quality. The Eastern Iowa Basins study that is being conducted
as part of the NAWQA Program is focused on the Cedar, the Iowa, the Skunk
and the Wapsipinincon River Basins (fig. 2).
The study currently is in the intensive data-collection phase of
implementation. Progress and information collected from this Program are
being communicated and provided to water-management and other
water-resource agencies in the State. |
(Click on image for a larger version, 29K GIF)
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Figure 2. National Water-Quality Assessment Program
study area in Iowa. |
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The USGS and the State Geological Surveys of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and
Nebraska have formed a partnership to study geologic aspects of land-use
issues in the Middle Missouri Basin. These studies are conducted in a
corridor that encompasses Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska; Council Bluffs,
Iowa, Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas; and Topeka, Kansas. Most of the
areas between the cities are a mix of smaller urban centers and intervening
rural areas that support intensive agricultural activities. A variety of
geologic factors affect land use in the corridor. Geologic constraints,
such as collapsing or expanding soils, landslides, subsidence, and
flooding, pose problems, especially in urban areas. Disposal of municipal
and industrial wastes, which include hazardous wastes, is of concern in
terms of past practices and future needs. Erosion, sedimentation, and
pollution from nonpoint discharges are major issues in the Basin. The
identification, protection, and extraction of construction materials
present a continuing problem, as does reclamation of mining areas.
Geologic information obtained in these studies is essential to
understanding the carrying capacity of the land, identifying potential
consequences of land uses on the natural system, and determining methods to
reduce or mitigate those conflicts and consequences. |
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One of the most-used aspects of USGS programs in Iowa is streamflow-data
collection and reporting. The USGS operates a statewide network of about
120 gaging stations (fig. 3) and
surface-water stage recorders for a variety of Federal, State, and local
agencies. Streamflow information is used by the National Weather Service
during storms to issue flood warnings and forecasts and by the USACE in
operating the four Federal reservoirs in Iowa and in support of commercial
navigation on the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. The DNR and the
Iowa Department of Transportation use streamflow data to monitor the
hydrologic conditions of the State, to provide a historical data base that
is used to develop water-related policy and management decisions, and to
design construction projects. Local government agencies use streamflow
data for a wide variety of activities that range from local flood-warning
systems that help protect lives and property to providing discharge volumes
used in complying with wastewater-discharge permit requirements. Private
citizens and businesses have access to USGS streamflow data.
(Click on image for a larger version, 81K GIF)
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Figure 3. Locations of active streamflow-gaging
stations in Iowa. |
In addition to the gaging-station network, the USGS maintains a statewide
network of peak-stage recording gages on small drainage basins for the Iowa
Department of Transportation. Data from this program are used to determine
flood frequency and discharge for the numerous small, ungaged drainage
basins. Flood-frequency and discharge data are used by State and county
transportation engineers in the design of bridges and other structures. |
The most readily apparent material that flows with the water in Iowa's
streams is suspended sediment. Suspended sediment can have serious
negative effects for some users of the resource and is an indication of the
amount of erosion that occurs in a watershed. The USGS collects samples
and determines the concentration of suspended sediment in water from a
variety of sites in Iowa. The USACE uses the data to provide information
on the amount of sediment that enters and potentially is deposited in
Federal reservoirs in Iowa and the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers
because of problems to navigation caused by sediment deposition. The DNR
is using sediment data as part of land-use and land-management studies to
monitor water quality in several watersheds throughout Iowa.
In addition to measurements of water in streams, the USGS is collecting
data on ground-water levels in the Missouri River alluvial aquifer in
western Iowa for the USACE. The USACE is developing a revised management
plan for the Missouri River. The stage of the Missouri River and
ground-water levels in the adjacent alluvial aquifer are being studied at
two locations in Iowa and three locations in Missouri to determine the
effect of higher levels of flow on the adjacent flood plain. Data that are
collected by the USGS are used by the USACE to verify predictions of the
effects of changes in river flow on the aquifer. |
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Among the most popular and versatile products of the USGS are its
1:24,000-scale topographic maps (1 inch on the map represents 2,000 feet on
the ground). These maps depict basic natural and cultural features of the
landscape, such as lakes and streams, highways and railroads, boundaries,
and geographic names; contour lines are used to depict the elevation and
shape of terrain. Iowa is covered by 1,129 maps at this scale. These maps
are useful for civil engineering, land-use planning, natural-resource
monitoring, and other technical applications, and have long been favorites
with the public for outdoor uses, including hiking, camping, exploring, and
back-country fishing expeditions. |
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The USGS has participated in jointly funded map production and revision
projects in Iowa for many years and, more recently, has prepared digital
cartographic data in cooperation with Federal and State agencies in Iowa.
In 1993, the USGS completed contour digital line graph (DLG) data statewide
for the 1:100,000-scale topographic map series under a joint funding
agreement with the DNR. Other DLG data layers and digital raster graphics
(digitized images of topographic maps) are now being produced under similar
agreements with the DNR.
The USGS also is preparing digital orthophotoquads (DOQ's) and digital
elevation models (DEM's) for parts of Iowa under cost-share agreements with
the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service. A DOQ is a digital
image of an aerial photograph in which displacements caused by the camera
and the terrain have been removed. A DEM is a sampled array of regularly
spaced elevation values registered to a map base. |
Mapping partnerships do not always involve the exchange of funds. In some
cases, production tasks are shared among cooperating agencies. The
benefits of work/share arrangements include the leveraging of limited
resources (equipment, personnel, space, and funds), avoiding duplication of
effort, producing standardized products, and accelerating data
availability. |
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The Competitive Cooperative Agreements Program (CCAP) of the National
Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) was established by the Federal
Geographic Data Committee through the USGS to help form partnerships with
the non-Federal sector that will assist in the evolution of the NSDI. The
CCAP provides funding to State and local government agencies, academia, and
the private sector to encourage resource-sharing projects through the use
of technology, networking, and interagency coordination. The DNR and the
Iowa Department of Education have been funded by CCAP to establish a
prototype NSDI clearinghouse node. The node is being developed and
maintained by the State Library of Iowa and the Iowa DNR; it will initially
offer a directory of geospatial data information sources that are being
created and maintained on an Internet server at the State Library and
access will be provided to the DNR's Natural Resource Geographic
Information System library. |
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Geologic mapping in Iowa is being conducted through a USGS program called
statemap. statemap is one of the external funding opportunities offered by
the USGS's National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP).
Agreements are open to all 50 State Geological Surveys. Funding
announcements for statemap are issued each year, and a competitive proposal
process is used to distribute funds. Federal funding is matched equally by
the recipients of the cooperative agreements. Typically, proposals focus
on issues of importance to the environment and society, such as
ground-water quality, geologic hazards, and landfill siting and management.
Proposals also address a range of resource issues, such as oil and gas
assessments, coal quantity, sand and gravel resources, and economic mineral
development. The geologic map data generated are archived at the State
Survey level and within the National Geologic Map Data Base of the NCGMP. |
statemap funds important geologic mapping projects in Iowa. These projects
provide local agencies and private individuals with the geologic
information required to evaluate the suitability of land tracts for
development, housing density, construction practices, septic-system density
and design, agricultural practices, waste disposal, ground-water and
well-head protection, and emergency responses to accidental release of
hazardous materials in these areas. |
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The Earth Science Information Centers (ESIC's) provide information about
USGS programs, products, and technological developments to the public. The
ESIC in Iowa City was established under a cooperative agreement between the
USGS and the DNR. As part of the national ESIC network, this office
provides information on such earth-science topics as cartography,
geography, digital data, remote sensing, geology, geophysics, geochemistry,
hydrology, geohydrology, aerial photography, and land use. It is supported
by the USGS with reference materials, technical assistance, training and
outreach activities, and access to USGS data bases. |
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