Showing papers in "Water-Resources Investigations Report in 1985"

Collecting, preparing, crossdating, and measuring tree increment cores

Abstract: .................................................................

Dissolved constituents including selenium in waters in the vicinity of Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge and the west Grassland, Fresno and Merced Counties, California

Abstract: Analyses were made for dissolved constituents including selenium (Se) in waters associated with subsurface agricultural drainage from the western San Joaquin Valley of California. In the vicinity of Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge and the Grassland wetlands area Se was found to be mobilized in water. As a consequence of this mobility and bioaccumulation in the aquatic food chain, Se occurred in waterfowl at levels toxic enough to cause deformities and deaths. Se concentrations in sumps that collect subsurface agricultural drainage water and inflows to drains sampled, ultimately leading into Kesterson national Wildlife Refuge and the Grassland, ranged from 84 to 4,200 microgram/L (ug/L) Se. Levels of Se were reduced in the San Luis Drain flowing into Kesterson National Wildlife Refute to approximately 300 ug/L Se and in three of the drains sampled flowing into the Grassland to approximately 50 ug/L Se. Serious effects on water fowl habitat were caused by both these levels. Se contents of algal mats and salt crusts from evaporation ponds of the San Luis Drain contained up to parts per million Se. Total ecosystem assessment of Se may be necessary for the evaluation of the toxicity of Se to the environment. No other trace element reportedmore » exceeded the various criteria for water at the level of magnitude of Se. 60 refs., 7 figs., 11 tabs.« less

A two-constituent solute-transport model for ground water having variable density

Abstract: .....................................................

Types, features, and occurrence of sinkholes in the karst of west- central Florida

Abstract: Sinkholes are a natural and common geologic feature in areas underlain by limestone and other soluble rocks. Four major types of sinkholes are common to west-central Florida. They include limestone-solution, limestone-collapse, cover-subsidence, and cover-collapse sinkholes. The first two occur in areas where limestone is bare or is thinly covered. The second two occur where there is a thick cover (30 to 200 feet) of material over limestone. Limestone-solution sinkholes result from subsidence of overlying materials that occurs at approximately the same rate as dissolution of the limestone. The sinkholes reflect a gradual downward movement of the land surface and development of funnel-shaped depressions. Limestone-collapse sinkholes occur when a solution cavity grows in size until its roof can no longer support its weight, causing generally abrupt collapse that is sometimes catastrophic. Cover-subsidence sinkholes develop as sand in the cover material moves downward into space created in limestone by dissolution. Resultant sinkholes develop gradually and are generally only a few feet in diameter. Cover-collapse sinkholes occur where clay layers that overlie limestone have sufficient cohesiveness to bridge the developing cavities in the limestone. Eventual failure of the bridge results in a cover-collapse sinkhole that may develop suddenly. Large withdrawals of water for various uses may provide a triggering mechanism for sinkholes to occur. Loss of water's .buoyant support of unconsolidated deposits that overlie cavities can cause the materials that bridge the cavity to fail and sinkholes to appear. Conversely, loading of the land surface by construction, such as impoundments, may cause collapse of materials that bridge cavities and sinkholes to develop. Impoundments may also provide continuous sources of recharge water and hasten development of cavities in limestone. West-central Florida was divided into seven zones based on geology, landscape, and geomorphology and the relationship of these factors to the types of sinkholes that occur in each zone. The zones are: (1) areas of bare or thin cover that experience slow developing limestone-solution sinkholes; (2) areas of thin cover, little recharge, high overland runoff, and few sinkhole occurrences; (3) areas of incohesive sand cover of 50 to 150 feet that have high recharge and generally experience cover-subsidence sinkholes; (4) areas that have 25 to 100 feet of cover, many sinkhole lakes, and cypress heads and experience predominantly cover-collapse sinkholes; (5) areas of 25 to 150 feet of sand cover overlying clay that experience cover-collapse and cover-subsidence sinkholes; (6) areas with more than 200 feet of cover, numerous lakes and sinkholes, and high land-surface altitudes that experience numerous cover-subsidence sinkholes and occasional large-scale cover-collapse sinkholes: and (7) araas with cover greater than 200 feet that have 100 or more feet of clay with high bearing strength and low leakance that preclude infiltration of corrosive water and development of sinkholes; however, some cover-collapse sinkholes do occur.

Effects of climate, vegetation, and soils on consumptive water use and ground-water recharge to the Central Midwest Regional aquifer system, Mid-continent United States

Abstract: The Central Midwest regional aquifer system, in parts of Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas, is a region of great hydrologic diversity. This study examines the relationships between climate, vegetation, and soil that affect consumptive water use and recharge to the ground-water system. Computations of potential recharge and consumptive water use were restricted to those areas where the aquifers under consideration were the immediate underlying system-. The principal method of analysis utilizes a soil-moisture computer model. This model requires four types of input: (1) Hydrologic properties of the soils, (2) vegetation types, (3) monthly precipitation, and (4) computed monthly potential evapotranspiration (PET) values. The PET simulation is based on the Jensen-Haise method, which requires monthly solar radiation and temperature data. The climatic factors tnat affect consumptive water use and recharge were extensively mapped for the study area. Nearly all the pertinent climatic elements confirmed the extreme diversity of the region. PET and those factors affecting it--solar radiation, temperature, and humidity-show large regional differences; mean annual PET ranges from 36 to 70 inches in the study area. Precipitation shows even greater regional variation, with mean annual precipitation ranging from less than 12 inches in parts of eastern Colorado to more than 50 inches in parts of Arkansas. Furthermore, the variability of annual precipitation tends to increase as average annual precipitation decreases. The seasonal climatic patterns indicate significant regional differences in those factors affecting seasonal consumptive water use and recharge. In the southern and western parts of the study area, consumptive water use occurs nearly the entire year; whereas, in northern parts it occurs primarily during the warm season (April through September). Results of the soil-moisture program, which add the affects of vegetation and the hydrologic characteristics of the soil to computed PET values, confirm the significant regional differences in consumptive water use or actual evapotranspiration (AET) and potential ground-water recharge. Under two different vegetative conditions--the 1978 conditions and pre-agricultural conditions consisting of only grassland and woodlandoverall differences in recharge were minimal. Recharge values were significantly different from pre-agricultural conditions only in selected areas where tame hay (principally alfalfa) or fallow acreages were appreciable. Mean annual recharge under both conditions averaged slightly more than 4.5 inches for the entire study area, but ranged from less than 0.10 inch in eastern Colorado to slightly more than 15 inches in Arkansas. Patterns of annual recharge closely paralleled yearly and cool season precipitation (October through March). It was concluded that climatic effects dominated overall regional recharge patterns in the study area, with local variations resulting from differences in vegetation and soil.

Chemical and isotopic characteristics of brines from three oil- and gas-producing sandstones in eastern Ohio, with applications to the geochemical tracing of brine sources

Abstract: Chemical and isotopic characteristics of selected inorganic constituents are reported for brines from the Berea Sandstone of Mississippian age, the "Clinton" sandstone (drillers term) in the Albion Sandstone of Silurian age, and the Rose Run sandstone (informal term) in the equivalent of the Knox Dolomite of Cambrian and Ordovician age in 24 counties in eastern Ohio. Ionic concentrations of dissolved constituents in brine from the three sandstones generally fall in the following ranges: (in millimoles per kilogram of brine): Na, Cl >_ 1,000; 100 >. Ca, Mg <1,000; 1 ^ K, Br, Sr, Li, Fe, S04 <100; Mn, Zn, Al, I, HC03 , Si02 <1. Mean ionic concentrations of Ca, Mg, Na, Cl, K, 804, and Br, and mean values of density and dissolved solids are significantly different at the 95-percent confidence level in each sandstone. Only potassium has a unique concentration range in each sandstone (millimoles per kilogram): 0.3 12 (Berea), 13 57 ("Clinton"), and 81 92 (Rose Run). For applications involving brine contamination, selected concentration ratios are identified as potential indicators for geochemical tracing of brines having some history of dilution. The K:Na ratios work best for identifying the source sandstone of an unidentified brine. These ranges are K:Na, 0.0002 0.0185 (Berea); 0.0073 0.0238 ("Clinton"); 0.0230 0.0462 (Rose Run). Other constituent ratios may prove useful for differentiating one brine from the other two. "Clinton" and Rose Run brines have no statistical difference in mean values for Ca:Mg, Na:Ca, Na:Cl, Mg:K, Ca:K, Cl:Ca, MgrBr, and Na:Br. These ratios, in combination with K:Br and Cl:Br, may be used to identify Berea brines. With respect to isotopic characteristics of hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfate sulfur, a moderate range of &D (-48.0 to -13.5 permil) and 6 180 (-5-45 to -1.25 permil) indicate a meteoric water origin for the water matrix in Ohio brines. 6D and 6 180 values are not useful for differentiating brines from the three formations. The 6 S (S04 2 ~) values for Ohio brines range between +4.6 to +28.4 permil. The heaviest sulfate sulfur is in brine from the Cambrian and Ordovician Rose Run sandstone. A single Berea brine sample was determined to have the lightest 634 S (S04 2 ~) value. "Clinton" brines have 5 S (S04 2 ~) intermediate between those of the Rose Run and Berea sandstones. Sulfur isotopes may have utility for differentiating the isotopically heavy sulfate found in brines from the isotopically light sulfate found in oxidizing ground water.

Simulation of the flow system of Barton Springs and associated Edwards Aquifer in the Austin area, Texas

Abstract: A digital model of two-dimensional ground-water flow was used to estimate the hydraulic properties of the Edwards aquifer in a 151-square-mile area near Austin, Texas. The transmissivity, hydraulic conductivity, and specific yield were estimated for the part of the aquifer that discharges at Barton Springs in Austin. The aquifer is composed of the Edwards and overlying Georgetown Limestones of Cretaceous age and ranges in thickness from about 100 to about 450 feet.. More than 60 years of discharge measurements and 5 years of gaged discharge for Barton Springs were used to adjust springflow for the simulations. Barton Springs accounts for about 96 percent of springflow from the study area and 90 percent of the total discharge. The remaining discharge was pumpage from wells which was entered in the model. Four years of gaged recharge were used in the simulations. The potentiometric surfaces used by the models were constructed from water-level measurements in as many as 75 wells. The transmissivity was calibrated through steady-state simulations that used the mean value of recharge and mean potentiometric surface to represent average conditions for the aquifer. The transmissivities vary from about 100 feet squared per day in the western part of the aquifer to more than 1 million feet squared per day near Barton Springs. Specific yield was calibrated through transient-state simulations for 5 consecutive months using time-dependent data for recharge, discharge, and water levels. The mean specific yield for the aquifer is 0.014 and ranges from 0.008 to 0.064. Additional aquifer properties used in the simulations include storage coefficient, altitudes of the base and top of the aquifer, and hydraulic conductivity. A simulation for the year 2000 using projected pumping rates for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and domestic supplies indicates that the aquifer would be dewatered in the southwestern part of the study area and have large declines in the southeastern part of the study area. Another simulation of projected conditions using potential recharge enhancement predicts a rise in the potentiometric surface of about 50 feet in the southwestern part of the aquifer and moderate water-level declines in the southeastern part of the aquifer.

Computer program ncalc user's manual verification of manning's roughness coefficient in channels

Abstract: Computations involving flow in open channels commonly require an evaluation of the roughness characteristics of the channel. The U.S. Geological Survey engages in a continuing effort to improve the understanding of flow resistance, usually in terms of Manning's roughness coefficient, n, in channels in the United States. Procedures for computing values of Manning's roughness coefficient from known discharge, water-surface profiles, and channel cross-sectional properties are presented, and have been programmed for automatic computation. General theory, procedures for onsite investigations and surveys, a description of the use of the computer program, an example problem, and additional channel-roughness-verification research needs are presented. INTRODUCTION Hydraulic computations involving flow in open channels commonly require an evaluation of the roughness characteristics of the channel. The selection of roughness characteristics for channels is subjective, even though extensive guidelines are available (Cowan, 1956; Chow, 1959; Aldridge and Garrett, 1973). The U.S. Geological Survey has made an attempt to improve the quantification of flow-resistance coefficients, and to provide predictive equations to aid in the selection of these coefficients, most commonly Manning's roughness coefficient, n. Several studies have been conducted to verify roughness coefficients for selected stream channels covering a range of flow and hydraulic conditions in the United States; flow-resistance verification is a continuing effort of the U. S. Geological Survey. Barnes (1967) presented verified n-value data for near-bankfull discharges, with color photographs and descriptive data for 50 stream channels throughout the United States. Limerinos (1970) verified n-value data for 11 streams in California for various depths of flow and developed a predictive equation for Manning's n as a function of relative smoothness. Aldridge and Garrett (1973) presented verified and onsite selected n-value data and guidelines for selecting n values for 35 streams in Arizona, with emphasis on sand-bed streams. Jarrett (1984) presented verified n-value data for 21 primarily highergradient streams (slopes greater than 0.002 ft/ft) in Colorado for varying depths of flow, and presented a predictive equation for Manning's n as a function of friction or water-surface slope and hydraulic radius. A computer program for computing values of Manning's roughness coefficient has been written. This computer program, NCALC, is used to compute the Manning coefficient n in an unsubdivided channel for a single event of measured or known relatively clear water. Input data are discharge, ground elevations and stationing to define individual cross sections, water-surface elevations at each cross section, and the distance downstream from a reference point to each cross section. This report discusses the theory of the Manning equation, gives detailed instructions for collecting and preparing the data, general instructions for submitting the input data for computer analysis, an example n-verification problem, and additional n-verification research needs. THEORY The Manning equation is used as the basis for computing the reach properties and verified n values in this report. The roughness coefficient term, n, appears in the general Manning equation for open-channel flow:

Geohydrology of the High Plains Aquifer, western Kansas

Abstract: The High Plains aquifer underlies 174,050 square miles of eight states (Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming) and contains approximately 3.3 billion acre-feet of water in storage. The High Plains aquifer in Kansas consists of streamand wind-laid deposits of unconsolidated clays, sands, and gravels of the Ogallala Formation and similar associated Tertiary and Quaternary deposits that underlie 30,500 square miles of western and south-central Kansas. The deposits were laid down on an erosional bedrock surface, which was formed on consolidated rocks of Permian to Cretaceous age. Saturated thicknesses within the aquifer are as great as 600 feet near the southern border of southwest Kansas. The aquifer is replenished primarily by infiltration from precipitation. Average precipitation at the Garden City Experiment Station is 18.93 inches per year. Ground-water flow is generally from west to east under unconfined conditions. Hydraulic connection with subcropping consolidated aquifers allows ground water to flow vertically in minor quantities. The aquifer is depleted primarily by irrigation. The number of irrigation wells has increased exponentially front less than 500 during 1940 to about 20,000 during 1980. During 1980 there were over 100 irrigation wells per 36 square miles in some areas of west-central and southwest Kansas. Hydraulic-conductivity estimates from 1,612 lithologic logs had an average value of 75 feet per day, with a standard deviation of 35 feet per day. Hydraulic conductivities estimated from specific-capacity tests of the High Plains aquifer in Sherman County were about one-fourth of the lithologic estimates of hydraulic conductivity. Specific yields estimated from the same lithologic logs had a mean of 0.17 and a standard deviation of 0.047. A spatial analysis indicated that correlation of individual point values is poor and adds support to the description of the Ogallala Formation as being homogeneous in its heterogeneity. Water from the High Plains aquifer in Kansas generally is suitable for human and animal consumption and irrigation of crops. Typically, it is a calcium bicarbonate type water, with concentrations of total dissolved solids ranging from 250 to 500 milligrams per liter. The quality of water in the aquifer deteriorates toward the east due to mixing with recharge water containing dissolved minerals leached from the overlying soil and unsaturated zones and mineralized water from adjacent bedrock units. The result is a water containing greater concentrations of dissolved solids and a change to a calcium sulfate or sodium chloride type water. Quality of water from the aquifer degrades with depth in parts of Meade and Seward Counties and in the eastern one-half of south-central Kansas due to mixing of saline water from underlying Permian rocks. Steady-state simulations of the High Plains aquifer in northwest and southwest Kansas were developed using a U.S. Geological Survey finitedifference modeling code for two-dimensional ground-water flow. Nodes were located 15,000 feet apart in a grid pattern. The simulated water budget for the steady-state model of predevelopment (pre-1950) conditions in the High Plains aquifer in northwest Kansas showed that annual recharge to the aquifer from infiltration of precipitation was 87,000 acre-feet per year and from boundary inflow, 21,000 acre-feet per year. Annual discharge from the aquifer was 108,000 acre-feet per year, including 81,000 acre-feet per year from leakage to streams, 23,000 acrefeet from outflow at the boundaries of the aquifer, and 4,000 acre-feet from municipal and industrial pumpage. The simulated water budget for southwest Kansas for predevelopment (pre-1950) conditions showed that annual recharge from precipitation was 104,500 acre-feet and from boundary inflow, 32,500 acre-feet. Annual discharge from the aquifer was 137,000 acre-feet, including 58,000 acre-feet from net leakage to streams, 14,000 acre-feet from leakage to the underlying Lower Cretaceous sandstone aquifer, and 65,000 acre-feet from outflow at the boundaries of the aquifer. INTRODUCTION The agricultural economy of eight states in the High Plains is greatly affected by the capacity of the High Plains aquifer to sustain water withdrawals. The aquifer contains approximately 3.3 billion acre-feet of water in storage (Weeks and Gutentag, 1981), but water is being withdrawn for irrigation in excess of the rate of natural replenishment. Pabst and Gutentag (1979) reported a tenfold difference between estimated annual recharge and the amount of water withdrawn in southwest Kansas. Responding to a need for regional analysis of the aquifer, the U.S. Geological Survey began a study of the High Plains Regional Aquifer System during 1978 to provide (1) hydrologic information needed to evaluate the effects of continued groundwater development, and (2) computer models to predict aquifer response to changes in ground-water development. The plan of study for the High Plains Regional Aquifer System Analysis is described by Weeks (1978). This report is a summation of the data collection, hydrologic analysis, and computer modeling completed for the Kansas part of the regional study. Purpose and Extent Previous studies of the hydrology of the High Plains have been limited by political boundaries. The High Plains Regional Aquifer System Analysis provides a regional description of the water resources and operation of the hydrologic system consistent with the natural boundaries of the High Plains aquifer. The extent of the High Plains regional aquifer system is shown by shading in figure 1. The High Plains aquifer underlies 174,050 square miles in eight states, of which 30,500 square miles are in Kansas. This report is for the Kansas part of the aquifer. The High Plains aquifer in Kansas is found in five distinct areas (fig. 1). The northwest area consists of all the aquifer north of the Smoky Hill River. The west-central area consists of the aquifer south of the Smoky Hill River in Wallace, Greeley, Wichita, Scott, Lane, and Ness Counties. The southwest area consists of the aquifer south of the ScottFinney County line and west of central Ford County. The south-central area comprises the aquifer from central Ford County east to central Reno County (this area is also called the Great Bend Prairie or Big Bend Prairie). The Equus Beds area consists of that part of the aquifer east of central Reno County. Methods of Investigation The methods used to conduct this investigation may be categorized into data collection, compilation, and analysis and digital simulation. Data collection for water-use computations was a major work item during 1978-80 and included measurements of well discharge along with time-of-operation metering of irrigation wells, measurements of irrigated acreage, and inventories of crops and wells. Other measurement activities included determination of channel-geometry characteristics to estimate aquifer-streamflow statistics at many ungaged sites. The Ground Water Site Inventory (GWSI) contained in the U.S. Geological Survey's WATSTORE computer data base was a primary repository and information source. A well inventory was made in northwest Kansas to update the GWSI data base. In southwest and south-central Kansas, records of water-right applications from the Division of Water Resources, Kansas State Board of Agriculture, and from Groundwater Management Districts 1, 3, 4 and 5 were used to locate all known irrigation wells in the High Plains of Kansas. When the year of well installation was not known, it was presumed to be the year the application was filed. This inventory was added to the GWSI data base. Considerable care was taken to identify and avoid entries for nonexistent wells or duplicate entries for the same well. Geohydrologic data for the High Plains aquifer that were reported in publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Kansas Geological Survey, the Kansas Water Office (formerly Kansas Water Resources Board), and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment were compiled. Some unpublished data were found in the files of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Garden City, Kansas. These data sources provided the information needed to map water-table contours, the altitude of the base of the aquifer, the bedrock geology, the hydraulic conductivity, the specific yield, and the saturated thickness. 106° iQ 4 o logo 1QO« 98 'OMING( ' /illlJi«lvOUTH DAKOTA'^ 0 50100150 KILOMETERS | \102.

Magnitude and frequency of floods in Alabama

Abstract: .............................................................................................................................

Development and testing of highway storm-sewer flow measurement and recording system

Abstract: A comprehensive study and development of measuring instruments and techniques for measuring all components of flow in a storm-sewer drainage system was undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey under the sponsorship of the Federal Highway Administration. The study involved laboratory and field calibration and testing of measuring flumes, pipe insert meters, weirs, electromagnetic velocity meters as well as the development and calibration of pneumatic-bubbler pressure transducer head measuring systems. Tracer-dilution and acoustic flowmeter measurements were used in field verification tests. A single micrologger was used to record data from all the above instruments as well as from a tipping-bucket rain gage and also to activate on command the electromagnetic velocity meter and tracer-dilution systems. INTRODUCTION In recent years with advances in watershed rainfall-runoff modeling techniques, there has been emphasis on the modeling approach to storm-sewer design. A reveiw of this type of literature is replete with statements as to the need for more and better data bases to aid model development. 1 » 2 > 3 The study performed in 1969 by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recommended a minimum program of urban drainage research at $10 million over several years which amounted to about 0.33 percent of the expected annual national investment in the construction of storm drainage. A major conclusion of a conference on urban hydrologic research conducted in 1965 by the Urban Hydrology Research Council of ASCE was that a major technological hiatus exists largely because of an absence of suitable measuring devices. Progress has been made in these ensuing years in developing devices and methods of measuring and recording data in storm-drainage systems, largely in instrumentation. It is little wonder, though, that the problem still exists, as the hydraulics of flow in stormsewer systems may be extremely complex. STORM-DRAINAGE HYDRAULICS From the inception of rainfall, flow in roadways and gutters, collection via curb inlets and drop structures or catchments, and final conveyance from the area via lateral and trunkline pipes, the whole gamut of flow hydraulics can occur. 1 Flows in streets and gutters may be sheet flow (supercritical) depending on roughness and slopes; hydraulic jumps may form at transitions in grade or at inlets. Varying amounts of street runoff may bypass one inlet only to be collected at an adjoining one or by a series of downstream inlets. The efficiency of flows into curb and street inlets is highly variable and largely a function of approach and entry slopes, effective opening areas where grates exist, and the capacity of the receiving catchments and associated outlet drainpipes. In most cases, especially on major highway systems, the catchment outlet pipes are over-designed compared with the hydraulic capacity and efficiency of the curb inlets; this is to ensure passage of debris and to facilitate maintenance. Catchments may be simple or complex. A simple one receives the flow through a single curb inlet and discharges it through a single outlet pipe. A complex catchment is one receiving flow from several curb inlets and (or) from other pipes junctioning and flowing through the catchment: a combined catchment and junction box. The flow from the catchment through the outlet pipe may be quite complex depending on pipe area, roughness, and slope. Figure 1 depicts the possible SUBCRITICAL -DEPTHS AND-* FLOWS SUBCRITICAL AND \"TRANSITION FLOWS\" -DEPTHS AT OR GREATER THAN CRITICAL

Hydrology and its effects on distribution of vegetation in Congaree Swamp National Monument, South Carolina

Abstract: 1

Description of water-systems operations in the Arkansas River basin, Colorado

Abstract: To facilitate a current (1985) project modeling the hydrology of the Arkansas River basin in Colorado, a description of the regulation of water in the basin is necessary. The geographic and climatic setting of the Arkansas River basin that necessitates the use, reuse, importation, and storage of water are discussed. The history of water-resource development in the basin, leading to the present complex of water systems, also is discussed. Municipal, irrigation, industrial, and multipurpose water systems are described. System descriptions are illustrated with schematic line drawings, and supplemented with physical data tables for the lakes, tunnels, conduits, and canals comprising the various systems. Copies of criteria, under which certain of the water systems operate, are included. INTRODUCTION The water in the Arkansas River basin is a valuable resource that transforms fertile but dry lands into productive agricultural areas. Historically, in this area, man used and reused available water, stored water in times of more abundant supply for use in times of low streamflow, imported water from nearby drainage basins where supply was greater and demand less, and utilized the ground-water aquifer in the valley alluvium. A comprehensive surfacewater/ground-water model of the Arkansas River basin in Colorado currently (1985) is being developed by the U.S. Geological Survey. To design this model, the description of water-systems operations in the basin is essential. The operations of the more complex systems in the valley are described here, including municipal systems, irrigation systems, an industrial system, and multipurpose systems. Location of Study Area The Arkansas River basin in Colorado generally is located between 37° and 39° latitude and 102° and 106° longitude, and contains approximately the southeast one-quarter of the State (fig. 1). The drainage area, not including the Cimarron River watershed, is 25,400 square miles. The Cimarron River watershed, located in the extreme southeast corner of the State, is a part of the Arkansas River basin not considered in this report. Locations mentioned in the text and not found in other figures can be found on plate 1 or plate 2 in the pocket.

Occurrence of natural radium-226 radioactivity in ground water of Sarasota County, Florida

Abstract: Water that contains radium-226 radioactivity in excess of the 50-picocurie-per-liter limit set for radium-226 plus radium-228 in the National Interim Primary Drinking Water Regulations was obtained from the majority of wells sampled throughout Sarasota County A comparison of data from different aquifers showed that greater radium-226 radioactivities occurred in the intermediate aquifer where phosphate pebbles occur in a semiconsolidated matrix than occurred in deeper aquifers The highest radioactivity determined for radium-226 was 100 picocuries per liter in a saline water sample Analysis of data suggests that a major fraction of radium-226 is released by alpha-particle recoil of thorium-230 or its precursors Water that contains the highest concentrations of radium-226 usually contains enough water hardness or dissolved solids that it would not be used for domestic purposes without treatment Thus, ion exchange softening to reduce hardness or reverse osmosis to reduce dissolved-solids concentrations will also reduce radium-226 radioactivities to less than the 50-picocurie-per-liter limit for drinking water

A computer program for analyzing channel geometry

Abstract: ________________________________________________

Geohydrology of rocks penetrated by test well USW H-4, Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada

Abstract: This report presents the results of hydraulic testing of rocks penetrated by USW H-4, one of several test wells drilled in the southwestern part of the Nevada Test Site, in cooperation with the US Department of Energy, for investigations related to the isolation of high-level radioactive wastes in volcanic tuffs of Tertiary age. All rocks penetrated by the test well to its total depth of 1219 meters were volcanic. Static water level was at a depth of 519 meters below land surface. Hydraulic-head measurements made at successively lower depths during drilling in this test hole indicate no noticeable head change. A radioactive-tracer, borehole-flow survey indicated that the two most productive zones in this borehole occurred in the upper part of the Bullfrog Member, depth interval from 721 to 731.5 meters, and in the underlying upper part of the Tram Member, depth interval from 864 to 920 meters, both in the Crater Flat Tuff. Hydraulic coefficients calculated from pumping-test data indicate that transmissivity ranged from 200 to 790 meters squared per day. The hydraulic conductivity ranged from 0.29 to 1.1 meters per day. Chemical analysis of water pumped from the saturated part of the borehole (composite sample) indicates that the watermore » is typical of water produced from tuffaceous rocks in southern Nevada. The water is predominantly a sodium bicarbonate type with small concentrations of calcium, magnesium, and sulfate. The apparent age of this composite water sample was determined by a carbon-14 date to be 17,200 years before present. 24 refs., 10 figs., 8 tabs.« less

Ground-water contamination in East Bay Township, Michigan

Abstract: ----------------------------------------------------------

Techniques for estimating flood peak discharges for unregulated streams and streams regulated by small floodwater retarding structures in Oklahoma

Abstract: Statewide regression relations for Oklahoma were determined for estimating peak discharge of floods for selected recurrence intervals from 2 to 500 years. The independent variables required for estimating flood discharge for rural streams are contributing drainage area and mean annual precipitation. Main-channel slope, a variable used in previous reports, was found to contribute very little to the accuracy of the relations and was not used. The regression equations are applicable for watersheds with drainage areas less than 2,500 square miles that are not significantly affected by regulation from manmade works. These relations are presented in graphical form for easy application. Limitations on the use of the regression relations and the reliability of regression estimates for rural unregulated streams are discussed. Basin and climatic characteristics, log-Pearson Type III statistics and the flood-frequency relations for 226 gaging stations in Oklahoma and adjacent states are presented. Regression relations are investigated for estimating flood magnitude and frequency for watersheds affected by regulation from small FRS (floodwater retarding structures) built by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in their watershed protection and flood prevention program. Gaging-station data from nine FRS regulated sites in Oklahoma and one FRS regulated site in Kansas are used. For sites regulated by FRS, an adjustment of the statewide rural regression relations can be used to estimate flood magnitude and frequency. The statewide regression equations are used by substituting the drainage area below the FRS, or drainage area that represents the percent of the basin unregulated, in the contributing drainage area parameter to obtain floodfrequency estimates. Flood-frequency curves and flow-duration curves are presented for five gaged sites to illustrate the effects of FRS regulation on peak discharge.

Geohydrology of Test Well USW H-3, Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada

Abstract: Test well USW H-3 is one of several test wells drilled in the southwestern part of the Nevada Test Site in cooperation with the US Department of Energy for investigations related to the isolation of high-level radioactive wastes. All rocks penetrated by the well to a total depth of 1219 meters are volcanic tuff of Tertiary age. The composite hydraulic head in the zone 751 to 1219 meters was 733 meters above sea level, and at a depth below land surface of 751 meters. Below a depth of 1190 meters, the hydraulic head was 754 meters above sea level or higher, suggesting an upward component of groundwater flow at the site. The most transmissive part of the saturated zone is in the upper part of the Tram Member of the Crater Flat Tuff in the depth interval from 809 to 841 meters, with an apparent transmissivity of about 7 x 10{sup -1} meter squared per day. The remainder of the penetrated rocks in the saturated zone, 841 to 1219 meters, has an apparent transmissivity of about 4 x 10{sup -1} meter squared per day. The most transmissive part of the lower depth interval is in the bedded tuff and Lithicmore » Ridge Tuff, in the depth interval from 1108 to 1120 meters. The apparent hydraulic conductivity of the rocks in the lower depth interval from 841 to 1219 meters commonly ranges from about 10{sup -1} to 10{sup -4} meter per day. 32 references, 20 figures, 4 tables.« less

Major and trace-element analyses of acid mine waters in the Leviathan Mine drainage basin, California/Nevada; October, 1981 to October, 1982

Abstract: Water issuing from the inactive Leviathan open-pit sulfur mine has caused serious degradation of the water quality in the Leviathan/Bryant Creek drainage basin which drains into the East Fork of the Carson River. This report presents the analytical results from this sampling survey. Sixty-seven water samples were filtered and preserved on-site at 45 locations and at 3 different times. Temperature, discharge, pH, and Eh and specific conductance were measured on-site. Concentrations of 37 major and trace constituents were determined later in the laboratory on preserved samples. The quality of the analyses was checked by using two or more techniques to determine the concentrations including d.c.-argon plasma emission spectrometry (DCP), flame and flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry, UV-visible spectrophotometry, hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrophotometry and ion chromatography. Leviathan acid mine waters contain mg/L concentrations of As, Cr, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Tl, V and Zn, and hundreds to thousands of mg/L concentrations of Al, Fe, and sulfate at pH values as low as 1.8. Other elements including Ba, B, Be, Bi, Cd, Mo, Sb, Se and Te are elevated above normal background concentrations and fall in the microgram/L range. The chemical and 34 S/32 S isotopic analyses demonstrate that these acid waters aremore » derived from pyrite oxidation and not from the oxidation of elemental sulfur. 16 refs., 17 figs., 5 tabs.« less

Geohydrology of the aquifer in the Santa Fe Group, northern West Mesa of the Mesilla Basin near Las Cruces, New Mexico

Abstract: The West Mesa of the Mesilla Basin in south-central New Mexico encompasses an undeveloped area of approximately 750 square miles west of the Rio Grande. In order to provide for orderly development of the ground^water supplies in the northern West Mesa, information is needed about the geohydrologic characteristics of the aquifer in the Santa Fe Group. The Santa Fe Group consists of Quaternary and Tertiary piedmont-slope, fluvial, playa, and lacustrine deposits composed of clay, silt, sand, gravel, and caliche, and igneous rocks composed of volcanic ash and basalt. The saturated thickness of the aquifer in the Santa Fe Group ranges from about 3,440 feet at the Boles No. 1 Federal oil test well to zero at. the western and northern borders of the study area. Because of the heterogeneity of the Santa Fe Group, the hydrologic characteristics of the aquifer vary substantially from place to place. Hydraulic conductivities of 12 and 30 feet per day were estimated from aquifer tests for two wells in the eastern onehalf of the study area. Some of the well yields in the eastern one-half of the study area are greater than 1,000 gallons per minute. Well yields in the western one-half of the study area generally are less than 5 gallons per minute. Across the eastern one-half of the study area, ground water flows southeastward at a gradient of less than 5 feet per mile. Group water flows southeastward across the western one-half of the study area at a gradient of about 50 feet per mile. Dissolved-solids concentrations in ground water range from 378 to 556 milligrams per liter in the eastern one-half of the study area and from 906 to 1,470 milligrams per liter in the western one-half. INTRODUCTION The West Mesa of the Mesilla Basin in south-central New Mexico encompasses an undeveloped area of approximately 750 square miles west of the Rio Grande (fig« !) The Dona Ana County Fairgrounds and Las Cruces Crawford Airport, both located on the West Mesa near Las Cruces, currently (1982) receive water via a 4-inch-diameter pipeline from the Las Cruces municipal wells in the Mesilla Valley. Planned development of the West Mesa near Las Cruces includes construction of an industrial park and a prison facility for the State of New Mexico. The city of Las Cruces hopes to provide additional ground-water supplies for these facilities from the aquifer in the Santa Fe Group underlying the West Mesa. El Paso, Texas, through ongoing litigation, and the Strauss Land and Cattle Co., through permit applications, are also attempting to acquire water rights on the West Mesa south of Las Cruces and the study area. In order to provide for orderly development of these supplies, information is needed about the capacity of the aquifer to transmit and store water, the long-term effects of pumping in the West Mesa area on the aquifer to the east and on the flow of the Rio Grande, and horizontal and vertical water-quality changes within the aquifer. The purpose of this study was to obtain geohydrologic information about the aquifer in the Santa Fe Group on the northern West Mesa near Las Cruces, New Mexico (fig. 1). The scope of the study was limited to collecting and summarizing existing data from published and unpublished sources and collecting new data from two test wells drilled by the city of Las Cruces. This information will aid in the planning of future studies to evaluate the hydrology of the aquifer in the West Mesa area and the effects of its development on the aquifer to the east and on flow in the Rio Grande. The data obtained in this study will contribute to the ongoing Southwest Alluvial Basins study that is part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Regional Aquifer Systems-Analysis Program (Wilkins, Scott, and Kaehler, 1980). This study was done in cooperation with Jthe New Mexico State Engineer Office and the city of Las Cruces. Description of the Study Area The West Mesa is that part of the Mesilla Basin bordered on the north by the Rough and Ready Hills and Robledo Mountain, on the east by the Mesilla Valley, on the south by the Mexican border, and on the west by the Potrillo Mountains, Aden Hills, and Sleeping Lady Hills (fig. 1). The surface of the West Mesa ranges from 300 feet to 350 feet above the Rio Grande. The climate in the West Mesa area is semiarid. The study area is characterized by minimal relative humidity and large diurnal and annual temperature ranges. The mean annual temperature for the area is 60 degrees Fahrenheit (Houghton, 1972, p. 3). Temperatures during the summer months will occasionally exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. During approximately 2 days in the winter, the temperature will be less than 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The average annual precipitation from 1853 to 1976 was 8.39 inches (Wilson and others, 1981, p. 7). The average annual evaporation from a free water surface of a Class A pan is 94 inches (Houghton, 1972). ERspTtont Butte Reservoir c. O