Geology topics
Publications and source records attributed to Dee L. Lurry.
Information on the flow of rivers and streams is a vital national asset that safeguards lives, protects property, and ensures adequate water supplies for the future. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) operates a network of more than 9,000 streamgages nationwide with more than 500 in Texas.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has monitored the water quality in the Rio Grande Basin as part of the redesigned National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) since 1995 (Hooper and others, 1997). The NASQAN program was designed to characterize the concentrations and transport of sediment and selected chemical constituents found in the Nation's large rivers-including the Mississippi, Colorado, and Columbia in addition to the Rio Grande. In these four basins, the USGS currently (1998) operates a network of 40 NASQAN sites, with an emphasis on quantifying the mass flux for each constituent (the amount of material moving past the site, expressed in tons per day). By applying a consistent flux-based approach in the Rio Grande Basin, the NASQAN program is generating the information needed to identify regional sources for a variety of constituents, including agricultural chemicals and trace elements, in the basin. The effect of the large reservoirs on the Rio Grande can be observed as constituent fluxes are routed downstream. The analysis of constituent fluxes on a basin-wide scale will provide the means to assess the influence of human activity on water-quality conditions in the Rio Grande.
La Oficina del Estudio Geologico de los Estados Unidos (U.S. Geological Survey, 0 USGS) ha monitoreado la calidad del agua de la cuenca del Rio Grande (Rio Bravo del Norte) desde 1995 como parte de la rediseiiada Red Nacional para Contabilizar la Calidad del Agua de los Rios (National Stream Quality Accounting Network, o NASOAN) (Hooper and others, 1997). EI programa NASOAN fue diseiiado para caracterizar las concentraciones y el transporte de sedimento y constituyentes quimicos seleccionados, encontrados en los grandes rios de los Estados Unidos - incluyendo el Misisipi, el Colorado y el Columbia, ademas del Rio Grande. En estas cuatro cuencas, el USGS opera actualmente (1998) una red de 40 puntos de muestreo pertenecientes a NASOAN, con un enfasis en cuantificar el flujo en masa (la cantidad de material que pasa por la estacion, expresado en toneladas por dial para cada constituyente. Aplicacando un enfoque consistente, basado en la cuantificacion de flujos en la cuenca del Rio Grande, el programa NASOAN esta generando la informacion necesaria para identificar fuentes regionales de diversos contaminantes, incluyendo sustancias qui micas agricolas y trazas elementos en la cuenca. EI efecto de las grandes reservas en el Rio Grande se puede observar segun los flujos de constituyentes discurren a 10 largo del rio. EI analisis de los flujos de constituyentes a escala de la cuenca proveera los medios para evaluar la influencia de la actividad humana sobre las condiciones de calidad del agua del Rio Grande.
Trends in nutrient concentration and load are computed for 40 stations on 24 streams in the Mississippi River Basin. The drainage area of the Mississippi Basin covers about 42 percent of the conterminous United States, and the Mississippi River discharges about 420 billion gallons per day of freshwater to the Gulf of Mexico. The period for which trends are analyzed varies for each station but generally comprises water years 1974–94. Stations included in this analysis are part of the National Stream Quality Accounting Network operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. LOWESS (LOcally WEighted Scatterplot Smoothing) smooth lines superimposed on graphs of flow-adjusted residuals of concentration versus time and load versus time indicate short-term trends for each station. Kendall-Theil robust lines superimposed on the same graphs indicate long-term trends. Long-term trends were evaluated using the slope of the Kendall-Theil robust line and Kendall’s tau. Annual loads are estimated with regression analysis and corrected for log-transformation bias with the MVUE (Minimum Variance Unbiased Estimator). Trends in annual streamflow are presented to aid in the interpretation of nutrient trends. Statistically significant long-term increases in flow-adjusted residual concentrations of total nitrogen were detected at 14 stations, decreases were detected at 6 stations, and no significant trends were detected at 20 stations. Statistically significant long-term increases in total nitrogen load were detected at 5 stations, decreases were detected at 4 stations, and no significant trends were detected at 31 stations. Statistically significant long-term increases in flow-adjusted residual concentrations of total phosphorus were detected at 2 stations, decreases were detected at 25 stations, and no significant trends were detected at 13 stations. Statistically significant long-term increases in total phosphorus load were detected at 1 station, decreases were detected at 13 stations, and no significant trends were detected at 26 stations. The mean annual yields were computed from the estimated mean annual loads. Mean annual nitrogen yields are largest for three watersheds in the upper Mississippi Basin; estimated yield of each is greater than 5.0 tons per square mile. Nine stations in the Ohio River Basin have estimated mean annual nitrogen yields greater than 2.0 tons per square mile. Estimated mean annual phosphorus yield is greater than 0.250 ton per square mile at 7 stations, 5 in the Ohio Basin and 2 in the upper Mississippi Basin. Statistically significant trends in annual streamflow were detected at seven stations. Annual streamflow influences trends in load, even when the streamflow trends are not statistically significant.
This report presents 1990 freshwater withdrawal estimates for Oklahoma by source and category. Withdrawal source is either ground water or surface water. Withdrawal categories include: irrigation, water supply, livestock, thermoelectric-power generation, domestic and commercial, and industrial and mining. Withdrawal data are aggregated by county, major aquifer, and principal river basin. Only the four major categories of irrigation, water supply, livestock, and thermoelectric-power generation are illustrated in this report, although data for all categories are tabulated. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established the National Water-Use Information Program in 1977 to collect uniform, current, and reliable information on water use. The Oklahoma District of the USGS and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board participate in a cooperative program to collect and publish water-use information for Oklahoma. Data contained in this report were made available through the cooperative program.
This report presents 1990 freshwater withdrawal estimates for Texas by source and category. Withdrawal source is either ground water or surface water. Withdrawal categories include: self-supplied irrigation, thermoelectric-power generation, water supply, industrial and mining, and other (domestic, commercial, livestock). Withdrawal data are aggregated by county, major aquifer, and principal river basin. Only the four major categories of irrigation, thermoelectric-power generation, water supply, and industrial and mining are illustrated in this report, although all data are tabulated.
The Edwards-Trinity aquifer system and contiguous hydraulically connected units (fig. 1) are being studied as a part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA) program. The aquifer system, which underlies about 40,000 mi 2 in west-central Texas, comprises mostly near-surface carbonate rocks, sand, and sandstone of Early Cretaceous age (Bush, 1986). Most groundwater withdrawals in this report are from the Edwards-Trinity aquifer system. However, two other sources contiguous and hydraulically connected to the Edwards-Trinity aquifer system yield appreciable water in the northwestern part of the study area. Withdrawals in Crane, Culberson, Loving, Ward, and Winkler Counties are from the Cenozoic alluvium. In Reeves County, approximately one-half of the withdrawals are from the Cenozoic alluvium and one-half are from the Edwards-Trinity system. Withdrawals in Andrews, Martin, northern Ector, and northern Midland Counties are from the High Plains aquifer. Other contiguous hydraulically connected minor aquifers are the source of withdrawals in counties along the northern boundary of the study area. No known potable water exists in the contiguous hydraulically connected units along the southeastern boundary of the system. This report documents the categories, rates, and distribution of withdrawals from the Edwards-Trinity aquifer system and contiguous hydraulically connected units during December 1974 through March 1977. The report includes withdrawal information from all or parts of the 50 counties in the study area. In those regions where only part of a county is within the study area, the percentage of the total county area was used to calculate the estimates of livestock and domestic withdrawals. The authors wish to thank the Texas Water Development Board for providing withdrawal information for this report.
Since 1950, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has estimated water use in the United States at 5-year intervals. Resulting reports tabulate water use by State and by water-resources region (major river basins) for a number of categories, such as irrigation, water supply, and industrial. In 1977, the USGS began the National Water-Use Information Program, designed to be a National source of accurate, consistent water-use data. The water-use project in Texas is part of the National Water-Use Information Program. The Texas District of the USGS compiles water-use information by county and by hydrologic unit using data collected by States agencies. A hydrologic unit is a geographic area representing part or all of a surface drainage basin, a combination of drainage basins, or a distinct hydrologic feature.
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The U.S. Geological Survey was requested by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, to provide water-quality data to evaluate environmental effects of dredging activities in selected reaches of the Calcasieu River in southwestern Louisiana. Samples were collected from the upper and lower Calcasieu River between January 1980 and March 1981. Thirty-three samples (22 native-water and 11 effluent) were collected from eleven dredging sites. In addition, a series of elutriate studies were conducted between July 1979 and July 1981 to determine water quality as a basis for assessing possible environmental effects of proposed dredging activities in the following areas: Grand Bayou and Martins Canal near Happy Jack, unnamed bayou near Port Sulphur, Grand Bayou and Pipeline Canal near Port Sulphur and Bayou des Plantins near Empire; Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and Inner Harbor Navigation Canal; Southwest Pass; Barataria Bay; Atchafalaya Bay at Eugene Island; Calcasieu Ship Channel. Samples of native water and samples of bottom material were collected from 22 different sites and elutriate (mixtures of native water and bottom material) samples were prepared and analyzed. Four proposed ocean-disposal sites were sampled for bottom material only. Samples were analyzed for selected chemical and biological constituents and physical properties. (USGS)