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Michael D. Woodside

Publications and source records attributed to Michael D. Woodside.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2019

Water priorities for the nation—The U.S. Geological Survey next generation water observing system

The challenges of providing safe and sustainable water supplies for human and ecological uses and protecting lives and property during water emergencies are well recognized. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) plays an essential role in meeting these challenges through its observational networks and renowned water science and research activities (National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018). Substantial advances in water science, together with emerging breakthroughs in technical and computational capabilities, have led the USGS to develop a Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS) . The NGWOS will provide real-time data on water quantity and quality in more affordable and rapid ways than previously possible, and in more locations. The data will be served through a modernized USGS National Water Information System that will be coupled to advanced modeling tools to inform daily water operations, decision-making during water emergencies (like floods, droughts, and contaminant spills), assessments of past trends in water quantity and quality, and forecasts of future water availability.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2019

Monitoring the pulse of our Nation's rivers and streams—The U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging network

In the late 1800s, John Wesley Powell, second Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), proposed gaging the flow of rivers and streams in the Western United States to evaluate the potential for irrigation. Around the same time, several cities in the Eastern United States established primitive streamgages to help design water-supply systems. Streamgaging technology has greatly advanced since the 1800s, and USGS hydrographers have made at least one streamflow measurement at more than 37,000 sites throughout the years. Today, the USGS Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program supports the collection and (or) delivery of both streamflow and water-level information for more than 8,500 sites (continuous or partial record) and water-level information alone for more than 1,700 additional sites. The data are served online—most in near realtime—to meet many diverse needs; more than 640 million requests for streamflow information were fulfilled during the 2017 water year (October 1, 2016‒September 30, 2017).

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2016

Coal-tar-based pavement sealcoat—Potential concerns for human health and aquatic life

Introduction Sealcoat is the black, viscous liquid sprayed or painted on many asphalt parking lots, driveways, and playgrounds to protect and enhance the appearance of the underlying asphalt. Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), academic institutions, and State and local agencies have identified coal-tar-based pavement sealcoat as a major source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination in urban and suburban areas and a potential concern for human health and aquatic life. Key Findings: Human Health Concerns —As coal-tar-based sealcoat ages, it wears into small particles with high levels of PAHs that can be tracked into homes and incorporated into house dust. For people who live adjacent to coal-tar-sealcoated pavement, ingestion of PAH-contaminated house dust and soil results in an elevated potential cancer risk, particularly for young children. Exposure to PAHs, especially early in childhood, has been linked by health professionals to an increased risk of lung, skin, bladder, and respiratory cancers. Aquatic Life Concerns —Runoff from coal-tar-sealcoated pavement, even runoff collected more than 3 months after sealcoat application, is acutely toxic to fathead minnows and water fleas, two species commonly used to assess toxicity to aquatic life. Exposure to even highly diluted runoff from coal-tar-sealcoated pavement can cause DNA damage and impair DNA repair. These findings demonstrate that coal-tar-sealcoat runoff can remain a risk to aquatic life for months after application.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2013

The quality of our Nation’s waters--Ecological health in the Nation's streams, 1993-2005

This report summarizes a national assessment of the ecological health of streams done by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA). Healthy functioning stream ecosystems provide society with many benefits, including water purification, flood control, nutrient recycling, waste decomposition, fisheries, and aesthetics. The value to society of many of these benefits is substantial; for example, sportfishing in the United States generates an estimated annual economic output of $125 billion, including more than 1 million jobs (National Research Council, 2005; American Sportfishing Association, 2008). Continued monitoring and assessment of the Nation’s streams is needed to support informed decisions that will safeguard this important natural and economic resource. The quality of streams and rivers is often assessed with measures of the chemical or physical properties of water. However, a more comprehensive perspective is obtained if resident biological communities are also assessed. Guidelines to protect human health and aquatic life have been established for specific physical and chemical properties of water and have become useful yardsticks with which to assess water quality. Biological communities provide additional crucial information because they live within streams for weeks to years and therefore integrate through time the effects of changes to their chemical or physical environment. In addition, biological communities are a direct measure of stream health—an indicator of the ability of a stream to support aquatic life. Thus, the condition of biological communities, integrated with key physical and chemical properties, provides a comprehensive assessment of stream health.

conterminous United States↗
USGS2013

Tracking and forecasting the Nation’s water quality - Priorities and strategies for 2013-2023

Water-quality issues facing the Nation are growing in number and complexity, and solutions are becoming more challenging and costly. Key factors that affect the quality of our drinking water supplies and ecosystem health include contaminants of human and natural origin in streams and groundwater; excess nutrients and sediment; alteration of natural streamflow; eutrophication of lakes, reservoirs, and coastal estuaries; and changes in surface and groundwater quality associated with changes in climate, land and water use, and management practices. Tracking and forecasting the Nation's water quality in the face of these and other pressing water-quality issues are important goals for 2013-2023, the third decade of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. In consultation with stakeholders and the National Research Council, a new strategic Science Plan has been developed that describes a strategy for building upon and enhancing assessment of the Nation's freshwater quality and aquatic ecosystems. The plan continues strategies that have been central to the NAWQA program's long-term success, but it also makes adjustments to the monitoring and modeling approaches NAWQA will use to address critical data and science information needs identified by stakeholders. This fact sheet describes surface-water and groundwater monitoring and modeling activities that will start in fiscal year 2013. It also provides examples of the types of data and information products planned for the next decade, including (1) restored monitoring for reliable and timely status and trend assessments, (2) maps and models that show the distribution of selected contaminants (such as atrazine, nitrate, and arsenic) in streams and aquifers, and (3) Web-based modeling tools that allow managers to evaluate how water quality may change in response to different scenarios of population growth, climate change, or land-use management.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2013

Ecological health in the Nation's streams

Aquatic biological communities, which are collections of organisms, are a direct measure of stream health because they indicate the ability of a stream to support life. This fact sheet highlights selected findings of a national assessment of stream health by the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The assessment was unique in that it integrated the condition of three biological communities—algae, macroinvertebrates, and fish—as well as measures of streamflow modification, pesticides, nutrients, and other factors. At least one biological community was altered at 83 percent of assessed streams, and the occurrence of altered communities was highest in urban streams. Streamflows were modified at 86 percent of assessed streams, and increasing severity of streamflow modification was associated with increased occurrence of altered biological communities. Agricultural and urban land use in watersheds may contribute pesticides and nutrients to stream waters, and increasing concentrations of these chemicals were associated with increased occurrence of altered biological communities.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2012

Effects of urban development on stream ecosystems in nine metropolitan study areas across the United States

Urban development is an important agent of environmental change in the United States. The urban footprint on the American landscape has expanded during a century and a half of almost continuous development. Eighty percent of Americans now live in metropolitan areas, and the advantages and challenges of living in these developed areas—convenience, congestion, employment, pollution—are part of the day-to-day realities of most Americans. Nowhere are the environmental changes associated with urban development more evident than in urban streams. Contaminants, habitat destruction, and increasing streamflow flashiness resulting from urban development have been associated with the disruption of biological communities, particularly the loss of sensitive aquatic species. Every stream is connected downstream to larger water bodies, including rivers, reservoirs, and ultimately coastal waters. Inputs of chemical contaminants or sediments at any point along the stream can cause degradation downstream with adverse effects on biological communities and on economically valuable resources, such as fisheries and tourism. In response to general concerns about the degradation of urban streams, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a national-scale, scientific investigation of the effects of urban development on stream ecosystems. Nine metropolitan study areas of the United States were selected—Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; Dallas, Texas; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The studies were conducted in Salt Lake City, Birmingham, and Boston in 1999–2000; in Atlanta, Raleigh, and Denver in 2002–2003; and in Portland, Dallas, and Milwaukee in 2003–2004. The comprehensive investigation of all nine studies focused on three broad questions of interest to decision makers: What are the primary effects of urban development on stream ecosystems? How do the effects of urban development on stream ecosystems vary regionally across the country? Which urban-related stressors are most closely linked to biological community degradation, and how can multiple stressors be managed to protect stream health as a watershed becomes increasingly urbanized?

Alabama;Colorado;Georgia;Massachusetts;North Carol↗
USGS2012

Urban development results in stressors that degrade stream ecosystems

In 2003, eighty-three percent of Americans lived in metropolitan areas, and considerable population increases are predicted within the next 50 years. Nowhere are the environmental changes associated with urban development more evident than in urban streams. Contaminants, habitat destruction, and increasing streamflow flashiness resulting from urban development have been associated with the disruption of biological communities, particularly the loss of sensitive aquatic biota. Every stream is connected downstream to other water bodies, and inputs of contaminants and (or) sediments to streams can cause degradation downstream with adverse effects on biological communities and on economically valuable resources, such as fisheries and tourism. Understanding how algal, invertebrate, and fish communities respond to physical and chemical stressors associated with urban development can provide important clues on how multiple stressors may be managed to protect stream health as a watershed becomes increasingly urbanized. This fact sheet highlights selected findings of a comprehensive assessment by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of the effects of urban development on stream ecosystems in nine metropolitan study areas.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2009

SPARROW MODELING - Enhancing Understanding of the Nation's Water Quality

The information provided here is intended to assist water-resources managers with interpretation of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) SPARROW model and its products. SPARROW models can be used to explain spatial patterns in monitored stream-water quality in relation to human activities and natural processes as defined by detailed geospatial information. Previous SPARROW applications have identified the sources and transport of nutrients in the Mississippi River basin, Chesapeake Bay watershed, and other major drainages of the United States. New SPARROW models with improved accuracy and interpretability are now being developed by the USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program for six major regions of the conterminous United States. These new SPARROW models are based on updated geospatial data and stream-monitoring records from local, State, and other federal agencies.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2004

Water quality in the lower Tennessee River Basin, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Georgia, 1999-2001

This report contains the major findings of a 1999?2001 assessment of water quality in the Lower Tennessee River Basin. It is one of a series of reports by the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program that present major findings in 51 major river basins and aquifer systems across the Nation. In these reports, water quality is discussed in terms of local, State, and regional issues. Conditions in a particular basin or aquifer system are compared to conditions found elsewhere and to selected national benchmarks, such as those for drinking-water quality and the protection of aquatic organisms. This report is intended for individuals working with water-resource issues in Federal, State, or local agencies, universities, public interest groups, or in the private sector. The information will be useful in addressing a number of current issues, such as the effects of agricultural and urban land use on water quality, human health, drinking water, source-water protection, hypoxia and excessive growth of algae and plants, pesticide registration, and monitoring and sampling strategies. This report is also for individuals who wish to know more about the quality of streams and ground water in areas where they live, and how that water quality compares to the quality of water in other areas across the Nation. The water-quality conditions in the Lower Tennessee River Basin summarized in this report are discussed in detail in other reports that can be accessed from the Lower Tennessee River Basin Web site (http://tn.water.usgs.gov/lten/lten.html). Detailed technical information, data and analyses, collection and analytical methodology, models, graphs, and maps that support the findings presented in this report in addition to reports in this series from other basins can be accessed from the national NAWQA Web site (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa).

Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee↗
USGS2001

Pesticides in streams in the Tar-Pamlico drainage basin, North Carolina, 1992–94

From 1992 to 1994, 147 water samples were collected at 5 sites in the Tar-Pamlico drainage basin in North Carolina and analyzed for 46 herbicides, insecticides, and pesticide metabolites as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Based on a common adjusted detection limit of 0.01 microgram per liter, the most frequently detected herbicides were metolachlor (84 percent), atrazine (78 percent), alachlor (72 percent), and prometon (57 percent). The insecticides detected most frequently were carbaryl (12 percent), carbofuran (7 percent), and diazinon (4 percent). Although the pesticides with the highest estimated uses generally were the compounds detected most frequently, there was not a strong correlation between estimated use and detection frequency. The development of statistical correlations between pesticide use and detection frequency was limited by the lack of information on pesticides commonly applied in urban and agricultural areas, such as prometon, chlorpyrifos, and diazinon, and the small number of basins included in this study. For example, prometon had the fourth highest detection frequency, but use information was not available. Nevertheless, the high detection frequency of prometon indicates that nonagricultural uses also contribute to pesticide levels in streams in the Tar-Pamlico drainage basin. Concentrations of the herbicides atrazine, alachlor, and trifluralin varied seasonally, with elevated concentrations generally occurring in the spring, during and immediately following application periods, and in the summer. Seasonal concentration patterns were less evident for prometon, diazinon, and chlorpyrifos. Alachlor is the only pesticide detected in concentrations that exceeded current (2000) drinking-water standards.

North Carolina↗
USGS1998

Water quality in the Albemarle-Pamlico drainage basin, North Carolina and Virginia, 1992-95

The NAWQA Program is assessing the water-quality conditions of more than 50 of the Nation's largest river basins and aquifers, known as Study Units. Collectively, these Study Units cover about one-half of the United States and include sources of drinking water used by about 70 percent of the U.S. population. Comprehensive assessments of about one-third of the Study Units are ongoing at a given time. Each Study Unit is scheduled to be revisited every decade to evaluate changes in water-quality conditions. NAWQA assessments rely heavily on existing information collected by the USGS and many other agencies as well as the use of nationally consistent study designs and methods of sampling and analysis. Such consistency simultaneously provides information about the status and trends in water-quality conditions in a particular stream or aquifer and, more importantly, provides the basis to make comparisons among watersheds and improve our understanding of the factors that affect water-quality conditions regionally and nationally. This report is intended to summarize major findings that emerged between 1992 and 1995 from the water-quality assessment of the Albemarle-Pamlico Drainage Study Unit and to relate these findings to water-quality issues of regional and national concern. The information is primarily intended for those who are involved in water-resource management. Indeed, this report addresses many of the concerns raised by regulators, water-utility managers, industry representatives, and other scientists, engineers, public officials, and members of stakeholder groups who provided advice and input to the USGS during this NAWQA Study-Unit investigation. Yet, the information contained here may also interest those who simply wish to know more about the quality of water in the rivers and aquifers in the area where they live.

North Carolina, Virginia↗
USGS1998

Natural processes for managing nitrate in ground water discharged to Chesapeake Bay and other surface waters: More than forest buffers

Ground-water discharge is a significant source of nitrate load to tidal creeks, coastal estuaries, and Chesapeake Bay. Different studies have found that forest buffers greater than 200 feet wide remove most of the nitrate from passing ground water. These buffers are commonly included in regional nutrient-management strategies. Results of a U.S. Geological Survey study on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, however, indicate that the presence of forest buffers alone may not significantly decrease nitrate load in ground-water discharge. The effectiveness of forest buffers largely depends on the composition of local soils and ground-water flow paths. Study results also indicate that large amounts of nitrate are removed from ground water by the natural process of denitrification, which may occur independently of the presence or absence of forest buffers. The results of this study indicate that in addition to the presence of forest buffers, a range of other natural factors, such as soil texture and organic matter content and ground-water flow paths, affect the fate of nitrate in ground water. These factors are important to include along with forest buffers in developing comprehensive nutrient-management strategies.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1994

Land use in, and water quality of, the Pea Hill Arm of Lake Gaston, Virginia and North Carolina, 1988-90

The City of Virginia Beach currently (1994) supplies water to about 400,000 people in southeastern Virginia. The city plans to withdraw water from the Pea Hill Arm of Lake Gaston to meet projected water needs of the population to the year 2030. The purpose of this report is to (1) describe the temporal and spatial distribution of selected water-quality constituents, (2) document current (1989) land use and land cover in the Pea Hill Arm drainage basin, and (3) discuss relations, if any, between the quality of water in the inlets within the Pea Hill Arm and land uses. The report focuses on water-quality problems in the basin, including changes in concentrations of major ions, nutrients, and algae associated with urban development adjacent to water bodies. The Pea Hill Arm was classified as mesotrophic on the basis of the range of concentrations of total phosphorus (0.001 to 0.61 milligrams per liter); the range of concentrations of total organic-plus-ammonia nitrogen (0.2 to 1.4 milligrams per liter); and the range of concentrations of chlorophyll a (1.4 to 56 micrograms per liter). These water-quality data were collected at 3 feet below the water surface during water years 1989-90. Thermal stratification in Pea Hill Arm generally began in April and ended in September. Water below a depth of about 25 feet generally became anoxic by June. Destratification generally began in late September and was completed by November. Lake Gaston followed the same general stratification and destratification pattern as Pea Hill Arm, except Lake Gaston was partially destratified during the summer when large amounts of water were released from John H. Kerr Reservoir and Lake Gaston Dams. During water year 1988, streamflows were 33 percent below the long-term mean-annual streamflows at one of the major streams to Lake Gaston. Low streamflows contributed to elevated specific conductances and concentrations of sodium, calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity from October 1988 to February 1989 at sampling stations in the Pea Hill Arm and Lake Gaston. About 75 percent of the land use in the Pea Hill Arm is forest land. The remaining 25 percent of the Pea Hill Arm drainage basin is 8 percent pasture/open land, 8 percent open water, 6 percent residential land, and 3 percent cropland. No statistical relations are present between water-quality constituents measured and developed land uses within 11 basins in the Pea Hill Arm Basin, except during periods of stormwater runoff. During a stormwater-runoff event, there was a relation between total nitrite plus nitrate and land use (Kendall's tau correlation coefficient of 0.69). The relation between the developed land use and total nitrite plus nitrate can also be related to the increased ground-water inputs during high base-flow periods. Spatial differences in water-quality constituents as determined by Wilcoxon (matched-pairs) signed-rank tests and cluster analyses were longitudinal and primarily grouped into riverine, transition, and lacustrine zones. These zones were grouped on the basis of flow characteristics and nutrient concentrations.

North Carolina, Virginia↗