Search USGS⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search USGS

Results for “Administrative Report.”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
USGS2026

Agency approach to allocation of human capital and program composition for human-marine mammal interaction management in the United States

Introduction: Marine mammals have served important and diverse roles throughout human history. Once exploited to near extinction, many species in the United States (U.S.) have recovered dramatically under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has jurisdiction to administer the MMPA for cetaceans and most pinnipeds. While most take is now prohibited, NMFS still dedicates significant time and resources to protecting and conserving marine mammals. As human populations continue to grow and exploit marine environments, opportunities for human-marine mammal interactions (HMMI) have increased. Resources may fail to keep up with growing needs for conservation investments, so that many agencies struggle to adequately meet social and legal requirements. Methods: This study evaluated NMFS’ approach to addressing HMMI through a mixed-methods (semi-structured interviews, quantitative questionnaire, and facilitated workshops) expert elicitation analysis of resource allocation (i.e., staff time) and priorities of NMFS Science Center (SC) and Regional Office (RO) staff across five geographic regions to understand how employee time is allocated, the degree to which employee time allocation is aligned with self-reported job descriptions, and employee perceptions of actions or investments which would improve their ability to mitigate HMMI. Results and Discussion: SC staff reported spending more time on Biological and Administrative tasks , while RO staff allocated more time to Policy, Social science , and Outreach tasks . SC employees spent less time on Biological tasks than specified by their perceived job descriptions, suggesting resource constraints. Participants identified Biological research and monitoring as top priorities, followed by Policy tasks . Identified actions included increasing research capacity, enhancing enforcement, expanding social science expertise, and improving outreach programs. The study reveals mismatches between mandated activities and available resources, suggesting strategic reallocation or increased funding may benefit the agency in effectively addressing growing HMMI challenges.

Frontiers in Marine Science↗
USGS1974

Water resources of the Milford area, Utah, with emphasis on ground water

The investigation of the water resources of the Milford area was made as part of a cooperative program with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights, to investigate the water resources of the State. The primary purpose of this report is to provide basic hydrologic information needed for the effective administration and adjudication of water rights in the valley.

Utah↗
USGS1982

Hydrology of the Beryl-Enterprise area, Escalante Desert, Utah, with emphasis on ground water; With a section on surface water

An investigation of the water resources of the Beryl-Enterprise area, Escalante Desert, Utah (pl. 1), was made during 1976-78 as part of a cooperative program with the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights. Wells were the most important source of water for all purposes in the Beryl-Enterprise area during 1978, but it has not always been so. For nearly a century after the first settlers arrived in about 1860, streams supplied most of the irrigation water and springs supplied much of the water for domestic and stock use. A few shallow wells were dug by the early settlers for domestic and stock water, but the widespread use of ground water did not start until the 1920's when shallow wells were first dug to supply irrigation water. Ground-water withdrawals from wells, principally for irrigation, have increased nearly every year since the 1920's. The quantity withdrawn from wells surpassed that diverted from surface sources during the mid-1940's and was about eight times that amount during the 1970's. As a result, water levels have declined measurably throughout the area resulting in administrative water-rights problems. The primary purpose of this report is to describe the water resources with emphasis on ground water. The surface-water resources are evaluated only as they pertain to the understanding of the ground-water resources. A secondary purpose is to discuss the extent and effects of the development of ground water in order to provide the hydrologic information needed for the orderly and optimum development of the resource and for the effective administration and adjudication of water rights in the area. The hydrologic data on which this report is based are given in a companion report by Mower (1981).

Utah↗
USGS2017

Hydrologic Derivatives for Modeling and Analysis—A new global high-resolution database

The U.S. Geological Survey has developed a new global high-resolution hydrologic derivative database. Loosely modeled on the HYDRO1k database, this new database, entitled Hydrologic Derivatives for Modeling and Analysis, provides comprehensive and consistent global coverage of topographically derived raster layers (digital elevation model data, flow direction, flow accumulation, slope, and compound topographic index) and vector layers (streams and catchment boundaries). The coverage of the data is global, and the underlying digital elevation model is a hybrid of three datasets: HydroSHEDS (Hydrological data and maps based on SHuttle Elevation Derivatives at multiple Scales), GMTED2010 (Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010), and the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission). For most of the globe south of 60°N., the raster resolution of the data is 3 arc-seconds, corresponding to the resolution of the SRTM. For the areas north of 60°N., the resolution is 7.5 arc-seconds (the highest resolution of the GMTED2010 dataset) except for Greenland, where the resolution is 30 arc-seconds. The streams and catchments are attributed with Pfafstetter codes, based on a hierarchical numbering system, that carry important topological information. This database is appropriate for use in continental-scale modeling efforts. The work described in this report was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center.

Data Series↗
USGS2006

Extracting shorelines from NASA airborne topographic lidar-derived digital elevation models

This report documents part of the National Park Service (NPS)/U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Aerial Data Collection and Creation of Products for Park Vital Signs Project. This report is one in a series that describes methods for extracting topographic features from aerial survey data as part of a joint project among the NPS Inventory and Monitoring (IM) Program, the NASA Observational Sciences Branch, and the USGS Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies (CCWS).

Open-File Report↗
USGS2010

A method for quantitative mapping of thick oil spills using imaging spectroscopy

In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a method of near-infrared imaging spectroscopic analysis was developed to map the locations of thick oil floating on water. Specifically, this method can be used to derive, in each image pixel, the oil-to-water ratio in oil emulsions, the sub-pixel areal fraction, and its thicknesses and volume within the limits of light penetration into the oil (up to a few millimeters). The method uses the shape of near-infrared (NIR) absorption features and the variations in the spectral continuum due to organic compounds found in oil to identify different oil chemistries, including its weathering state and thickness. The method is insensitive to complicating conditions such as moderate aerosol scattering and reflectance level changes from other conditions, including moderate sun glint. Data for this analysis were collected by the NASA Airborne Visual Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) instrument, which was flown over the oil spill on May 17, 2010. Because of the large extent of the spill, AVIRIS flight lines could cover only a portion of the spill on this relatively calm, nearly cloud-free day. Derived lower limits for oil volumes within the top few millimeters of the ocean surface directly probed with the near-infrared light detected in the AVIRIS scenes were 19,000 (conservative assumptions) to 34,000 (aggressive assumptions) barrels of oil. AVIRIS covered about 30 percent of the core spill area, which consisted of emulsion plumes and oil sheens. Areas of oil sheen but lacking oil emulsion plumes outside of the core spill were not evaluated for oil volume in this study. If the core spill areas not covered by flight lines contained similar amounts of oil and oil-water emulsions, then extrapolation to the entire core spill area defined by a MODIS (Terra) image collected on the same day indicates a minimum of 66,000 to 120,000 barrels of oil was floating on the surface. These estimates are preliminary and subject to revision pending further analysis. Based on laboratory measurements, near-infrared (NIR) photons penetrate only a few millimeters into oil-water emulsions. As such, the oil volumes derived with this method are lower limits. Further, the detection is only of thick surface oil and does not include sheens, underwater oil, or oil that had already washed onto beaches and wetlands, oil that had been burned or evaporated as of May 17. Because NIR light penetration within emulsions is limited, and having made field observations that oil emulsions sometimes exceeded 20 millimeters in thickness, we estimate that the volume of oil, including oil thicker than can be probed in the AVIRIS imagery, is possibly as high as 150,000 barrels in the AVIRIS scenes. When this value is projected to the entire spill, it gives a volume of about 500,000 barrels for thick oil remaining on the sea surface as of May 17. AVIRIS data cannot be used to confirm this higher volume, and additional field work including more in-situ measurements of oil thickness would be required to confirm this higher oil volume. Both the directly detected minimum range of oil volume, and the higher possible volume projection for oil thicker than can be probed with NIR spectroscopy imply a significantly higher total volume of oil relative to that implied by the early NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) estimate of 5,000 barrels per day reported on their Web site.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1975

Author index to published ERTS-1 reports

This index has been compiled to assist the reader in locating and obtaining reports on the 334 scientific experiments conducted under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Resources Technology Satellite-1 (ERTS-1) (renamed Landsat) program. Each NASA-designated experimenter was required to submit written reports on his investigation: these were designated type 1, type 2, and type 3 reports. Type 1 reports were periodic (monthly or bimonthly) progress summaries; type 2 were comprehensive scientific and technical reports; and type 3 were final report. Investigators were also encourage to present their more significant findings in professional or technical journals and proceedings of symposia.

Report↗
USGS2011

Usage and administration manual for a geodatabase compendium of water-resources data: Rio Grande Basin from the Rio Arriba-Sandoval County line, New Mexico, to Presidio, Texas, 1889-2009

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, developed a geodatabase compendium (hereinafter referred to as the 'geodatabase') of available water-resources data for the reach of the Rio Grande from Rio Arriba-Sandoval County line, New Mexico, to Presidio, Texas. Since 1889, a wealth of water-resources data has been collected in the Rio Grande Basin from Rio Arriba-Sandoval County line, New Mexico, to Presidio, Texas, for a variety of purposes. Collecting agencies, researchers, and organizations have included the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Reclamation, International Boundary and Water Commission, State agencies, irrigation districts, municipal water utilities, universities, and other entities. About 1,750 data records were recently (2010) evaluated to enhance their usability by compiling them into a single geospatial relational database (geodatabase). This report is intended as a user's manual and administration guide for the geodatabase. All data available, including water quality, water level, and discharge data (both instantaneous and daily) from January 1, 1889, through December 17, 2009, were compiled for the study area. A flexible and efficient geodatabase design was used, enhancing the ability of the geodatabase to handle data from diverse sources and helping to ensure sustainability of the geodatabase with long-term maintenance. Geodatabase tables include daily data values, site locations and information, sample event information, and parameters, as well as data sources and collecting agencies. The end products of this effort are a comprehensive water-resources geodatabase that enables the visualization of primary sampling sites for surface discharges, groundwater elevations, and water-quality and associated data for the study area. In addition, repeatable data processing scripts, Structured Query Language queries for loading prepared data sources, and a detailed process for refreshing all data in the compendium have been developed. The geodatabase functionality allows users to explore spatial characteristics of the data, conduct spatial analyses, and pose questions to the geodatabase in the form of queries. Users can also customize and extend the geodatabase, combine it with other databases, or use the geodatabase design for other water-resources applications.

New Mexico, Texas↗
USGS2018

Social attraction used to establish Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia) nesting colonies on modified islands at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, California—Final report

To address the 2008/2010 and Supplemental 2014 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Biological Opinion for operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) developed and began implementation of Caspian tern ( Hydroprogne caspia ) management plans. This implementation includes redistribution of the Caspian terns in the Columbia River estuary and the mid-Columbia River region to reduce predation on salmonids listed under the Endangered Species Act. Key elements of the plans are (1) reduction of nesting habitat for Caspian terns in the Columbia River estuary and the mid-Columbia River region, and (2) creation or modification of nesting habitat at alternative sites within the Caspian tern breeding range. As part of this effort, USACE and Reclamation developed Caspian tern nesting habitat at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (DENWR), California, prior to the 2015 nesting season. Furthermore, nesting habitat for western snowy plovers ( Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus ) also was developed to provide separate nesting opportunities in the same managed ponds to reduce potential conflicts with Caspian terns. Specifically, seven recently constructed islands within two managed ponds (Ponds A16 and SF2) of DENWR were modified to provide habitat attractive to nesting Caspian terns (5 islands) and snowy plovers (2 islands). These 7 islands were a subset of 46 islands recently constructed in Ponds A16 and SF2 to provide waterbird nesting habitat as part of the South Bay Salt Pond (SBSP) Restoration Project. We used social attraction methods (decoys and electronic call systems) to attract Caspian terns and snowy plovers to these seven modified islands, and conducted surveys from March to September of 2015, 2016, and 2017 to evaluate nest numbers, nest density, and productivity. Results from the 2015 nesting season, the first year of the study, indicated that island modifications and social attraction measures were successful in establishing Caspian tern breeding colonies at Ponds A16 and SF2 of DENWR. Prior to 2015, there was no history of Caspian terns nesting in either Pond A16 or Pond SF2. The success of 2015 continued in 2016 and 2017. In 2017, the third and final year of the project, Caspian terns initiated at least 664 nests, fledged at least 239 chicks, and had a breeding success rate of 0.36 fledged chicks per breeding pair. This represents a 171 percent increase in the number of breeding pairs and a 41 percent increase in the number of chicks fledged, but a 48 percent decrease in the fledglings produced per breeding pair in 2017 compared to 2015, the first year the colonies were established. The two new large and growing Caspian tern nesting colonies at Ponds A16 and SF2 demonstrate the effectiveness of social attraction measures in helping to establish tern nesting colonies in San Francisco Bay. Social attraction measures similar to those used in this study, but targeting other colonial species such as Forster’s terns ( Sterna forsteri ) and American avocets ( Recurvirostra americana ), may help to establish waterbird breeding colonies at wetlands enhanced as part of the SBSP Restoration Project.

California↗
USGS2000

Stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios for selected sites of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network (AIRMoN)

Increasingly, hydrologic studies require information on the isotopic composition of natural waters. This report presents stable hydrogen (δ 2 H) and oxygen isotope ratios (δ 18 0) of precipitation samples from seven selected sites of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network (AIRMoN) collected during the years 1992-1994.

Delaware;Illinois;New York;Ohio;Pennsylvania;Tenne↗
USGS1974

Developing a state water plan: Ground-water conditions in Utah, spring of 1974

This report is the eleventh in a series of annual reports that describe ground-water conditions in Utah. Reports in this series, prepared cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Division of Water Resources, provide data to enable interested parties such as legislators, administrators, and planners to keep abreast of changing ground-water conditions. This report, like the others (see references, p. 18), contains information on well construction, ground-water withdrawals, water-level changes, and related changes in precipitation and streamflow. Supplementary data such as graphs showing chemical quality of water and maps showing water-table configuration are included in reports of this series only for those years or areas for which applicable data are available and are important to a discussion of changing ground-water conditions. The report includes individual discussions of the most important areas of ground-water withdrawal in the State for the calendar year 1973. Water-level fluctuations, however, are described for the period spring 1973 to spring 1974. Many of the data used in the report were collected by the Geological Survey in cooperation with the Division of Water Rights, Utah Department of Natural Resources.

Utah↗
USGS1975

Developing a state water plan: Ground-water conditions in Utah, spring of 1975

This report is the twelfth in a series of annual reports that describe ground-water conditions in Utah. Reports in this series, prepared cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Division of Water Resources, provide data to enable interested parties such as legislators, administrators, and planners to keep abreast of changing ground-water conditions. This report, like the others (see references, p. 16), contains information on well construction, ground-water withdrawals, water-level changes, and related changes in precipitation and streamflow. Supplementary data such as graphs showing chemical quality of water and maps showing water-table configuration are included in reports of this series only for those years or areas for which applicable data are available and are important to a discussion of changing ground-water conditions. The report includes individual discussions of the most important areas of ground-water withdrawal in the State for the calendar year 1974. Water-level fluctuations, however, are described for the period spring 1974 to spring 1975. Many of the data used in the report were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Division of Water Rights, Utah Department of Natural Resources.

Utah↗
USGS2023

The effects of estradiol-17β on the sex reversal, survival, and growth of green sunfish Lepomis cyanellus

The feminization of green sunfish Lepomis cyanellus could expand their utility as a game fish or aquacultured species by preventing overcrowding and precocious reproduction in stocked systems. Feminization of green sunfish could also help elucidate information on their sex determination system. We report the feminization of green sunfish cohorts via oral administration of estradiol-17β (E2) during early development. A low-dose (100 E2 mg per kg of diet) and a high-dose (150 E2 mg per kg of diet) experimental E2 treatment were fed to juvenile green sunfish from 30 to 90 days post-hatch. Fish were subsequently evaluated for any treatment effect on gonadal development, survival, and growth. Both E2 treatments resulted in 100% feminization, with no morphological or histological differences detected between E2 treated ovaries and those from a control group. The control group was composed mostly of males (82.61%). Overall, there was no effect of E2 on survival ( P = 0.310) and growth rate data suggested no statistical differences ( P = 0.0805). However, the growth rate of the high-dose group increased slightly higher after the treatment ended than the other treatments ( P = 0.042), suggesting that E2 might suppress growth in green sunfish. In addition, the control group did not exhibit a higher survival rate after the treatment period ended ( P = 0.266), whereas both E2 treated groups did ( P = 0.0003–0.0050). We found that the low dose, 100 E2 mg per kg of diet, was sufficient for fully feminizing green sunfish if administered during development from 30 to 90 days post-hatch and E2 dosages may result in deleterious effects on green sunfish's health and growth.

Aquaculture↗
USGS2011

Investigation of pier scour in coarse-bed streams in Montana, 2001 through 2007

A primary goal of ongoing field research of bridge scour is improvement of scour-prediction equations so that pier-scour depth is predicted accurately-an important element of hydraulic analysis and design of highway bridges that cross streams, rivers, and other waterways. Scour depth for piers in streambeds with a mixture of sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders (coarse-bed streams, which are common in Montana) generally is less than the scour depth in finer-grained (sandy) streambeds under similar conditions. That difference is attributed to an armor layer of coarser material. Pier-scour data from the U.S. Geological Survey were used in this study to develop a bed-material correction factor, which was incorporated into the Federal Highway Administration's recommended equation for computing pier scour. This report describes results of a study of pier scour in coarse-bed streams at 59 bridge sites during 2001-2007 in the mountain and foothill regions of western Montana. Respective drainage areas ranged from about 3 square miles (mi 2 ) to almost 20,000 mi 2 . Data collected and analyzed for this study included 103 pier-scour measurements; the report further describes data collection, shows expansion of the national coarse pier-scour database, discusses use of the new data in evaluation of relative accuracy of various predictive equations, and demonstrates how differences in size and gradation between surface bed material and shallow-subsurface bed material might relate to pier scour. Nearly all measurements were made under clear-water conditions with no incoming sediment supply to the bridge opening. Half of the measurements showed approach velocities that equaled or surpassed the critical velocity for incipient motion of bed material, possibly indicating that measurements were made very near the threshold between clear-water and live-bed scour, where maximum scour was shown in laboratory studies. Data collected in this study were compared to selected pier-scour data from the nationwide Bridge Scour Data Management System (BSDMS), to show the effect of bed-material size and gradation on scour depth. Unsteady field flow conditions and armoring by coarser material reduced scour relative to the clear-water/sandy-bed laboratory results at steady flow. The new correction factor and the standard scour equation produced the most accurate estimates of scour depth in armored, coarse-bed conditions. Maximum relative scour occurred at similar velocity across variations in bed material and gradation. Pier scour decreased with increased variation in particle size and gradation.

Montana↗
USGS2019

National Park Service socioeconomic monitoring pilot survey: Visitor spending analysis

The National Park Service (NPS) is in the process of establishing a formal socioeconomic monitoring (SEM) program that will provide a standard visitor survey instrument and a long-term, systematic sampling design for in-park visitor surveys. The development of the pilot SEM survey provided the opportunity to add to the set of available visitor spending profiles for use in the NPS Visitor Spending Effects analysis and enabled the exploration of improved visitor spending estimation methodologies. Fourteen park units were selected for SEM pilot visitor surveys to represent a variety of park unit types (i.e., National Parks, National Recreation Areas, National Historic Parks, etc.), activities, settings (i.e., urban, rural, seashore, parkway, etc.), and difficulty of survey administration (i.e., highly controlled entrances vs. dispersed access). This report describes the methods developed to estimate visitor spending using the SEM pilot surveys and provides visitor spending profiles for the 14 pilot parks. The experiences gained through the pilot effort provide useful feedback for learning and improving future survey efforts.

Natural Resource Report↗
USGS2010

Factors influencing reporting and harvest probabilities in North American geese

We assessed variation in reporting probabilities of standard bands among species, populations, harvest locations, and size classes of North American geese to enable estimation of unbiased harvest probabilities. We included reward (US10,20,30,50, or100) and control (0) banded geese from 16 recognized goose populations of 4 species: Canada (Branta canadensis), cackling (B. hutchinsii), Ross's (Chen rossii), and snow geese (C. caerulescens). We incorporated spatially explicit direct recoveries and live recaptures into a multinomial model to estimate reporting, harvest, and band-retention probabilities. We compared various models for estimating harvest probabilities at country (United States vs. Canada), flyway (5 administrative regions), and harvest area (i.e., flyways divided into northern and southern sections) scales. Mean reporting probability of standard bands was 0.73 (95 CI 0.690.77). Point estimates of reporting probabilities for goose populations or spatial units varied from 0.52 to 0.93, but confidence intervals for individual estimates overlapped and model selection indicated that models with species, population, or spatial effects were less parsimonious than those without these effects. Our estimates were similar to recently reported estimates for mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). We provide current harvest probability estimates for these populations using our direct measures of reporting probability, improving the accuracy of previous estimates obtained from recovery probabilities alone. Goose managers and researchers throughout North America can use our reporting probabilities to correct recovery probabilities estimated from standard banding operations for deriving spatially explicit harvest probabilities.

Journal of Wildlife Management↗
USGS2023

Approaches for assessing flows, concentrations, and loads of highway and urban runoff and receiving-stream stormwater in southern New England with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)

The Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) was designed to help quantify the risk of adverse effects of runoff on receiving waters, the potential need for mitigation measures, and the potential effectiveness of such management measures for reducing these risks. SELDM is calibrated using representative hydrological and water-quality input statistics. This report by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration and the Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island Departments of Transportation, documents approaches for assessing flows, concentrations, and loads of highway- and urban-runoff and receiving-stream stormwater in southern New England with SELDM. In this report, the term “urban runoff” is used to identify stormwater flows from developed areas with impervious fractions ranging from 10 to 100 percent without regard to the U.S. Census Bureau designation for any given location. There are more than 48,000 delineated road-stream crossings in southern New England, but because there are relatively few precipitation, streamflow, and water-quality monitoring sites in this area, methods were needed to simulate conditions at unmonitored sites. This report documents simulation methods, methods for interpreting stochastic model results, sensitivity analyses to identify the most critical variables of concern, and examples demonstrating how simulation results can be used to inform scientific decision-making processes. Results of 7,511 SELDM simulations were used to do the sensitivity analyses and provide information decisionmakers can use to address runoff-quality issues in southern New England and other areas of the Nation. The sensitivity analyses indicate the relatively strong effect of input variables on variations in output results. These analyses indicate that highway and urban runoff quality and upstream water-quality statistics that vary considerably from site to site have the greatest effect on simulated results. Further data are needed to improve available water-quality statistics, and because the number of monitored sites will never approach the number of sites of interest for water-quality management, research is needed to identify methods to select statistics for unmonitored sites and quantify the uncertainties in the selection process. Hydrologically, prestorm streamflows with and without zero flows are the most sensitive and therefore the most important hydrologic variables to quantify. Results of analyses also are sensitive to statistics used for simulating structural best management practices. Although the focus of the report is on data, statistics, simulation methods, and methods to interpret stochastic simulations, the examples in this report provide results that can be used to inform scientific decision-making processes. The results of 441 simulations that provide regional and site-specific highway and urban runoff yields across southern New England can be used for total maximum daily load analyses. The example stormwater load analysis done for 16 tributaries of the Narragansett Bay demonstrates that highway nitrogen loads are a small fraction of stormwater loads (about 3.6 percent), and a much smaller fraction of all nitrogen loads to the bay, primarily because highways have a small footprint on the land. Examples evaluating the potential effectiveness of end-of-pipe treatment indicate that offsite treatment is warranted in developed areas, and land conservation may be an effective mitigation strategy. The results of these analyses are consistent with conclusions from other simulation and monitoring studies.

Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode I↗
USGS1978

Statistical analysis of re-bid federal offshore Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases

Through 1977, there were 178 cases where exactly the same Federal offshore oil and gas bonus bid lease was offered and received bids in 2 sales. (In addition, there were 131 cases where there was an overlap of acreage between a lease offered and receiving bids in 2 sales.) Table 1 summarizes these exact re-bid leases which are in 2 categories: (1) Leases re-bid after rejection of any and all bids received as a result of a prior offering, and (2) Leases re-bid after prior offering, issue, and relinquishment of a lease. We will call the former category rejected re-bid leases, the latter relinquished re-bid leases. Table 1 shows there were 120 of the former and 58 of the latter. The purpose of this study was simply development and analysis of the statistics of re-bid leases. The reasons why the data behave as they do are subjective and unavoidably involve nontechnical value judgments. Therefore, we do not speculate on the reasons in this report. The data source for this study was the LPR-5/-10 data base maintained by the General Services Administration, Fort Worth, Texas.

Gulf of Mexico↗