Filters: Types: ScienceBase Project (X) > partyWithName: U.S. Geological Survey (X)
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Riparian and aquatic ecosystems in semiarid landscapes like Southwest Wyoming contribute significantly to regional biodiversity. Long-term monitoring data that describe streamflow, surface-water quality, and groundwater levels are needed for assessing possible effects of changes in land use, land cover, and climate on those ecosystems. With WLCI funding, surface-water quality has been monitored at four sites, and groundwater levels have been monitored at one site. The monitoring sites were selected to provide baseline characterization of the upper Green River Basin and the Muddy Creek watershed. All data are collected according to USGS methods (Wagner and others, 2006; Kenney, 2010; Sauer and Turnipseed, 2010; Turnipseed...
Effectiveness Monitoring Effectiveness monitoring was implemented to evaluate the efficacy of habitat treatments and to broadly assess the regional effects of conservation, mitigation, and other management activities coordinated through this initiative. Work has included collecting data associated with past and current habitat treatments (for example, herbicide treatments in sagebrush) to: • assess their effectiveness in meeting WLCI habitat conservation goals, and • help guide the design of future habitat treatments and Best Management Practices. Effectiveness Monitoring included measuring vegetation and soil responses to treatments, developing methods for using remotely sensed estimates of productivity to evaluate...
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A wide variety of human activities has the potential to contaminate groundwater. In addition, naturally occurring constituents in groundwater can limit the suitability of that water for some uses. Baseline groundwater-quality data can be used to facilitate analysis of water-quality trends over time and to understand the effects of human activities. Such information is an important tool for protecting groundwater resources that are crucial for drinking water and other uses. The USGS is working in cooperation with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality on the Wyoming Groundwater Quality Monitoring Network, the goal of which is to collect water-quality samples at 20-30 wells within each of 33 priority areas...
Muddy Creek, a tributary to the Little Snake River, is a semi-arid catchment that drains about 1,200 mi2 in south-central Wyoming. The drainage basin is characterized as a sagebrush steppe ecosystem. The area is undergoing energy exploration and development, including conventional natural gas wells and coalbed natural gas wells. Geologic formations that underlie the drainage basin include soluble marine shales, which are a natural source of dissolved solids (for example, sodium, chloride, and sulfate) and Se. As a result, the water quality of Muddy Creek is naturally high in dissolved constituents, including Se. The WDEQ has listed chloride and Se as impairments to aquatic life for Muddy Creek. Dissolved solids...
The Muddy Creek watershed, part of the Upper Colorado River watershed, is a semi-arid catchment in a sagebrush steppe ecosystem. A synoptic watershed assessment was conducted in 2010 to identify areas within the watershed that are more susceptible to mobilization of trace elements that occur in soils forming on marine shale. Samples of soil, stream sediment, and water were collected and assayed for major elements and a suite of trace elements. Formation waters discharged from two wells within the watershed were sampled in 2011 to evaluate their potential contribution of organic carbon, nitrogen (N) species, and trace elements to surface waters. In FY2012, analyses of the soil, rock, and water samples collected...
Since 1990, more than 2 million dollars has been spent on habitat-restoration and enhancement projects in the Little Mountain Ecosystem. Many of these efforts have focused on restoring aspen communities to maintain or improve water quality and to enhance ungulate habitat. During 2009, biologists from the WGFD Green River Regional Office established long-term monitoring plots on Little Mountain to evaluate whether the increased number of ungulates using those stands is in balance with targets set for aspen regeneration. The WGFD is collecting data for developing an index of live to dead trees. The USGS is supporting this effort by measuring stand composition to study herbivory patterns at locations associated with...
Regional curves are statistical models (one-variable, ordinary least-squares regressions) that relate bankfull discharge, bankfull cross-sectional area, bankfull width, and bankfull mean depth of streams to drainage area in settings that are expected to have similar runoff characteristics. Equations describing the regional curves can be used to estimate the discharge and dimensions of the bankfull channel when the drainage area of the watershed is known. These equations are useful for identifying the bankfull channel in areas with similar runoff characteristics. Regional curves also are used to determine channel departure from reference conditions and to plan stream restoration when using Natural Channel Design...
Regional-scale studies, such as those being conducted for the WLCI, are well suited for the use of remote-sensing techniques. Derivative products from remote-sensing instruments, such as Landsat, have been used successfully for decades in studies of geology, vegetation, environmental change, and many other types of scientific research. The continuous coverage of Landsat data since 1972 makes it possible to establish baseline conditions in areas affected by renewable and nonrenewable energy development. In this study, various Landsat datasets are being used to map current and pre-development conditions in the WLCI study area for a selected set of scientific interests. Landsat scenes have been mosaicked to produce...
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