Unified Interior Regions
Region 6: Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas-Gulf
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National Assessment of Storm-Induced Coastal Change Hazards
This project focuses on understanding the magnitude and variability of extreme storm impacts on sandy beaches. The overall objective is to improve real-time and scenario-based predictions of coastal change to support management of coastal infrastructure, resources, and safety.
National Assessment of Coastal Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise
The original national coastal vulnerability index (CVI) assessment was motivated by expected accelerated sea-level rise (SLR) and the uncertainty in the response of the coastline to SLR. This research was conducted between 1999 and 2001, and is currently being updated using new data sources and methodology. This original study was part of the ...
Long-Term Coastal Change
Goals of this task include developing and improving coastal-change assessments and supporting long-term planning and decision making to ensure sustainable coastal economies, infrastructure, and ecosystems.
National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards
Research to identify areas that are most vulnerable to coastal change hazards including beach and dune erosion, long-term shoreline change, and sea-level rise.
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Quantify Bird and Bat Distributions and Inform Migratory Bird Conservation Efforts
Three federal wildlife refuge complexes on the upper Texas coast include portions of the Columbia Bottomlands and other forests that are important for migratory birds and possibly bats: Texas Mid-Coast, Trinity River, and Chenier Plain.
Use of Remote Sensing Data to Quantify Bird Distributions and Aid in the Environmental Assessment of Energy Development in the Gulf of Mexico Region
Knowing where migratory birds consistently stop to rest and forage is critical for conservation planning, particularly along the northern and western Gulf where there is increased interest in energy development.
Geologic and Morphologic Evolution of Coastal Margins
A combination of geophysics, sediment sampling, and chronology techniques are used to characterize the regional geomorphologic response of coastal systems to environmental changes.
The Gulf of Mexico Water Dashboard: Cross-Center Collaboration Brings Real-time, USGS Water Data to the Gulf Coast through a Spatially Enabled Mapping Application
The USGS Southeast Regional Office has funded a cross-center collaboration between the Wetland and Aquatic Research Center and the Texas Water Science Center for the development of the Gulf of Mexico Water Dashboard. The objective of this effort is to expand the Texas Water Dashboard platform to include the coastal regions of the five Gulf states: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and...
Flood Database for Oklahoma
A web-mapping application for historical flood information organization and access.
Green Infrastructure, CECs, and Geochemistry in Urban Stormwater Runoff used to Recharge Groundwater
This national project is a joint effort between the USGS and EPA looking at contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in urban stormwater runoff that is infiltrated into the subsurface or likely to be infiltrated in the future.
Phase I of the project aims to provide a broad-scale assessment of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and basic composition of water chemistry in urban...
Deep Well Monitoring During Seismic Activity
The USGS Oklahoma Water Science Center is working cooperatively with the USGS Earthquake Science Center (California) to monitor real-time downhole pressures, temperatures, and water levels in an effort to understand changes in pore-fluid pressure in the Arbuckle Group associated with seismic activity.
Groundwater Monitoring on Fort Sill Apache Tribal Lands
This USGS investigation will examine the hydraulic properties of the Rush Springs aquifer underlying Fort Sill Apache tribal lands to determine their potential for groundwater development. The information gathered from this investigation will assist the Fort Sill Apache Tribe in identifying well locations with optimal long-term pumping capacity and water quality.
A water-budget analysis of Medina and Diversion Lakes and the Medina/Diversion Lake system, with estimated recharge to Edwards aquifer, San Antonio area, Texas
In January 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey—in cooperation with the Edwards Aquifer Authority—began a study to refine and, if possible, extend previously derived (1995–96) relations between the stage in Medina Lake and recharge to the Edwards aquifer to include the effects of reservoir stages below 1,018 feet and greater than 1,046 feet above...
Slattery, Richard N.; Miller, Lisa D.
Improving our understanding of hydraulic-electrical relations: A case study of the surficial aquifer in Emirate Abu Dhabi
Transmissivity is a bulk hydraulic property that can be correlated with bulk electrical properties of an aquifer. In aquifers that are electrically-resistive relative to adjacent layers in a horizontally stratified sequence, transmissivity has been shown to correlate with bulk transverse resistance. Conversely, in aquifers that are electrically-...
Ikard, Scott; Kress, Wade H.
Selected streambed sediment compounds and water toxicity results for Westside Creeks, San Antonio, Texas, 2014
IntroductionThe Alazán, Apache, Martínez, and San Pedro Creeks in San Antonio, Texas, are part of a network of urban tributaries to the San Antonio River, known locally as the Westside Creeks. The Westside Creeks flow through some of the oldest neighborhoods in San Antonio. The disruption of streambed sediment is anticipated during a planned...
Crow, Cassi L.; Wilson, Jennifer T.; Kunz, James L.
Occurrence and concentrations of selected trace elements, halogenated organic compounds, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in streambed sediments and results of water-toxicity testing in Westside Creeks and the San Antonio River, San Antonio, Texas, 2014
Sediment samples and samples for water-toxicity testing were collected during 2014 from several streams in San Antonio, Texas, known locally as the Westside Creeks (Alazán, Apache, Martínez, and San Pedro Creeks) and from the San Antonio River. Samples were collected during base flow and after periods of stormwater runoff (poststorm conditions) to...
Crow, Cassi L.; Wilson, Jennifer T.; Kunz, James L.
Geologic framework and hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers within northern Bexar and Comal Counties, Texas
During 2014–16, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Edwards Aquifer Authority, documented the geologic framework and hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers within northern Bexar and Comal Counties, Texas. The Edwards and Trinity aquifers are major sources of water for agriculture, industry, and urban and rural...
Clark, Allan K.; Golab, James A.; Morris, Robert R.
Compounds of emerging concern in the San Antonio River Basin, Texas, 2011–12
The City of San Antonio and the surrounding municipalities in Bexar County, Texas, are among the fastest growing cities in the Nation. Increases in residential and commercial development are changing runoff patterns and likely will increase chemical loads into streams. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio River Authority...
Lambert, Rebecca B.; Opsahl, Stephen P.
Water-level altitudes 2016 and water-level changes in the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers and compaction 1973–2015 in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, Houston-Galveston region, Texas
Most of the land-surface subsidence in the Houston-Galveston region, Texas, has occurred as a direct result of groundwater withdrawals for municipal supply, commercial and industrial use, and irrigation that depressured and dewatered the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, thereby causing compaction of the aquifer sediments, mostly in the fine-grained...
Kasmarek, Mark C.; Ramage, Jason K.; Johnson, Michaela R. Metformin and other pharmaceuticals widespread in wadeable streams of the southeastern United States
Pharmaceutical contaminants are growing aquatic-health concerns and largely attributed to wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) discharges. Five biweekly water samples from 59 small Piedmont (United States) streams were analyzed for 108 pharmaceuticals and degradates using high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. The...
Bradley, Paul M.; Journey, Celeste A.; Button, Daniel T.; Carlisle, Daren; Clark, Jimmy M.; Mahler, Barbara; Nakagaki, Naomi; Qi, Sharon L.; Waite, Ian R.; Van Metre, Peter C. A python framework for environmental model uncertainty analysis
We have developed pyEMU, a python framework for Environmental Modeling Uncertainty analyses, open-source tool that is non-intrusive, easy-to-use, computationally efficient, and scalable to highly-parameterized inverse problems. The framework implements several types of linear (first-order, second-moment (FOSM)) and non-linear uncertainty analyses...
White, Jeremy T.; Fienen, Michael N.; Doherty, John E. Macroinvertebrate and diatom metrics as indicators of water-quality conditions in connected depression wetlands in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain
Methods for assessing wetland conditions must be established so wetlands can be monitored and ecological services can be protected. We evaluated biological indices compiled from macroinvertebrate and diatom metrics developed primarily for streams to assess their ability to indicate water quality in connected depression wetlands. We collected water...
Justus, Billy; Burge, David; Cobb, Jennifer; Marsico, Travis; Bouldin, Jennifer
Occurrence and concentrations of selected trace elements and halogenated organic compounds in stream sediments and potential sources of polychlorinated biphenyls, Leon Creek, San Antonio, Texas, 2012–14
The Texas Department of State Health Services issued fish consumption advisories in 2003 and 2010 for Leon Creek in San Antonio, Texas, based on elevated concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish tissues. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured elevated PCB concentrations in stream-sediment samples collected during 2007–9...
Wilson, Jennifer T. Source, variability, and transformation of nitrate in a regional karst aquifer: Edwards aquifer, central Texas.
Many karst regions are undergoing rapid population growth and expansion of urban land accompanied by increases in wastewater generation and changing patterns of nitrate (NO3−) loading to surface and groundwater. We investigate variability and sources of NO3− in a regional karst aquifer system, the Edwards aquifer of central Texas...
Musgrove, MaryLynn; Opsahl, Stephen P.; Mahler, Barbara; Herrington, Chris; Sample, Thomas; Banta, John
Groundwater-monitoring well in Osage County, Oklahoma.
Groundwater-monitoring well and telemetry equipment in Osage County, Oklahoma
Awareness: USGS "Water-on-the-Go" Mobile App (Texas)
The USGS Texas Water Science Center has developed a new mobile application called “Water On-the-Go” that gives people easy access to current conditions in streams across Texas. The information reflects what is happening in streams near you at that very moment. Go to -- https://txpub.usgs.gov/water-onthego
Be Water Aware: USGS "Water-on-the-Go" Mobile Application
The USGS Texas Water Science Center has developed a new mobile application called “Water On-the-Go” that gives people easy access to current conditions in streams across Texas. The information reflects what is happening in streams near you at that very moment. Go to -- https://txpub.usgs.gov/water-onthego
March Wildfires Scorch Kansas, Oklahoma Farm and Ranch Land
This March 2017 Landsat 8 image shows massive burned scars in Kansas and Oklahoma. More than 730,000 acres of farm and ranchland were scorched by wind-driven wildfires that began March 6 and were finally extinguished on March 22.
Drilling a Research Well in the Eagle Ford
USGS scientists drill a research well near Waco, Texas, as part of the assessment of oil and gas resources in the Eagle Ford Group. Cores like these provide information on the various rock layers, such as their make-up, their age, etc.
Fires Burn Farms and Ranches in Oklahoma and Kansas
Landsat's shortwave infrared (SWIR) band measures reduced moisture content in soil and vegetation. When combined with its near-infrared (NIR) band, which helps reveal actively growing vegetation, Landsat produces highly accurate images and maps of burned areas.
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in Oklahoma on February 13, 2016 at 11:07:06 am local time.
U.S. Geological Survey field crews are measuring record flooding on rivers and streams in 12 states across the country. USGS is making preparations for a prolonged field effort along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers as major flooding will extend well into mid-to-late January, particularly along the lower Mississippi River.
Since Saturday morning, parts of eastern Oklahoma received up to 12 inches of rain from Winter Storm Goliath. Water levels at many U.S. Geological Survey gages in that part of the state were already high due to previous rains.
The Barnett Shale contains estimated mean volumes of 53 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas, 172 million barrels of shale oil and 176 million barrels of natural gas liquids, according to an updated assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey. This estimate is for undiscovered, technically recoverable resources.
The uranium oxide is located in sandstone formations throughout the South Texas Coastal Plain, which borders the Gulf of Mexico. The area has long been known to contain uranium, and two mines are currently in operation, with a number of companies actively exploring for uranium.
A newly published, three-volume “Remote Sensing Handbook” is a comprehensive coverage of all remote sensing topics written by over 300 leading global experts.
On average, streams in the Niobrara-Mowry Play of eastern Wyoming, Fayetteville Play of Arkansas, and Barnett Play of Texas ranked most vulnerable to unconventional oil and gas development, but for different reasons, according to recent U.S. Geological Survey coauthored research.
U.S. Geological Survey field crews are measuring record flooding in parts of central Texas following intense rainfall.
The rate of earthquakes has increased sharply since 2009 in the central and eastern United States, with growing evidence confirming that these earthquakes are primarily caused by human activity, namely the injection of wastewater in deep disposal wells.
The U.S. Geological Survey installed a new gage to be used for streamflow monitoring in the City of Hallettsville, Texas.
A newly installed U.S. Geological Survey streamgage on the South Concho River is providing dam operators and downstream users critical information about the river.
Scientists have a better understanding of how water flows throughout the San Antonio, Texas, segment of the Edwards aquifer because of a new U.S. Geological Survey groundwater flow model, developed in cooperation with San Antonio Water System.
Contacts
Locations
Region 6: Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas-Gulf
South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center
Texas Water Science Center
Phone: (512) 927-3500
Fax: (512) 927-3590
Oklahoma Branch Office
Phone: 405-810-4400
Fax: 405-843-7712
Tulsa Field Office
Phone: 918-254-6651
Woodward Field Office
Phone: 580-256-5031
Lubbock Field Office
Phone: (806) 993-0229
Fax: (806) 993-0235
Gulf Coast Branch (Houston) Office
Phone: (936) 271-5300
Fax: (936) 271-5399
Wichita Falls Field Office
Phone: (940) 397-4453
North Texas Branch (Fort Worth) Office
Phone: (817) 263-9545
Fax: (682) 316-5022
El Paso Field Office
Phone: (915) 534-6308
Fax: (915) 534-6299
San Angelo Field Office
Phone: (325) 944-4600
Fax: (325) 942-0495
Corpus Christi Field Office
Phone: (361) 825-2073
Fax: (361) 825-2025
South Texas Branch (San Antonio) Office
Phone: (210) 691-9200
Fax: (210) 691-9270