Surveys of Water Quality

The survey and reconnaissance work consists of measuring pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and their metabolites in ground water, surface water, lakes, reservoirs, rainfall, and other water bodies and relating their occurrences to hydrology, water chemistry, and various geochemical processes.

Background and Facilities

The principle mission of the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, is to investigate the occurrence, quantity, quality, and movement of surface and ground water throughout the Nation. Each State has a USGS office that contributes to these hydrologic studies. The Organic Geochemistry Research Group is a research team located in the Kansas District office in Lawrence, which is part of the Central Region, and works closely with each State on these surveys.

Research Cooperators

    o USGS, Bob Gilliom, NAWQA National Pesticide Project
    o USGS, Don Goolsby, Central Region
    o USGS, Florida
    o USGS, Iowa
    o USGS, Kansas
    o USGS, Minnesota
    o USGS, Mississippi
    o USGS, Missouri
    o USGS, Nebraska
    o USGS, New York
    o USGS, Office of Water Quality, Headquarters, Reston, VA
    o U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Accomplishments of Water-Quality Surveys

Surveys recently completed or underway include:

    o Surface-Water Runoff, 1989-90
    o Rainwater, 1990-91
    o Storm Events, 1990-91
    o Ground Water, 1991-92
    o Lakes and Reservoirs, 1992-93
    o Mississippi River Flood, 1993
    o 2,4-D NAWQA Study, 1993
    o Atrazine Label Study 1994-95,
    o Mississippi Cotton and Rice Study, 1996-98
    o Emerging Contaminants and Antibiotics, 1999-2000

For further information, contact: juliec@usgs.gov