Rocks and Water: Information from the U.S. Geological Survey and Other Government Agencies
 
GEOLOGY
U.S. Geological Survey

Many databases lead to U.S. Geological Survey information.  Research being performed throughout the country has led to publications being mounted on servers throughout the country as well.  Until recently there has not been single approach to make U.S. Geological Survey information available from a portal.  This will hopefully change as more content is brought into the Publications Warehouse.

  • Publications Warehouse Home Page - U.S. Geological Survey's new portal database to be able to connect to the Surveys reports and thematic maps.  Currently accesses over 60,000 items, but less than a third available full-text online.  The citation information is very brief.  Use the contents page for a break down of the information available.  Advanced search allows one to search for online documents only. 

 

WATER
Depending on the type of water information you are looking for you might find it from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and/or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Ocean Service .

U.S. Geological Survey

Water-related series provide information on:

  • water discharge and water quality of streams
  • water quality of lakes and reservoirs
  • water levels and water quality of wells and springs
  • meteorological data
  • methods and techniques used in collecting, analyzing, and processing hydrologic data
  • results of hydrologic investigations
  • hydrology or geohydrology in map format

 

Environmental Protection Agency

  • EPA's Browse Topics -  Water - Broadest level of EPA's water topic.  Has descriptive sub-topics located at the bottom of page.  Make sure that you also examine the recommended EPA web pages as some of the sites linked from those pages are not found in the sub-topics pages.
  • Each of these has unique water-related sources and databases, although there is a lot of duplication.  The publications link in particular does not allow one to access all of the publications that are available on the EPA website.  Since so many EPA Offices and Programs create publications that don't always get to the databases listed under Publications, it is always useful to examine the Alphabetical Listing of Projects and Programs for additional publications.

Water-related information provided on:

  • drinking water
  • ground water
  • storm water
  • surface water
  • wastewater
  • water pollution
  • water quality
  • aquatic ecosystems
  • protects watersheds and sources of drinking water
  • enforces federal clean water and safe drinking water acts

 

Bureau of Reclamation

 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

  • Hydrologic Engineering Center - Provides expertise in "technical areas of surface and groundwater hydrology, river hydraulics and sediment transport, hydrologic statistics and risk analysis, reservoir system analysis, planning analysis, real-time water control management and a number of other closely associated technical subjects."

 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  • NOAA Ocean Service - "Responsible for the observation, measurement, assessment and management of the nation's vast coastal and ocean areas."