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California Water Science Center

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ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA WSC

USGS IN YOUR STATE


USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

There is a USGS Water Science Center office in each State. Washington Oregon California Idaho Nevada Montana Wyoming Utah Colorado Arizona New Mexico North Dakota South Dakota Nebraska Kansas Oklahoma Texas Minnesota Iowa Missouri Arkansas Louisiana Wisconsin Illinois Mississippi Michigan Indiana Ohio Kentucky Tennessee Alabama Pennsylvania West Virginia Georgia Florida Caribbean Alaska Hawaii New York Vermont New Hampshire Maine Massachusettes South Carolina North Carolina Rhode Island Virginia Connecticut New Jersey Maryland-Delaware-D.C.

Water Resources of California

Welcome to the USGS web site for the water resources of California. This is your direct link to all kinds of water-resource information. Here you'll find information on California's rivers and streams. You'll also find information about ground water, water quality, and many other topics. The USGS operates the most extensive satellite network of stream-gaging stations in the state, many of which form the backbone of flood-warning systems.

How stream-gaging system monitors burn-damaged Southern California watersheds


Rainbow Creek is a tributary of the Santa Margarita River, near Fallbrook, San Diego County, CA. Al Caldwell, deputy hydrologic monitoring chief for the USGS California Water Science Center, discusses the role of stream-gaging in monitoring the risk of floods and debris flows in this drainage following the 2007 Southern California wildfires.

Wetland Revival


View a new 21-minute video on the role of science in restoring San Francisco Bay's salt ponds to wetland habitat. The video, posted on the Newsroom page, was produced by the U.S. Geological Survey.

USGS science in action


Read about USGS scientists as they track the sources of dissolved organic carbon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. View pdf

New Model Simulates Groundwater and Surface Water Interactions


A new model to simulate groundwater and surface-water interactions has been released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Ground-water and Surface-water FLOW (GSFLOW) model simultaneously accounts for climatic conditions, runoff across the land surface, subsurface flow and storage, and the connections among terrestrial systems, streams, lakes, wetlands and groundwater. Read the press release.

USGS scientists find new Mojave Desert water-storage options


Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), working with the City of Victorville and the Mojave Water Agency (MWA), have recharged water through 400 feet of dry earth in California's Mojave Desert to groundwater basins previously thought unavailable for municipal water storage. The new findings, published in the scientific journal Ground Water, could enable water managers in the fast-growing Victor Valley to replenish groundwater in areas where geology and the depth of the water basin have made recharge difficult. Read the press release.

Secretary Kempthorne views USGS webcams and field research in fire-damaged areas


DOI Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, USGS Robert Fisher, and other USGS scientistsSecretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne toured the Malibu area on Monday, Jan. 14, to examine the most recent landslide research, field instruments, webcams and other tools being used by the USGS to predict dangerous mudslides. USGS is working nonstop to provide early warning information and maps that can be used to plan evacuations that could save lives and increase public safety during winter storm and rainfall events in Malibu and other at-risk canyon areas of Southern California. In the photo at left, Robert Fisher from the San Diego office of the USGS joins Secretary Kempthorne and other USGS scientists in a hike up Winter Canyon. Read the DOI news release.

Our scientists span a broad range of research

Down-hole Sampler There are over 130 scientists working in the California Water Science Center and their expertise and interests span a very broad range of disciplinary approaches to modern water management issues. The majority of senior Center scientists have been officially recognized as "Research and Development Scientists" by the USGS for their ongoing scientific contributions, demonstrated excellence in scientific pursuits, leadership, and the impact their work has had on both the development of scientific knowledge and its application to real world management problems.

There are many opportunities to collaborate with researchers at the Center. Many of the projects are conducted by multidisciplinary teams whose members include scientists from other USGS offices, universities, and our partner agencies. Several of the most senior researchers have hosted post-doctoral fellows and hold joint appointments at nearby universities.

Picture above of a device invented by USGS CAWSC scientists for collecting depth-dependent samples from production wells under pumping conditions.

Recent publications:


  • (May 07, 2008) USGS research helps the county of Los Angeles address new arsenic standards: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008–3043 online
  • (May 07, 2008) Multi-disciplinary approach to trace contamination of streams and beaches: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008–3040 online
  • (May 07, 2008) Research to more effectively manage critical ground–water basins: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008–3037 online
  • (May 07, 2008) Science to help understand and manage important ground–water resources: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008–3039 online
  • (May 07, 2008) Providing data and modeling to help manage water supplies: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2008–3038 online
  • (Apr 24, 2008) Majewski, M.S., Foreman, W.T., Coupe, R.H., Goolsby, D.A., and Wiebe, F.W., 2008, Pesticides in air and rainwater in the midcontinental United States, 1995–Methods and data: U.S. Geological Survey Open–File Report 20071369, 24 p.
  • (Apr 16, 2008) Landon, M.K., and Belitz, Kenneth, 2008, Ground–water quality data in the Central Eastside San Joaquin Basin 2006: Results from the California GAMA Program: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 325, 88 p.
  • (Apr 04, 2008) Shellenbarger, G.G., Schoellhamer, D.H., Morgan, T.L., Takekawa, J.Y., Athearn, N.D., and Henderson, K.D. , 2008, Dissolved oxygen in Guadalupe Slough and Pond A3W, South San Francisco Bay, California, August and September 2007: U.S. Geological Survey Open–File Report 2008–1097, 28 p.
  • (Feb 21, 2008) Zamora, Celia, 2008, Estimating Water Fluxes Across the Sediment–Water Interface in the Lower Merced River, California: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5216, 47 p.
  • (Jan 30, 2008) Dawson, B.J., Bennett, G.L., V, and Belitz, Kenneth, 2008, Ground–Water Quality Data in the Southern Sacramento Valley, California, 2005–Results from the California GAMA Program: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 285, 93 p.
  • (Jan 16, 2008) Lionberger, M.A., Schoellhamer, D.H., Shellenbarger, G.G., Orlando, J.L., and Ganju, N.K., 2008, Box Model of a Series of Salt Ponds, as Applied to the Alviso Salt Pond Complex, South San Francisco Bay, California: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5173, 28 p.
  • (Jan 16, 2008) Curtis, J.A., 2008, Summary of Optical–Backscatter and Suspended-Sediment Data, Tomales Bay Watershed, California, Water Years 2004, 2005, and 2006: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5224, 16 p.

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