USGS

Trick or Hydrological Treat? 👻🍬 Water science can get incredibly weird. From rivers flowing backward during historic earthquakes to Antarctic glaciers that look like they're bleeding, nature writes the ultimate spooky stories. 👻 When rivers run backward 🍬 It sounds like a glitch in the matrix, but powerful events can reverse river currents. In 1811-1812, the massive New Madrid earthquakes caused parts of the Mississippi River to temporarily flow backward. More recently, intense storm surges from some major hurricanes, like Hurricane Laura in 2020, have forced coastal rivers to reverse course for hours! 👻 The glacier that bleeds 🍬 Located in Antarctica, "Blood Falls" looks terrifying, but it’s pure geochemistry. Beneath the glacier, an iron-rich lake is trapped and cut off from sunlight and air. When the iron-rich water exits the ice, it reacts with oxygen in the air and turns the water red, similar to how rust is formed. 👻 The sound of flowing water 🍬 Our streamgages don't scream, but they do use sound! Scientists use instruments like Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs), which bounce high-frequency sound waves off particles in moving water. By measuring how the pitch changes (the Doppler effect), we map how fast a river is moving - no spooky screaming required. Happy hydrologic Halloween! 🎃🦇 📷 1: A foggy, early morning view looking down the Gibbon River, off of Grand Loop Rd in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Credit: USGS 📷 2: A USGS hydrograph of discharge on the Neches River Saltwater Barrier at Beaumont, Texas during Hurricane Laura in August 2020 displaying flow reversal. Background image: An oxbow of the Neches River in Big Thicket National Preserve just upstream of Beaumont, TX. Credit: National Park Service 📷 3: Blood Falls at Taylor Glacier in Antarctica. Credit: Peter Rejcek, National Science Foundation 📷 4: A USGS hydrologic technician takes a flow measurement on the South Umpqua River at Melrose, Oregon. Credit: USGS

It's World Water Monitoring Day. Celebrate by staying prepared! 🌍💧 World Water Monitoring Day is all about understanding and protecting our most vital resource. For USGS hydrotechs, that mission happens 365 days a year. Our dedicated teams are on the front lines, deploying sensors, measuring streamflow, and tracking water quality to keep communities safe. Monitoring our waterways isn't just for scientists, though. It's your best tool for emergency preparedness. Here’s how to stay prepared: 💧 Explore the National Water Dashboard: Check real-time streamflow, groundwater levels, and weather alerts on an interactive map. 💧 Subscribe to WaterAlert: Set up text or email alerts for rivers and creeks near you to get updates if water rises. 💧 Check water quality: Monitor local waterways to see how your watershed is doing. Knowledge is your best defense. This World Water Monitoring Day, be prepared. Track your local waterways, know your risk, and always follow local safety guidance. Explore USGS water monitoring tools - waterdata.usgs.gov 📷 1: USGS hydrologic technician reads measurements from a streamgage while sitting on a partially submerged park table in Zephyrhills, Florida in 2024 just days after Tropical Storm Debby struck Florida's Gulf Coast. Credit: Todd Dunkle, USGS. 📷 2: USGS hydrographer measuring streamflow using a handheld Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter in fast moving floodwater Cajon Creek near Keenbrook, California. Credit: USGS. 📷 3: USGS hydrologic technician takes a high flow measurement on Chartiers Creek in Carnegie, PA during flooding from remnants of Hurricane Ida.  📷 4: A USGS crew measures high flow during flooding on the Maple River near Mapleton, North Dakota. The instrument being pulled across the water is an acoustic Doppler current profiler, which is used to measure streamflow. Credit: USGS. #StayPrepared #NationalPreparednessMonth #WorldWaterMonitoringDay

National water availability data at your fingertips! 💧🎉 The National Water Availability Assessment Data Companion provides regularly updated, model-based estimates of water availability and use on a national scale. Nearly 27 million Americans, or 8% of the U.S. population, live in areas where water demand consistently approaches or exceeds naturally available water supply. Until recently, accessing comprehensive water availability information with national coverage required stitching together disparate datasets across multiple agencies, regions, and complicated websites. The Data Companion eliminates these barriers by: 💧 Providing consistent information about water availability and use across approximately 80,000 watersheds nationwide from 2000 to 2020 💧 Enabling data access through various user-friendly means, including a subset and download tool, a data file directory, an API, and a new interactive map 💧 Continually adding new and updated data to reflect the latest USGS water models and science Check out the interactive map now: water.usgs.gov/nwaa-data/ 📷 1: View of soil moisture data for January 2020 across the lower 48 United States from the Data Companion web mapper.