USGS Water Resources

ALT Foggy river scene with evergreen trees and rocky banks, overlaid with the phrase "Trick or Hydrological Treat?"

ALT A USGS hydrograph displaying discharge at Neches River Saltwater Barrier at Beaumont Texas in August 2020 during Hurricane Laura. A blue line peaks sharply around 12,000 cubic feet per second, then drops sharply below zero to negative 7,670 cubic feet per second. A large black arrow points to the lowest valley of the curve, labeled with bold text reading "Flow reversal." Background photo shows a muddy river and green trees.

ALT Closeup photo of Blood Falls at Taylor Glacier in Antarctica. A bright reddish-orange plume of water flowing into an ice-covered body of water from the glacier contrasts with the bright white ice pack and the rocky shoreline.

ALT A USGS hydrologist wearing a bright yellow jacket and orange life vest paddles an orange inflatable kayak down a calm river while towing an orange Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler to measure streamflow. Trees with yellow and orange foliage line the riverbank under an overcast sky.

ALT Floodwaters surge beneath a rural bridge with a person standing nearby observing the swollen river in a western landscape.

ALT Turbulent river flowing through a forested area with a yellow scientific instrument mounted on a bridge railing in the foreground.

ALT Yellow scientific equipment mounted on a bridge overlooking a flowing river surrounded by autumn trees.

ALT Line graphs showing water gage height trends from mid-September to November for Oak Creek in Sedona, AZ, and three San Juan River sites in Bluff, UT; Farmington, NM; and Four Corners, CO.

ALT Map of domesticself-supplied water use by watershed. Areas of dark purple are shown where watersheds have higher water use, such as the Northeastern U.S., California, coastal Washington, and much of the eastern U.S. Below that is a time series showing water use every 5 years from 1985 to 2020, water use has increased from the lowest value in 2015 to the highest value in 2020.

ALT Man in a hat and orange shirt working with a clear plastic enclosure on a white folding table outside a house on a sunny day.

ALT Stone well with a circular opening set in a grassy yard near a driveway leading to a wooden house surrounded by leafless trees.

ALT A USGS scientist is looking at a burn scar in a forest. Text says, Facilitating water resilience in wildfire affected communities: Lessons learned from rapid response research.

ALT Two USGS scientists sit by three coolers near a creek. One scientist is looking at a vial while the other scientist is labeling a vial.

ALT A scenic mountain lake lined with pine trees with text that shows the definition of “HUC,” pronounced huck, acronym standing for Hydrologic Unit Codes. HUC is a number used to identify different drainage areas. Each HUC represents a specific watershed or basin at a particular scale.

ALT An educational diagram illustrating the nested hierarchy of Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs), progressing from broad regional watersheds to local subwatersheds. Maps on the left zoom into maps on the right, with each step showing a smaller highlighted area accompanied by its code, name, and geographic area.

ALT River meanders through a mountainous region of Alaska with fluffy white clouds overhead.

ALT Thick, slow looking river flows across flat landscape with darkened clouds overhead.

ALT A small boat with two people paddling on a river below a wide waterfall framed by rocky cliffs and a metal bridge overhead.

ALT Two waterfalls cascading over rocky cliffs into a turbulent river below under a partly cloudy blue sky. Green grass and trees are in the background.

ALT Wide waterfall cascading over rocky cliffs with a partially frozen river and leafless trees in a winter landscape.

ALT Historic brick building beside a river with a rocky cliff and a waterfall under a steel bridge on a clear day.

ALT Map of public supply water use by watershed. Areas of dark red are shown where watersheds have higher water use, such as the Northeast U.S., California, and much of the eastern half of the U.S. Below that is a time series showing water use every 5 years from 1985 to 2020, water use has decreased from the highest value in 2005 to lowest in 2020.

ALT Stone water tower with crenellated battlements viewed from below against a clear blue sky framed by tree branches.

ALT Two tall white USGS storage tanks reflected in a calm water reservoir under a cloudy sky.

ALT A USGS Hydrologist wearing protective gear stands in shallow water next to an orange inflatable raft with scientific equipment under a cloudy sky.

ALT A USGS Hydrologist in a straw hat, red plaid shirt, and gray pants operates a drone from a dirt road on a clear day in Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

ALT A USGS field assistant in waders guides an orange inflatable boat with scientific equipment on a wetland in the Roseau River Wildlife Management Area, Roseau, Minnesota at sunrise.

ALT A man in bright orange protective gear stands in shallow water deploying a sensor in a channel of marsh in Rachel Carlson National Wildlife Refuge.

ALT Map of thermoelectric water use by watershed. Areas of dark blue are shown where watersheds have higher water use, such as along the coasts, along the shores of the Great Lakes, and scattered through the east half of the states. Below that is a time series showing water use every 5 years from 1985 to 2020, water use has decreased from the highest value in 2005 to lowest in 2020.

ALT Thermoelectric power plant with cooling towers and smokestacks showing evaporative clouds above the towers.

ALT Thermoelectric power plant with cooling towers and smokestacks showing evaporative clouds above the towers.

ALT Illustration depicting water cycle processes such as evaporation, transpiration, condensation, and precipitation. Text on slide reads Water in Our World.. Text on slide reads Water in Our World.

ALT A USGS hydrologic technician collects field measurements from a bridge during peak flooding condition on Shoal River near Mossy Head, Florida.

ALT Hydrographs showing continuously measured gage height before, during, and after Hurricane Isaias at streamgages in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. Yellow dots on hydrographs are field measurements.

ALT The Real-Time Flood Impact mapper showing many flooded areas of interest throughout the Southeast from October 9 through October 13, 2026. Icons on map represent flooded paths, banks, roads, bridges, facilities, or uncategorized flooding.

ALT Chart of national streamflow conditions by flow percentiles at USGS streamgages relative to the historic record (left). On a national basis in September, about 25% of the states had wetter than average streamflow conditions, and about 40% had drier than average. Streamflow conditions in the U.S. with tile chart for each state (right). Tiles for WI, IL, WI, IA, IN, OH, PA, WV, AK, and HI show wetter than normal conditions, and states such as WA, WY, CA, UT, CO, NM, OK, NC, SC, and PR show drier.

ALT Moss-covered logs and rocks surround a small reflective pond in a foggy, leaf-strewn forest clearing. A trail camera is mounted to one tree trunk.

ALT A rocky forest stream flows beside leafless trees with a gray monitoring device attached to one tree trunk.

ALT A small forest stream surrounded by moss-covered rocks and dense green foliage under tall trees. A black monitoring device is attached to a tree trunk.

ALT Line graph showing rank percentile fluctuations from October 2023 to April 2024 with marked snow melt and dry events. Bottom image of mossy rocks in a spring show the flowing (snow melt) (left) and dry (right) conditions.

ALT Illustration of a flooded playground with money floating in the water. Text on image reads Flood Risk Simulator the game. Will saving your playground leave you broke?

ALT Person in a red canoe using water monitoring equipment on a calm lake surrounded by forested hills under a clear blue sky. Text on image reads National scale collection of remotely sensed lake surface temperatures.

ALT Two maps of the U.S. showing mean waterbody temperatures for the U.S. in the winter (top) and summer (bottom), with a color scale from 0 to 40°C. Cooler mean temperatures for both seasons are found in the north and across the Rocky Mountains.

ALT Two maps of the U.S. showing mean waterbody temperatures for the U.S. in the spring (top) and fall (bottom), with a color scale from 0 to 40°C. Cooler mean temperatures for both seasons are found in the north and across higher elevations.

ALT Photos of teachers during a USGS workshop in July 2024. Text on image: Happy World Teachers' Day!

ALT Collection of resources and events from the USGS Water Science School. Text on image reads USGS Water Science School helps you bring water science into your classrooms.

ALT Photo of a group of teachers attending a USGS workshop in July 2024. Text on image: Thank you teachers for helping the next generations explore, question, and discover.

ALT A USGS Hydrologic Technician takes a discharge measurement of the ice-covered Chippewa River at streamgage 05305000 near Watson, Minnesota. Credit: USGS

ALT A USGS hydrologic technician performs a wire weight measurement in record flood at gage 7018500 Big River at Byrnesville, Missouri. Credit: Joshua Keele, USGS

ALT A USGS hydrologic technician measures streamflow in Lightning Creek at Clark Fork, ID. Credit: Ryan Smith, USGS

ALT USGS scientists conduct surface water sampling during an evening monsoon storm in July 2024 at Adobe Acres Inflow at Albuquerque, New Mexico. Credit: USGS