Water Resources 

Information about the quantity and

quality of water is vital to local governments and citizens. Floods and droughts

affect all sectors of the economy, and

threaten public safety. In cooperation

with State and local Governments, the

USGS collects streamflow data from

about 140 gaging stations and groundwater data from nearly 380 wells in

Maryland, Delaware, and Washington,

D.C. Hydrologic conditions at many of

these locations can be viewed in realtime over the web at:

http://md.water.usgs.gov/.

Selected Projects of Interest

NAWQA 

Water quality of the Potomac River

watershed and the Delmarva Peninsula is

being assessed for the USGS National

Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA)

Program. Visit the web at:

http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/index.html.

Department of Defense Programs 

The USGS is investigating environmental contamination in surface and

ground water at military facilities such as

Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD and

Dover Air Force Base, DE. Sustainability

of ground-water supplies is being characterized for the Naval Air Station, Patuxent

River, MD.

Urban Sprawl 

Urban sprawl is a common problem

in the Mid-Atlantic region, which

includes some of the oldest cities in the

Nation and the heavily populated urban

corridor from New York City to

Richmond, VA. The USGS is leading an

effort by a group of Federal agencies to

provide sound and useful scientific information to State and local Governments

for effective land-use planning.

WMATA 

The USGS is working with the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit

Authority (WMATA) to investigate the

sources of ground-water seepage into

subway tunnels. Geologic and hydrologic data will be used to develop a strategy

to help solve the seepage problem in

WMATA underground facilities. 

Urban Hydrology 

Development of cities has a dramatic impact on streams. USGS studies on

the Anacostia River and Rock Creek in

Washington, D.C., and Gwynns Run and

Maidens Choice Run in Baltimore, MD

have found that urban water quality is

often degraded because of heavy

stormwater runoff from paved areas and

leakage from old sewers that pollute

water, damage stream habitat, and cause

erosion. These investigations are providing the basic information needed to

advance our knowledge in the new field

of urban hydrology.

Chesapeake Bay Program 

The

Chesapeake Bay,

the Nation’s largest

estuary, has suffered water-quality

problems, loss of

living resources,

and habitat degradation. In response, a

group of concerned Government agencies formed the Chesapeake Bay

Program (CBP) to establish goals for

restoring the Bay and its watershed. The

USGS, one of the original CBP partners,

has the important role of providing scientific information used to design, carry

out, and assess the effectiveness of

restoration. The USGS Chesapeake Bay

Science Program is meeting these needs

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet FS 2004-3004

2004
through environmental research, monitoring, computer modeling, and information

transfer with our partners in the CBP.

For more information, visit the web at:

http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/chesbay/.

Geography 

USGS regional programs consist of

land-use mapping, investigations of urban

development and sprawl, and use of

satellite imagery to evaluate methods for

controlling invasive plant species. A pilot

program between the USGS and several

State and local agencies was recently

completed in Delaware on a new digital

map product, produced using electronic

data instead of paper. It will be used by

the USGS as a template for a new

National map. It is available on the web

at: http://www.datamil.udel.edu/.

Geology 

Coastal areas are a vital resource for

transportation, commerce, and recreation. Changes in the marine environment can endanger the quality of life,

threaten property, pose a risk to fragile

shorelines, and affect livelihoods. Parts

of Maryland, Delaware, and Washington,

D.C. are experiencing the effects of

coastal erosion and sea-level rise. The

USGS Coastal and Marine Geology

Program provides scientific data to

ensure careful use and protection of

coastal and offshore resources. USGS

investigations of coastal sediment transport and studies of the interaction of

freshwater and saltwater in Maryland and

Delaware coastal regions are contributing to this knowledge. For more information on the USGS Coastal and Marine

Geology program, visit

http://marine.usgs.gov/.

Biological Resources 

The USGS Biological Resources

Discipline provides the information needed to help manage the Nation’s plant

and animal resources. The USGS

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in

Laurel, MD is a leader in wildlife and

applied environmental research to

improve the management of biological

resources. Patuxent’s scientists are recognized leaders in the fields of migratory

bird studies, wildlife population analysis,

waterfowl harvest, habitat management,

wetlands, coastal zone and flood-plain

management, contaminants, endangered

species, urban wildlife, ecosystem management, and management of National

Parks and National Wildlife Refuges. The

Center is responsible for the North

American Bird Banding Program, the

Breeding Bird Survey, and other national

bird monitoring programs. The Center’s

scientific and technical assistance publications, wildlife data bases, and electronic media are used nationally and worldwide in managing biological resources.

More information about the USGS

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center can be

found on the web at

http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/.

For additional information about

these and other USGS activities,

please contact:

District Chief, MD-DE-DC District

U.S. Geological Survey

8987 Yellow Brick Road

Baltimore, Maryland 21237

(410-238-4200)

Also visit the Maryland-DelawareDistrict of Columbia District

Homepage on the World Wide Web

at: http://md.water.usgs.gov/

or the USGS national Homepage at:

http://www.usgs.gov/

Resources for teachers and students

are available at: 

http://www.usgs.gov/education/

For information on natural hazards,

volcanoes, earthquakes, floods and

droughts, water supply, water quality,

invasive species, ecology, natural

resource issues, topographic maps,

satellite imagery, and anything else

related to Earth science, the USGS is

YOUR source for science for a

changing world.

FS 2004-3004

Additional Information

Editor: Valerie M. Gaine

Graphics and design: Timothy W. Auer