Water Resources Update

USGS Illinois Water Science Center Newsletter

Spring/Summer 2007 

Message from the Director

Robert R. Holmes, Jr., PhD, P.E.

Table of Contents

Message from the Director.......................................................................................................................................................1

New Annual Report Improves Data Consistency.....................................................................................................................2

Employee Spotlight ..................................................................................................................................................................3

Serving and Storing NAWQA Ecological Data........................................................................................................................4

Illinois Streamflow Conditions for April 2006 through March 2007......................................................................................6

U.S. Geological Survey Real-Time Sewer Flow Monitoring ...................................................................................................7

USGS Illinois Water Science Center Publications...................................................................................................................8

U.S. Department of Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Illinois Water Science Center

1201 W University Ave Ste 100

Urbana IL 61801-2347

http://il.water.usgs.gov/

Compiled by D.M. Ayers and J.B. Sharpe

	 I write this article while on a plane returning from an international meeting at St. Anthony Falls Lab in Minneapolis,

Minnesota, on the measurement of bedload sediment transport. My invitation to the meeting stems from my own long time

research interest in sediment transport and river hydraulics. The measurement of bedload, defined as those sediments that move

in a river in near-constant contact with the bed, is important for a number of scientific and engineering purposes. The increasing

interest in stream restoration in the past 20 years has only heightened the need to be able to reliably measure and predict bedload

transport. The meeting was convened to examine the state of the science of bedload transport measurement and how to improve

it. We discussed everything from the traditional trap samplers, which are physically lowered to the bed to capture the bedload in

transport, to various acoustic techniques, including the use of acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP) and hydrophones. The

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has long played a crucial role in the development of bedload samplers (as well as many other

types of samplers, related equipment, and procedures).

	 One of the topics that I did not expect to be discussed at the meeting was the management of the data itself and how

important it is to properly document and store these data and the associated metadata so that they will be available to scientists

and engineers for various purposes. I wholeheartedly agree with that overriding premise because I feel that to maximize the

public good, data collected by any public agency or publicly financed research endeavor needs proper and permanent storage

and access. The USGS has long expended much time and effort in the management and dissemination of not only sediment data

but all of the hydrologic, geologic, geospatial, and biologic data we collect.

	 This newsletter contains articles discussing some of the data storage and dissemination efforts of the USGS. The first article

highlights the new version of the Illinois Water Science Center annual data report, while another article discusses the efforts by

USGS to store and disseminate ecological data collected as part of the ongoing National Water-Quality Assessment Program.

Several members of the USGS Illinois Water Science Center staff have played unique and crucial roles in the development of

these two data dissemination efforts over the years. I hope you enjoy these articles.


Each year, the USGS publishes annual reports to provide

water-resources data to the public. Data have been published

over the years in various formats and media. The USGS began

publishing water-resources data starting with the “Tenth Annual

Report of the U.S. Geological Survey to the Secretary of the

Interior, Part 2: 1888–1889.” From 1896 to 1960, water resources

data were published by river basin in USGS Water-Supply

Papers. From 1961 to 2005, water-resources data were published

by each State in paper USGS Water-Data Reports. To improve

data accessibility, the USGS Illinois Water Science Center began

around 1998 publishing interactive Water-Data Reports in digital

format. The mostrecent interactive Water-DataReportforIllinois

is available on compact disc (CD) and on the Web at http://pubs.

usgs.gov/wdr/2005/wdr-il-05/start.htm. USGS headquarters

recently decided to provide data from all States in a consistent

format. Starting with the 2006 water year, a National Water-Data

Report is available on the Web at http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/

wdr2006 (fig. 1). This report provides data in a consistent format

for all data-collection sites in the United States.

	 The homepage of the National Water-Data Report provides

a way to search for data across the country by State, county,

river basin, or data collections. To select a data site, for example,

choose the radio button “Search by Site Number” and enter the

site number. If data are available, the site number and name will

appear below the search window. Selecting the site number will

provide a description, a data table, and a graph of the data (fig.

2). The homepage also provides a map link (Mapper), a link to

documentation for the report (Documentation), and a link to

additional sources of information (Related Information).

	 Data can be obtained by using the link “Mapper” (fig. 3)

from the homepage, which is an interactive map showing the

location of data sites. The map includesfeaturessuch as counties,

municipalities, roads, and streams. Some of the navigation

functions of the map include zooming, panning, and selecting.

To obtain data, choose the “Identify Sites” icon and select a site

from the map. Then choose, “Download data for this Site in PDF

Format” to obtain the data.

	 Documentation for the National Report is available as a

link on the homepage. It consists of introductory text similar to

that provided in previous Water-Data Reports. General topics

described in thissection include (1) downstream order and station

number, (2) numbering system for wells and miscellaneous

records, (3) explanation of stage and water-discharge records,

New Annual Report Improves Data Consistency

by

John K. LaTour, Hydrologist

Figure 1. National Water-Data Report. Figure 2. Result of a search based on site number.


Figure 3. Interactive Mapper.

(4) explanation of precipitation records, (5) explanation of waterquality records,(6)surface-water-quality records,(7) explanation

of ground-water-level records, (8) ground-water-quality data, (9)

definition of terms, and (10) hydrologic conditions.

	 A “Related Information” link is available from the

homepage that provides additionalsources of information related

to USGS data and publications. From this link, you can access

an extensive source of historical and real-time data through the

National Water Information System Web site: http://waterdata.

usgs.gov/nwis, or look at past Annual Water-Data Reports. You

can contact a Water Science Center, view a summary of science

activities in your State, do a search of publications through the

USGS publications warehouse, or view the Techniquesfor WaterResources Investigations (TWRI) reports. The TWRI’s describe

the methods used to collect water-resources data. Information is

also available about special data networks and programs, such

as the Hydrologic Benchmark Program, the National Stream

Quality Accounting Network, the National Trends Network for

Monitoring Atmospheric Deposition, the National Water-Quality

Assessment Program, and the National Streamflow Information

Program.

	 Additional information about data presented in the National

Water-Data Report and other USGS reports can be obtained by

contacting the USGS Illinois Water Science Center by mail at

1201 West University Avenue, Suite 100, Urbana, Illinois 61801-

2347, by telephone at (217) 344-0037, or by visiting our Web

site at http://il.water.usgs.gov.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

Gary P. Johnson

(Chief, Hydrologic Data Collection 

and Analysis Section)

Gary Johnson serves as the Chief

of the Hydrologic Data Collection and

Analysis Section of the USGS, Illinois

Water Science Center. As “Data Chief,”

his current duties include oversight and administration of the

entire streamgage network throughout the State of Illinois,

with an annual budget of over $2.4 million.

	 Gary holds a BS degree in General Engineering from the

University of Illinois (U of I) at Urbana-Champaign. While

in school at the U of I, he worked as a Hydrologic Aid at

the USGS and was hired full-time in 1990 after graduation.

Before becoming Data Chief in 2004, Gary was involved in

a variety of surface-water quantity, bathymetric, and surfacewater quality projects. Gary has been the project chief of the

Illinois Sediment Project since 1993, with the responsibility

of monitoring sediment loads at several strategic locations in

Illinois. He also was project chief of numerous other waterresources projects with an emphasis on sediment, nutrient,

and pesticide transport in waterways and lakes. Gary recently

was involved in extensive research of water-mixing patterns

and water-quality effects from aeration and mixing of lakes.

During his 18-year career, Gary has authored or co-authored

24 USGS scientific reports.

	 Gary feels strongly that basic hydrologic data is the

foundation for water resources endeavors. He also feels that

those data are often taken for granted by many in research,

consulting, and water resources. In his current position,

he sees first hand the diversity of users and applications of

USGS streamflow data. Whether its an emergency manager

using USGS data to decide whether to evacuate during a

flood, a highway engineer using USGS data to design a

bridge, a community planner using USGS data to determine

the boundaries of a development, or a local fisherman using

USGS data to determine when and where to fish, Gary knows

that USGS data has a profound impact on people’s lives, but

few fully appreciate it. Thus, one of his goals as Data Chief

is to spread the word about USGS streamgaging data, and to

develop broad and diverse appreciation and support.

	 Gary grew up around Peoria, Illinois. His family owned

and operated a trucking business that hauled U.S. Mail, heavy

equipment, and agricultural products, in addition to operating

a family farming operation. In his spare time, Gary loves the

outdoors(hunting, fishing, and camping), is an avid Illinisports

fan, and has continued to be involved in agriculture. He still

independently farms some of his family’s acreage in DeWitt

County. He and his wife, Renee Monfort, raise Standardbred

harness racing horses at his home in rural Mahomet, Illinois.

They also enjoy pleasure horses and other outdoor activities

along with their two daughters, Kathryn (9) and Meredith (7).


Serving and Storing NAWQA Ecological Data

by

Mitchell A. Harris, Ecologist

The USGS’s National Water-Quality Assessment

(NAWQA) Program collects biological community samples

(fish, invertebrates, and algae) in streams as part of ecological

studies. Information from these ecological studies, together with

chemical and physical data, provide an integrated assessment of

water quality at local, regional, and national scales.

	 The NAWQA Program follows the standard business practice of having two types of data managementsystems(warehouse

and transactional) to collect, manage, and distribute ecological

data. The NAWQA data warehouse stores data in order to generate information to make decisions and to serve data to the public.

The Biological Transactional Database, known as BioTDB, the

transactional or production data system, is designed to support

day-to-day operations of the organization, like handling the data

input processes.

NAWQA Data Warehouse: The Public Face of Ecological 

Data

	 The NAWQA data warehouse contains data for environmental samples collected by the NAWQA program. Overall, the

warehouse contains data for about 7,600 surface-water sites and

8,100 wells across the country. Collectively, these data represent about 14 million records in the data warehouse. Biological

community data for nearly 16,000 fish, algae, and invertebrate

samples are available in the warehouse. Sampling approaches

for these samples vary depending on the biological community

that is targeted (such as fish) and the sampling objectives (for

instance, generating a list of taxa that are present or estimating

the proportional abundance of each taxon). A USGS publication,

“Data Delivery and Mapping Over the Web: National WaterQuality Assessment Data Warehouse,” showcasing the features

and capabilities of the NAWQA Data Warehouse Web site is

available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3101. The data warehouse Web page at http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/data has additional information about the variety and complexity of the data

that are available.

	 Data warehouse users can access the information contained

in the data warehouse using a series of selection windows. To retrieve a biological dataset from the data warehouse and copy the

resulting table to a local computer, users select Bio Community

link from the “RETRIEVE DATA” section of the data warehouse

home page. A new viewer window appears that allows the user to

choose output options and fill in search-criteria parameters (fig.

1). The retrieval types for fish, invertebrate, and algal communities include sample count, taxonomic list, and sample abundance

(fig.2).

BioTDB: Behind the Scenes

	 BioTDB is the centralized database system for storing,

maintaining, and distributing NAWQA ecology data. It is the

locus for long-term maintenance of data, and the master source

for the NAWQA Data Warehouse and other external databases.

NAWQA biologistsinstall a client application on their computers

to connect to the central database. Through a variety of screens,

biologists enter their field-collected data into the system, send

electronic sample processing work orders to taxonomic laboratories, and use an interactive data-check system (fig. 3) to help

ensure data accuracy and completeness. NAWQA biologists can

also export their data in formats designed for data analysis applications. BioTDB assists data managers in tracking samples

sent to laboratories for processing and uploading the data from

the labs.

USGS Illinois Water Science Center Connection

	 Based in the USGS Illinois Water Science Center, Mitchell Harris serves as the Assistant Data Manager for BioTDB. His management activities include planning and implementing required system maintenance and

upgrades, assuring the integrity and quality of the database, and

evaluating and implementing new user requirements. Mitch also

provides user support, including answering user questions, designing training exercises, and updating the user guide and Web

pages.

Figure 1. NAWQA Data Warehouse options for retrieving

biological data.


Future of BioTDB

	 Presently, data warehouse and BioTDB personnel are engaged in several

activities to ensure efficient

data access and improve data

quality. For example, in the

future, NAWQA biologists

can expect to use electronic

field forms on ruggedized

computers to enter data

streamside. Electronic field

forms will allow automated

data checking in the field and

batch-loading to the central

database that can reduce the

time required for data entry

and data checking.

Figure 2. Several views of fish, invertebrate, and algal community retrievals listing

sample counts, taxonomic list, and sample

adundance.

Figure 3. The BioTDB interactive data-check system.


Daily mean discharge from April 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007 compared with percentile distribution of

mean daily discharged for the 30-year period, 1961-90, for 3 representative streamgaging stations. A daily

mean discharge is in the deficient-flow if its value is less than or equal to the 25th percentile, in the normal-flow

range if its value is between 25th and 75th percentiles, and in the excessive-flow range if its value is equal to or

greater than the 75th percentile.

Illinois Streamflow Conditions for April 2006 through March 2007


U.S. Geological Survey Real-Time Sewer Flow Monitoring

by

James J. Duncker, Hydrologist

The USGS has long had the mission of providing and publishing streamflow

measurements for open-channel streams in Illinois and throughout the United

States. Most ofthe data are provided on a real-time basis on the Internet(see article

in this issue by J.K. LaTour). There are currently (2007) nearly 200 streamflow

monitoring gages in Illinois and approximately 7,300 streamflow-monitoring

gages in the United States. As part of this effort, the USGS has worked advance

measurement technologies. An outgrowth of this work has been the development,

testing, and application of acoustic flowmeters to sewer (both sanitary and storm)

flow measurement.

	 Recent sewer flow monitoring work that is being done by the USGS in

conjunction with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

(MWRDGC), includes the use of satellite telemetry to provide real-time Internet

accessto continuously collected water-level, velocity, and flow data in sanitary and

combined-sewers that lead to the MWRDGC’s Deep Tunnel drop shafts. Realtime access to the sewer flow data allows for efficient storm sampling and rapid

assessment of sewer flow. The USGS

is interested in conducting this and

similar projects to further develop and

refine the state-of-the-art monitoring

of flows for activities such as waterquality or flood-hazard assessments.

USGS and MWRDGC personnel making a confined-space entry for installation of an acoustic

sewer flowmeter.

MWRDGC drop shaft DS-6 and USGS

instrument enclosure at Mt. Prospect,

Illinois. Note the solar panel and satellite antenna located above enclosure on

the pole.

Sewer DS-1 (Melas Park at

Arlington Heights, Illinois) realtime flow data available on the

Internet at il.water.usgs.gov.

If you have a need for this type of sewer monitoring and

would be interested in working with the USGS or have any

questions regarding this type of work, please contact Bob Holmes

at (217) 344-0037, extension 3005 or e-mail bholmes@usgs.gov.

solar panel

satellite antenna


Listed below are publications that were published

recently. Federal Fiscal Year (FY) covers October 1

through September 30. Our policy is to provide copies

of our publications to requestors at no cost as long as the

publication is in stock in the USGS Illinois Water Science

Center. To obtain copies of the following, or any other

USGS Illinois Water Science Center publication, you may

contact Donna Ayers at (217) 344-0037, extension 3053 or

by e-mail at dmayers@usgs.gov.

Reports also can be found at the USGS Publications

Warehouse at: http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/pubs/

FY 2006-07

SIR 2006-5016, Suspended-Sediment Yields and StreamChannel Processes on Judy’s Branch Watershed in

the St. Louis Metro East Region in Illinois, by T.D.

Straub, G.P. Johnson, D.P. Roseboom, and C.R.

Sierra.

	 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5016/)

SIR 2006-5018, Computation and Error Analysis of

Discharge for the Lake Michigan Diversion Project

in Illinois: 1997-99 Water Years, by J.J. Duncker,

T.M. Over, and J.A. Gonzalez (Web-only). 

	 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5018/)

SIR 2006-5076, Hydrogeology, Water Use, and Simulated

Ground-Water Flow and Availability in Campton

Township, Kane County, Illinois, by R.T. Kay, L.D.

Arihood, T.L. Arnold, and K.K. Fowler (Web only).

	 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5076/)

SIR 2006-5078, Concentrations, Fluxes, and Yields of

Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Suspended Sediment in

the Illinois River Basin, 1996-2000, by P.J. Terrio.

	 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5078/)

OFR 2006-1045, Geology, Hydrology, and Water Quality

in the Glacial Drift Aquifer in the Vicinity of the

Nelson Landfill near Yorkville, Illinois, by R.T. Kay

(Web only).

	 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1045/)

OFR 2006-1248, Watershed Data Management (WDM)

Database for Salt Creek Streamflow Simulation,

Du Page County, Illinois, by E.A. Murphy and A.L.

Ishii.

	 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1248/)

OFR 2006-1430, Sensitivity of Potential Evapotranspiration

and Simulated Flow to Varying Meteorological

Inputs, Salt Creek Watershed, DuPage County,

Illinois, by D. Whitbeck.

	 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1430/)

SIR 2006-5158, Sediment Coring and Sedimentation

Analysis on Rasmussen Lake in Ethel’s Woods

Forest Preserve near Old Mill Creek, Illinois in

2005, by T.D. Straub, D.P. Roseboom, and P.G.

Dennis (Web only).

(http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5158/)

USGS Illinois Water Science Center Publications

USGS Illinois Water Science Center Staff, Dec. 2006

Our staff is composed of hydrologists, hydrologic technicians, geologists, cartographers, geographers, support

personnel, ecologists, IT and computer specialists, and

students. The Illinois Water Science Center has offices

in De Kalb, Urbana, and Mt. Vernon. The picture at left

shows some of the staff at a recent retirement luncheon

for Tom Wicker (front center in tan sweater).