USGS New England Water Science Center

09/04/2026

Let's take a look at something wild today!

Wildlife habitat is connected by water. Natural resource managers use USGS water science to ensure that public infrastructure does not limit the movement and stability of fish and wildlife. From fish and amphibians in streams and ponds to birds, mammals, insects and snails that depend on wetlands -- New England water science helps people understand and protect the waters that sustain wildlife habitat presently and beyond.

📸: A bald eagle perched on a tree. Credit: USGS
📸: A New England cottontail resting in tall grass. Credit: Public Domain

09/02/2026

🌧️ What happens when intense rainfall overwhelms drainage systems or the ground's ability to absorb the water? Known as pluvial flooding, the water pools and collects on the ground surface and it can cause real problems!

💧USGS scientists are working with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to develop new tools that visualize both riverine and pluvial flooding across Massachusetts.

💧USGS is developing these river-flood maps using hydraulic models while also modeling how intense rainfall can move and pool across the landscape. The resulting maps will support flood planning and emergency management.

🔎Learn more about this project here: https://ow.ly/p26050ZAzgR

📸: The Connecticut River in Montague City, Massachusetts, overflowed near USGS streamgage 01170500 in July 2023. Credit: USGS

08/26/2026

🌧️ Real-time information is vital during heavy rainstorms. ⛈️

USGS streamgages across New England collect measurements that track the water levels of rivers and streams every 15 minutes -- so the public can see how our waterways respond to storms.

These streamflow data support National Weather Service flood forecasts, emergency response efforts, and bridge and culvert infrastructure planning.

You can explore current conditions at USGS monitoring locations anytime through the National Water Dashboard: https://ow.ly/cGRe50ZAw71

📸: The Penobscot River in Grindstone, Maine, near USGS station 01029500 overflowed in December 2023. Credit: USGS

08/25/2026

08/24/2026

For National Hydropower Day, let's chat about how the USGS's streamgaging network and hydropower go hand in hand! 🤝

Because hydropower facilities require a certain amount of water flowing through the turbines to create electricity, hydropower plants use streamgage data to help manage their generation!

Streamgage data allows them to:

🔵 predict water availability
🔵 coordinate when to release water from reservoirs
🔵 determine when to increase or decrease power generation
🔵 verify that they are releasing enough water downstream to meet the minimum amount required for optimal water quality, aquatic habitat, and recreational activities

📸: Manville Dam, Lincoln, Rhode Island. Credit: USGS

08/19/2026

🖥️USGS water data is continuing to advance!📈

The U.S. Geological Survey will enter its final phase of decommissioning its legacy water information pages and transitioning them to our new Water Data for the Nation pages this fall! 🎉

All remaining National Water Information System Web pages will retire by February 2027. Read more about the last NWISWeb Decommissioning Campaign here to see what will change: https://ow.ly/huMR50ZyUuq

Additional comments or questions can be emailed to [email protected].

A webinar explaining next steps will be coming in the fall. Stay tuned! 📺

📸: Screenshot of the USGS National Water Dashboard. Credit: USGS

08/17/2026

💧Clear as Mud?💧

Turbidity is the visual measurement of water clarity. Whenever there is a large storm that churns up a lot of suspended sediment into the water column or sends dirt and debris from the land into the river, the water no longer remains clear. Therefore, turbidity is the measure of how cloudy or "turbid" the water is!

This photo of the Connecticut River after a high-flood event upstream in Vermont in the summer of 2023 shows how bank erosion from massive amounts of rainfall and large volumes of swirling water can make a river highly turbid.

📸: The Connecticut River in July 2023. Credit: USGS

08/14/2026

Like hard-boiled detectives, USGS scientists are taking a closer look...at the water quality of Connecticut's bays and estuaries. 🔎🛶

The long-term records at specific sites will paint a bigger picture for decision-makers as to what areas, or areas upstream, may need greater nutrient management or restoration support.

Water quality parameters were collected near the Farm River Marina in East Haven, Connecticut, as part of a larger water quality monitoring project along the state's coastline. Data for this project will inform upstream management of nutrients, including nitrogen that can cause algal blooms and other habitat deterioration when in excess.

Learn more about the other water quality monitoring sites for this project here: https://ow.ly/B1Wm50Zx00w

📸: USGS hydrologic technicians obtaining data from the Farm River in East Haven, CT. Credit: USGS

08/13/2026

As above, so below?

A new USGS study evaluates trends in groundwater and low streamflow across the United States, 1980-2020.

Climate, land-use, and disturbance are driving long-term global trends in groundwater levels and streamflow. At large scales, these trends are typically considered separately, but a new USGS study integrated trends in groundwater and surface water for a more holistic understanding of the drivers of water availability over large spatial scales.

Key findings:

💧 At individual sites, low streamflow tended to increase while groundwater levels tended to decline.

💧 When aggregated to larger regions and evaluated over longer time periods, trends in groundwater and surface water quantity aligned more closely, although a pattern of increasing low flow and declining groundwater persisted.

💧 The strongest agreement between surface and groundwater trends emerged when sites were grouped by Hydrologic Landscape Regions.

Learn more about integrated water availability analyses, and how groundwater and streamflow don’t always respond to drivers of change in the same way - https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/news/above-so-below-trends-groundwater-and-streamflow-across-united

📷 1: USGS hydrographer makes an acoustic streamflow measurement from a cableway on the East Fork Carson River below Markleeville Creek, near Markleeville, CA. Credit: Bryce Redlinger, USGS.

📷 2 & 3: Maps adapted from Johnson and Walvoord, 2026. DOI: 10.1088/3033-4942/ae89dd

08/12/2026

Interested in learning more about the quality of water, and what that means exactly?

All water can be influenced by:
💡chemicals dissolving into it (such as acid rain or mercury contaminated groundwater)
💡physical properties (such as too much sediment churning in a river)
💡biological (such as high levels of bacteria in a lake)

Learn all about how water is influenced by natural and human-caused processes on our USGS Water Science School - Water Quality page:
https://ow.ly/yB9W50ZwZte

USGS has got you covered! 💧

📸: A hydrologic technician testing the water quality of a creek. Credit: USGS