San Francisco Bay-Delta
The Bay-Delta is a nexus for challenging issues about water, ecosystems, and human use. USGS science helps address key problems and uncertainties.
The Bay-Delta is a nexus for challenging issues about water, ecosystems, and human use. USGS science helps address key problems and uncertainties.
Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center
How does Glen Canyon Dam affect downstream Colorado River resources?
How does Glen Canyon Dam affect downstream Colorado River resources?
Lake Tahoe
An underwater view of periphyton growing on rocks near the shore of Lake Tahoe with a reflection of the rocks on the water surface
An underwater view of periphyton growing on rocks near the shore of Lake Tahoe with a reflection of the rocks on the water surface
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is facing many challenges as inflows and water levels decline. USGS science helps identify problems and evaluate possible solutions.
The Salton Sea is facing many challenges as inflows and water levels decline. USGS science helps identify problems and evaluate possible solutions.
New Technologies for Mapping Surface Soil Moisture
Coastal Dwellers
Southwest Region
The Southwest Region covers Arizona, California, Nevada, and a portion of southern Oregon. Our scientists do a broad array of research and technical assistance throughout the U.S. and across the globe. The Regional Office, headquartered in Sacramento, provides Center oversight & support, facilitates internal & external collaborations, and works to further USGS strategic science direction.
News
Faults Beneath the Salton Sea: Assessing Past and Future Earthquake Behavior along Southern San Andreas Fault
Faults Beneath the Salton Sea: Assessing Past and Future Earthquake Behavior along Southern San Andreas Fault
Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA February 2025 Seminar
Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA February 2025 Seminar
USGS to invest $1.1 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to district-scale hyperspectral survey of Arizona, New Mexico
USGS to invest $1.1 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to district-scale hyperspectral survey of Arizona, New Mexico
Publications
Imperiled Great Basin terminal lakes: Synthesizing ecological and hydrological science gaps and research needs for waterbird conservation
Terminal lakes are declining globally because of human water demands, drought, and climate change. Through literature synthesis and feedback from the resource and conservation community, we review the state of research for terminal lakes in the Great Basin of the United States, which support millions of waterbirds annually, to prioritize ecological and hydrologic information needs. From...
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Water Availability and Use Science Program, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Nevada Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Utah Water Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment
Bees of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge—A preliminary report on a bee survey in a vulnerable semi-desert grassland of the Sonoran Desert
Pollinators are vital to the continued existence and seed production of about 87.5 percent of all flowering plants (Ollerton and others, 2011). In the semi-desert grasslands of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, in the Sonoran Desert of the United States, flowering forbs provide seed vital to the food base of wildlife, including the 136 species of resident and migratory birds using...
Analyzing spatial distributions and alignments of pitted cone features in Utopia Planitia on Mars
Martian geomorphology and surface features provide links to understanding past geologic processes such as fluid movement, local and regional tectonics, and feature formation mechanisms. Pitted cones are common features in the northern plains basins of Mars. They have been proposed to have formed from upwelling volatile-rich fluids, such as magma or water-sediment slurries. In this study...
Science
Prey Availability
Migratory wildlife need to balance the benefits of migration and reproduction with the physiological costs. This is particularly challenging in dynamic environments like wetlands, where food levels can vary greatly from year to year. For shorebirds in the Great Basin region, saline or terminal lakes provide essential habitats during their annual life cycle. To understand how changes in hydrology...
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Species Management Research Program, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center, Nevada Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Utah Water Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment
Conservation Efforts Database
The Conservation Efforts Database (CED) is a secure online data repository that collects, stores, and retrieves spatially explicit, spatially obscure, and non-spatial information on species and habitat conservation and management actions. The CED is designed to allow data collection from all interested partners including federal, state, local, non-government organizations, universities, private...
RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
The Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) seeks to assist U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other land management agencies in developing successful techniques for improving land condition in dryland ecosystems of the southwestern United States. Invasion by non-native species, wildfire, drought, and other disturbances are growing rapidly in extent and...