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Science Resources: Water and the Law

Further Resources

Drought and Water Scarcity

Drought has an immediate and longer-term impact on public health, the environment and water quality. These resources provide for a deeper dive into the science of drought and water scarcity.

  • U.S. Drought Monitor. A weekly historical drought index map developed and released by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, NOAA, and USDA. https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap.aspx
  • National Drought Mitigation Center. The education page for the NDMC highlights basic and in-depth information about the science of drought and drought prediction from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. https://drought.unl.edu/Education.aspx
  • Water Use in the United States. USGS publishes a circular every five years on the estimated water withdrawals in the United States. This webpage provides a means to track historic trends in water withdrawals by sector based on the information in those circulars. https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/water-use-united-states  
  • StreamStats. Spatial analytical tools used by water resources managers to evaluate high and low flows at sites on waterways around the country. https://streamstats.usgs.gov/ss/ 
  • WaterWatch. Toolkit created by USGS to monitor current and historical streamflow conditions around the country. Explores drought and flood history, as well as Flow-Duration-Curves based on historical data at hundreds of gages sites nationwide. https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/
  •  “2017 Potable Reuse Compendium.” USEPA, Washington, D.C., 2017. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-01/documents/potablereusecompendium_3.pdfA document compiling USEPA guidance for technical and regulatory resources for policymakers and water resources managers interested in considered water reuse as a water resource management alternative.
  • GRACE(-FO) Data Analysis Tool. A geospatial toolkit for viewing data on land subsidence, groundwater depletion, and much more from the GRACE-FO satellite missions. https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/data/data-analysis-tool/
  • Dillon, et al. (eds.), 2022, Managed Aquifer Recharge: Overview and Governance. IAH Special Publication. https://recharge.iah.org/ ISBN 978-1-3999-2814-4A report (available online) that provides an overview of the multiple regulatory and technical challenges facing MAR at an international scale.

Flooding

Flood management is a layered and complex enterprise involving scientific, regulatory, and legal perspectives. These resources provide further understanding of some of the tools, datasets, and methods available to those interested in managing flood risk in the United States.

Water Quality

Water quality is an integral—and scientifically complex—aspect of environmental law. The following resources provide for a fuller examination into the science of water quality.

The Science of Groundwater

Tracking the availability and movement of groundwater is an important aspect of the hydrologic cycle and is vital to understanding the role of groundwater in natural resources law and the CWA. These resources provide a closer analysis into the science of groundwater, as well as data on groundwater levels around the country.

  • Groundwater Information by Topic. This resource page was developed by the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) and provides a high-level overview of many key topics associated with groundwater science. Groundwater Information by Topic (usgs.gov)
  • Groundwater Atlas of the United States. This atlas was developed by USGS to provide a 2D representation of the hydrogeology of major aquifers in all fifty states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ha730. Further Geographic Information Systems data may be found at https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/principal-aquifers-united-states?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects
  • Konikow, L.F., 2013, Groundwater depletion in the United States (1900−2008): USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2013−5079, 63 p., http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5079. (Available only online.) A report detailing the rate and magnitude of groundwater depletion in the United States.
  • Winter, T., Harvey, J., Franke, O., and Alley, W., 1998. Groundwater and Surface Water: A Single Resource. USGS Circular 1139. [Chapter: Natural Processes of Groundwater and Surface Water Interaction]. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/circ1139/htdocs/natural_processes_of_ground.htm Comprehensive work showcasing common interactions between groundwater and surface water, including how groundwater contours can be used to identify direction of flow.
  • Groundwater-Surface Water Exchange. (Woessner, 2020). https://books.gw-project.org/groundwater-surface-water-exchange/ This book is available as part of the online content sponsored by The Groundwater Project. It provides a comprehensive overview of the different forms of surface water-groundwater interactions, as well as a chapter on the most up-to-date methods for testing those interactions.
  • Enviro Wiki. Groundwater Flow and Solute Transport—Enviro Wiki Developed by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, Enviro Wiki aims to make engineering research more accessible to environmental professionals. This particular webpage highlights concepts and equations related to groundwater flow and pollutant transport, including Darcy’s Law and the concepts of advection and dispersion.

Groundwater Pollution

Understanding the types of contaminants that impact groundwater quality, their sources, and how they spread through aquifers, is an important aspect of understanding the role of groundwater in the CWA. These resources provide a high-level overview of the science of groundwater quality, a list of common groundwater contaminants, and tools for modeling and mapping aquifer contamination over time.