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Web Tools

The USGS has developed the following web tools to improve situational awareness of drought conditions from the local to global scales and help decision-makers manage and mitigate its effects on communities, economies, and ecosystems.

Filter Total Items: 16

Soil Moisture Levels in the Upper Feather River Watershed Soil Moisture Levels in the Upper Feather River Watershed

Explore real-time soil moisture data by clicking on each point. Access site-specific USGS NWIS Water Data pages for time-series data on soil temperature, electrical conductance, and moisture. Some sites also include NRCS soil profile descriptions.

Runoff Estimates for California Runoff Estimates for California

Streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs are important natural resources for irrigation, public supply, wetlands and wildlife. Excess precipitation that flows into these sources is called runoff, and it's an important drought indicator. The California Water Science Center tracks both monthly and annual runoff.

Pennsylvania Drought Condition Web Tool Pennsylvania Drought Condition Web Tool

The Pennsylvania Drought Condition Web Tool shows the current drought status for each county and hydrologic conditions for precipitation, streamflow, groundwater levels, and Palmer Drought Index used by PADEP for drought monitoring.

Colorado River Basin drought and the 2023 water year Colorado River Basin drought and the 2023 water year

How wet was 2023 when compared to historical averages? This geonarrative compares precipitation and streamflow amounts observed during the 2023 water year with historical conditions in the Colorado River Basin over the last 30 years. While the 2023 water year was a wet year with above-average precipitation at many locations, it was not uniformly good or record-setting.

Interactive Map: West Virginia Public Water System Drought Risk Interactive Map: West Virginia Public Water System Drought Risk

This application is intended to help emergency, environmental, and public health managers at the federal, state, and local levels in West Virginia evaluate, plan for, and respond to potential drought conditions in at-risk communities. It uses estimated public water supply withdrawal rates to symbolize modeled drought conditions once every hour using National Water Model streamflow estimates.

Science Data Catalog Science Data Catalog

The USGS Science Data Catalog provides seamless access to USGS research and monitoring data from across the nation. Users have the ability to search, browse, or use a map-based interface to discover data.

Colorado River Basin Projects Colorado River Basin Projects

The Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Team has created an interactive map of USGS projects to highlight the integrated science currently conducted within the Colorado River Basin. These projects are not all inclusive of the work conducted by the USGS within the CRB, but highlight the broad range of integrated science currently conducted.

Interactive Map: Northeast Region Drought Streamflow Probabilities Interactive Map: Northeast Region Drought Streamflow Probabilities

This application allows the display and query of drought probability. Maximum likelihood logistic regression is used to estimate drought probabilities for selected Northeast region streams.

Drought in the Colorado River Basin - Insights Using Open Data Drought in the Colorado River Basin - Insights Using Open Data

Since 2000, the Colorado River Basin has been experiencing a historic, extended drought that has impacted regional water supply and other resources, such as hydropower, recreation, and ecologic services. This visualization is part of a multi-agency effort to showcase the usefulness of open data by exploring the current 16-year drought and its effects on the Colorado River Basin.

California Drought, Visualized with Open Data California Drought, Visualized with Open Data

In 2017, the State of California was experiencing one of the most severe droughts on record, which has implications for citizens of California and beyond. This website graphically visualizes these data to help understand the effect of drought on rivers, streams, lakes, and reservoirs.

Drought & Groundwater in California Drought & Groundwater in California

Long-term groundwater-level data are fundamental to the resolution of problems dealing with groundwater availability and sustainability. Significant periods of time typically are required to collect water-level data needed to assess the effects of climate variability, to monitor the effects of regional aquifer development, or to obtain data sufficient for analysis of water-level trends.
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