Levels of dissolved trace and heavy metals, which can be toxic, are highly variable across the river basin, concentrating in urban areas with high pollution but diluted by inflow from tributaries.
Surface water quality
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Remote Sensing of Algal Blooms Can Improve Health and Save Money
Using satellites to detect cyanobacterial algal blooms can foster faster decision-making that reduces harm to public health as well as associated costs.
Posted inEditors' Vox
New Special Collection: Fire in the Earth System
Papers are invited for a new cross-journal special collection presenting advances in understanding the physical and biogeochemical processes associated with landscape fires and their impacts.
Posted inOpinions
New Clean Water Act Rule Leaves U.S. Waters Vulnerable
A revised definition of which waters can be protected from pollution by the federal government ignores established science.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
New Isotope Model Predicts Denitrification from Riparian Zones
A new model quantifies the relative contributions of denitrification and other processes of nitrogen uptake, such as by plants, from groundwater in riparian areas around streams.
Posted inNews
The Toxic Legacy of DDT Lives On in Remote Canadian Lakes
DDT and its breakdown products permeate lake sediments decades after the pesticide was banned.
Posted inNews
Antibiotics Are Flooding Earth’s Rivers
The drugs can lead to drug-resistant bacteria and deadly infections.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Understanding Stream Metabolism with Reactive Tracers
When the blue dye resazurin encounters living microorganisms, it transforms into fluorescent pink resorufin and helps scientists understand ecosystem respiration, but it has its limitations.
Posted inScience Updates
A Digital Mayfly Swarm Is Emerging
Low-cost, open-source data collectors and a suite of collaborative online tools are making big leaps in the field of watershed monitoring.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Acid Tongue of Climate Change Strikes Our Streams
Clear air policies have led to dramatic reductions in acid rain and improved ecosystem health, but it now appears that climate change could counteract those gains.