Data in this release were collected and computed to evaluate the occurrence of pesticides in shallow groundwater in the state of Alabama. Additionally, these data support interpretation in Gill (2023) for a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries. During 2009-2020, samples were collected from twenty-four wells located near agricultural land use in Alabama and evaluated for concentrations of agricultural pesticides and pesticide degradates. Most data produced from the sampling effort are available from the publicly accessible USGS National Water Information System (NWIS; U.S. Geological Survey, 2023). For certain pesticide compounds, data were combined from multiple analytical methods to provide a longer period of record in order to evaluate changes in concentrations and occurrence through time. All groundwater quality data used in Gill (2023), including supporting quality assurance datasets, are included in this data release. References: Gill, A.C., 2023, Pesticide occurrence in shallow groundwater near areas of agricultural land use in Alabama, 2009-2020: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2023-xxxx, xx p., https://doi.org/xxxx. U.S. Geological Survey, 2023, National Water Information System data available on the World Wide Web (USGS Water Data for the Nation), accessed April 21, 2023, at http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN.

This dataset consists of drainage basin boundaries for 212 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stream sites sampled in the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, the National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN), and the National Monitoring Network (NMN). Of the 212 sites, 206 have either a contributing or total drainage basin boundary, and the remaining 6 have both a total drainage basin boundary and a smaller contributing basin boundary. Collectively, these 218 basin boundaries have been used in a geographic information system (GIS) to generate basin characteristics for the assessment of trends in concentrations of pesticides streams of the United States.

In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study of more than 50 major river basins across the Nation as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) project of the National Water-Quality Program. One of the major goals of the NAWQA project is to determine how water-quality conditions change over time. To support that goal, long-term consistent and comparable monitoring has been conducted on streams and rivers throughout the Nation. Outside of the NAWQA project, the USGS also has collected long-term water-quality data to support additional assessments of changing water-quality conditions. These data have been combined to provide insight into how natural features and human activities have contributed to water-quality changes over time in Nation’s streams and rivers. This USGS data release contains all of the input and output files necessary to reproduce the results from the SEAWAVE-Q pesticide models described in the associated U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report. Data preparation for input to the model is also fully described in the above mentioned report.

This data release provides preliminary estimates of annual agricultural use of pesticide compounds in counties of the conterminous United States, for the year 2019, compiled by means of methods described in Thelin and Stone (2013) and Baker and Stone (2015). For all States except California, U.S. Department of Agriculture county-level data for harvested-crop acreage were used in conjunction with proprietary Crop Reporting District-level pesticide-use data to estimate county-level pesticide use. Where Crop Reporting District data were not available or were incomplete, estimated pesticide-use values were calculated with two different methods, resulting in a low and a high estimate based on different assumptions about missing survey data (Thelin and Stone, 2013). Pesticide-use data for California were obtained from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation Pesticide Use Reporting (DPR–PUR) database (California Department of Pesticide Regulation, written commun., 2020). The California county data were appended after the estimation process was completed for the rest of the Nation. Preliminary estimates in this dataset may be revised upon availability of updated crop acreages in the 2022 Agricultural Census, expected to be published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2024. Estimates of annual agricultural pesticide use are provided as downloadable, tab-delimited files, organized by compound, year, state Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, county FIPS code, and amount in kilograms. Tables of annual agricultural pesticide-use estimates beginning in 1992 are available for download on the Pesticide National Synthesis Project webpage: https://doi.org/doi:10.5066/F7NP22KM. Beginning in 2019, estimates are reported for a reduced number of compounds. References cited: Baker, N.T., and Stone, W.W., 2015, Estimated annual agricultural pesticide use for counties of the conterminous United States, 2008–12: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 907, 9 p., accessed July 12, 2015, at https://doi.org/10.3133/ds907. Thelin, G.P., and Stone, W.W., 2013, Estimation of annual agricultural pesticide use for counties of the conterminous United States, 1992–2009: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5009, 54 p., accessed July 12, 2015, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5009/.

This data release includes tables and plots of results for pesticide compounds (pesticides and degradates) analyzed in groundwater samples collected by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Project during water years 2013-18 and in associated quality-control samples that are used to assess the quality of the reported pesticide results. All samples were analyzed by the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) using laboratory schedule 2437. The table of groundwater data includes pesticide results as reported by the laboratory, along with results that represent the application of censoring levels at the 90-percent upper confidence limit of the 95th percentile of laboratory blank concentrations determined by water year. The other seven tables included in this data release contain pesticide results for the following types of quality-control samples: field blanks, matrix spikes, and replicates collected at field sites; laboratory blanks and reagent spikes prepared by the NWQL; and third-party blind blanks and blind spikes prepared by the USGS Quality Systems Branch. The table of pesticide results for field matrix spikes includes the paired groundwater results and other fields needed to calculate spike recovery as described in the data processing steps of the metadata file. The table of pesticide results for field replicates includes the paired groundwater results and other fields needed to calculate variability in detection and (or) concentration as described in the data processing steps of the metadata file. Results included in this data release for laboratory reagent spikes are for water year 2018 only; results for laboratory reagent spikes analyzed in water years 2013-15 are available in Shoda and others (2017) and in water years 2016-17 are available in Wieben (2019). Useful graphical representations of data in the tables are provided in various plots that compare detections and concentrations for groundwater and blank samples, compare recovery results for the different spike types, and illustrate variability in replicate-sample results across concentration ranges. Shoda, M.E., Nowell, L.H., Bexfield, L.M., Sandstrom, M.W., Stone, W.W., 2017, Recovery data for surface water, groundwater and lab reagent samples analyzed by the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory schedule 2437, water years 2013-15: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7QZ28G4. Wieben, C.M., 2019, Pesticide recovery data for surface-water and lab reagent samples analyzed by the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory schedule 2437, water years 2016-17: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P93MWMVF. There are 8 tables included in this data release: Table1_GroundwaterData2013_2018.xlsx -- Pesticide results for groundwater samples collected by the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, 2013-18. This table includes pesticide results as reported by the laboratory, along with results that represent the application of censoring levels at the 90-percent upper confidence limit of the 95th percentile of laboratory blank concentrations determined by water year. Results that were rejected for data analysis for reasons described in the metadata document and in the associated Scientific Investigations Report are flagged. Table2_FieldBlankData2013_2018.xlsx -- Pesticide results for field blanks collected at groundwater sites by the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, 2013-18. Results that were rejected for data analysis for reasons described in the metadata document and in the associated Scientific Investigations Report are flagged. Table3_FieldSpikeData2013_2018.xlsx -- Pesticide results for field matrix spikes collected at groundwater sites by the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, 2013-18. Results of paired groundwater samples are included. Results that were rejected for data analysis for reasons described in the metadata document and in the associated Scientific Investigations Report are flagged.

This data release provides preliminary estimates of annual agricultural use of pesticide compounds in counties of the conterminous United States, for the year 2018, compiled by means of methods described in Thelin and Stone (2013) and Baker and Stone (2015). For all States except California, U.S. Department of Agriculture county-level data for harvested-crop acreage were used in conjunction with proprietary Crop Reporting District-level pesticide-use data to estimate county-level pesticide use. Where Crop Reporting District data were not available or were incomplete, estimated pesticide-use values were calculated with two different methods, resulting in a low and a high estimate based on different assumptions about missing survey data (Thelin and Stone, 2013). Pesticide-use data for California were obtained from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation Pesticide Use Reporting (DPR–PUR) database (California Department of Pesticide Regulation, 2020). The California county data were appended after the estimation process was completed for the rest of the Nation. Preliminary estimates in this dataset may be revised upon availability of updated crop acreages in the 2022 Agricultural Census, expected to be published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2024. Estimates of annual agricultural pesticide use are provided as downloadable, tab-delimited files, organized by compound, year, state Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, county FIPS code, and amount in kilograms. Tables of annual agricultural pesticide-use estimates beginning in 1992 are available for download on the Pesticide National Synthesis Project webpage: https://doi.org/doi:10.5066/F7NP22KM. References cited: Baker, N.T., and Stone, W.W., 2015, Estimated annual agricultural pesticide use for counties of the conterminous United States, 2008–12: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 907, 9 p., accessed July 12, 2015, at https://doi.org/10.3133/ds907. California Department of Pesticide Regulation, 2020, Pesticide use reporting (PUR): California Department of Pesticide Regulation Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR), Pesticide Use Report Data (PUR archives pur2018.zip), accessed December 29, 2020, at http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pur/purmain.htm. Thelin, G.P., and Stone, W.W., 2013, Estimation of annual agricultural pesticide use for counties of the conterminous United States, 1992–2009: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5009, 54 p., accessed July 12, 2015, at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2013/5009/.

These datasets are one component of the multistressor studies conducted in Midwest streams in 2013 (MSQA) and in Southeast streams in 2014 (SESQA) by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Project. High-frequency small-volume autosamplers were deployed at 7 sites each in MSQA and SESQA that collected daily and weekly composite water samples, which were analyzed for 225 pesticides and pesticide degradates. Five of the MSQA autosampler sites were in agricultural watersheds and two in urban watersheds, whereas all seven SESQA autosampler sites were in urban watersheds. The daily and weekly composite samples were compared with results from traditional discrete water samples collected weekly at the sites. Mixtures of pesticides were present in most samples and the Pesticide Toxicity Index (PTI) and acute invertebrate benchmarks were used to evaluate the potential for acute invertebrate toxicity of mixtures. This Data Release provides concentration data for pesticide compounds in environmental weekly and daily composite water samples, pesticide analyte information, summaries of quality control data, and PTI scores, in support of the journal article “Daily-composite stream samples reveal highly complex pesticide occurrence and potential toxicity to aquatic life,” by Norman, J.E., Mahler, B.J., Nowell, L.H., Van Metre, P.C., Sandstrom, M.W., Corbin, M.A., Qian, Y., Pankow, J.F., Luo, W., Fitzgerald, N.B., Asher, W.E., and McWhirter, K.J.

This dataset presents the results of 475 unique organic compounds collected from 54 wadeable streams within the Southeastern, USA, collected within 10 weeks during 2014. Maximum and median exposure conditions were evaluated in relation to watershed characteristics and for potential biological effects. This dataset contains the summary statistics (maximum and median concentrations)of detected compounds, as well as a summary of quality-assurance (blanks and replicates) samples. Also included are the statistical summaries as related to analyte specific contaminant detection/concentration data and site-specific land-use matrices, spearman-rank correlations, and ToxCast evaluations.

The National Water Quality Network (NWQN) for Rivers and Streams includes 111 surface-water river and stream sites monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Quality Program, National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project. The NWQN includes 20 large river coastal sites, 41 large river inland sites, 30 wadeable stream reference sites, 10 wadeable stream urban sites, and 10 wadeable stream agricultural sites. In addition to the 111 NWQN sites, 3 large inland river monitoring sites from the USGS Cooperative Water Program are also included in this annual water-quality reporting Web site to be consistent with previous USGS studies of nutrient transport in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin. This data release provides streamflow, nutrient, pesticide and sediment data collected and analyzed by NWQN and other historical water-quality networks from 1963-2017. Data from this release are presented at the USGS Tracking Water Quality page: http://cida.usgs.gov/quality/rivers/home.

Surface-water organic contaminant concentration data for targeted chemical analysis of over 800 organic analytes in surface water from 38 stream site representing national gradients in urban and agricultural land use in the USA during 2012-14. ScienceBase Data Release for journal article entitled, "Expanded Target-Chemical Analysis Reveals Extensive Mixed-Organic-Contaminant Exposure in USA Streams"