Short answers, pulled from the story.
Congress authorized the United States Geological Survey on the 3rd of March 1879. This legislation emerged from a report by the National Academy of Sciences regarding vast lands acquired through the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican American War.
The agency maintains its headquarters in Reston, Virginia. It also operates major offices near Lakewood, Colorado, at the Denver Federal Center, and within NASA Research Park in California.
Clarence King became the first director of this newly formed organization. He assembled the USGS from disparate regional survey agencies that had existed in various states since the mid-1800s.
The streamgauging network for the United States includes over 7400 stream gauges providing real-time data online. Real-time streamflow information is available through the National Streamflow Information Program database.
Five volcano observatories operate throughout the United States to monitor volcanic activity including the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the California Volcano Observatory, the Cascades Volcano Observatory, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.