Douglas L Moyer
Biography
Doug Moyer is the Associate Director for Studies and a Supervisory Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center in Richmond, VA. Doug has been involved with a wide variety of USGS water-resources investigations throughout the Chesapeake Bay region since 1998. A primary focus of his work has been on monitoring and modeling the fate and transport of nutrients and suspended sediment across multiple watershed scales throughout Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Doug holds a B.S. (1995) and M.S. (1998) degree in Biology from the University of New Mexico.
Science and Products
Updated 2020 Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Trends for the Nine Major Rivers Entering the Chesapeake Bay
Issue: The amount of nutrients and suspended sediment entering the Chesapeake Bay affect water-quality conditions in tidal waters. Excess nutrients contribute to algal blooms that lower the oxygen levels in tidal waters that are important for fish and shellfish. The algal blooms, along with suspended sediment, also decrease visibility in shallow waters for submerged aquatic...
USGS develops tool to further examine nutrient and sediment trends in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed the nontidal network mapper to share the short-term (2009-2018) water-year nutrient and suspended-sediment load and trend results for the Chesapeake Bay Program’s (CBP) non-tidal network (NTN). The network is a cooperative effort by USGS, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and agencies in the states of the Chesapeake watershed and...
USGS updates trends for nutrients and sediment in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Issue: The Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) nontidal network (NTN) consists of more than 100 stations throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Monitoring of nutrients, sediment, and flow is conducted to provide estimates of loads and trends in the watershed. The CBP uses the results to focus restoration strategies and track progress towards meeting nutrients and suspended-sediment...
Freshwater Flow into Chesapeake Bay
Explore resources here describing estimates of freshwater flow entering Chesapeake Bay.
The health of the Chesapeake Bay is greatly affected by freshwater flow from rivers draining its watershed. The amount of freshwater flow (also called streamflow) will:
• Change salinity levels in the Bay, which affect oysters, crabs, and finfish.
• Influence the...
Chesapeake Bay Estimated Streamflow: METHODS
Methods for Estimating Streamflow to Chesapeake Bay
The following is a description of how data presented on the website "Chesapeake Bay Estimated Streamflow" are computed.
Essentially, the methodology was published more than 51 years ago, and has been adapted for use in modern automated computing systems....
Chesapeake Bay Estimated Streamflow: WEBSITE HISTORY
by Brad Garner, Hydrologist USGS
This website originated as a dynamic web application (hereafter, simply webapp). That is, content such as data and graphs, were generated "on-the-fly" as requests were made by web-browser clients. This was made possible by automating the methods of Bue (1968), and by...
Streamflow in the Watershed and Entering the Chesapeake Bay
The health of the Chesapeake Bay, and streams in the watershed, are affected by changes in surface-water flows. Runoff from storms carries pollutants, such as nutrients, sediments, and toxic contaminants, into streams throughout the 64,000 square-mile watershed, which drain to the Bay. The changes of stream flow, and associated pollutant loads, influence habitat conditions for fisheries and...
Monitoring High-Priority Stream Crossings Along Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline Routes
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), is monitoring the water quality of multiple high-priority streams where natural gas pipeline crossings have been proposed. The purpose of the monitoring effort is to collect baseline water-quality data and, if the pipeline construction is approved, to monitor water quality in these...
James River Research Corridor: Mountains to Sea Innovative Water Quality Network
This successful partnership brings together Randolph-Macon College (RMC), Washington and Lee University (W&L), and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), in partnership with the US Geological Survey (USGS) to foster growth in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) through summer student internship experience, awareness of USGS science in the class room, and increased...
River Input Monitoring
The objective of this study is to provide concentrations and estimates of loads and trends of suspended solids, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other selected constituents at the James, Rappahannock, Appomattox, Pamunkey, and Mattaponi Rivers.
USGS-Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Model
The USGS is collaborating with the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) to incorporate the USGS Potomac Watershed and Chesapeake Bay Virginia Watershed models into Phase 5 of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model (CBWM)
Nutrient trends and drivers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
The Chesapeake Bay Program maintains an extensive nontidal monitoring network, measuring nitrogen and phosphorus (nutrients) at more than 100 locations on rivers and streams in the watershed. Data from these locations are used by United States Geological Survey to assess the ecosystem’s response to nutrient-reduction efforts. This fact sheet...
Hyer, Kenneth E.; Phillips, Scott W.; Ator, Scott W.; Moyer, Douglas L.; Webber, James S.; Felver, Rachel; Keisman, Jennifer L.; McDonnell, Lee A.; Murphy, Rebecca; Trentacoste, Emily M.; Zhang, Qian; Dennison, William C.; Swanson, Sky; Walsh, Brianne; Hawkey, Jane; Taillie, Dylan
An approach for decomposing river water-quality trends into different flow classes
A number of statistical approaches have been developed to quantify the overall trend in river water quality, but most approaches are not intended for reporting separate trends for different flow conditions. We propose an approach called FN2Q, which is an extension of the flow-normalization (FN) procedure of the well-established WRTDS (“Weighted...
Zhang, Qian; Webber, James S.; Moyer, Douglas L.; Chanat, Jeffrey G. Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
This review aims to synthesize the current knowledge of sediment dynamics using insights from long‐term research conducted in the watershed draining to the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S., to inform management actions to restore the estuary and its watershed. The sediment dynamics of the Chesapeake are typical of many impaired...
Noe, Gregory B.; Cashman, Matthew J.; Skalak, Katherine; Gellis, Allen; Hopkins, Kristina G.; Moyer, Douglas L.; Webber, James S.; Benthem, Adam; Maloney, Kelly O.; Brakebill, John; Sekellick, Andrew; Langland, Michael J.; Zhang, Qian; Shenk, Gary Wynee; Keisman, Jennifer L.D.; Hupp, Cliff R. Estimation of nonlinear water-quality trends in high-frequency monitoring data
Recent advances in high-frequency water-quality sensors have enabled direct measurements of physical and chemical attributes in rivers and streams nearly continuously. Water-quality trends can be used to identify important watershed-scale changes driven by natural and anthropogenic influences. Statistical methods to estimate trends using high-...
Yang, Guoxiang; Moyer, Douglas L. Estimation bias in water-quality constituent concentrations and fluxes: A synthesis for Chesapeake Bay rivers and streams
Flux quantification for riverine water-quality constituents has been an active area of research. Statistical approaches are often employed to make estimation for days without observations. One such approach is the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) method. While WRTDS has been used in many investigations, there is a...
Zhang, Qian; Blomquist, Joel; Moyer, Douglas L.; Chanat, Jeffrey G. Riverine discharges to Chesapeake Bay: Analysis of long-term (1927–2014) records and implications for future flows in the Chesapeake Bay basin
The Chesapeake Bay (CB) basin is under a total maximum daily load (TMDL) mandate to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loads to the bay. Identifying shifts in the hydro-climatic regime may help explain observed trends in water quality. To identify potential shifts, hydrologic data (1927–2014) for 27 watersheds in the CB basin were analyzed...
Rice, Karen C.; Moyer, Douglas L.; Mills, Aaron L. Decadal-scale export of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment from the Susquehanna River basin, USA: Analysis and synthesis of temporal and spatial patterns
The export of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and suspended sediment (SS) is a long-standing management concern for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA. Here we present a comprehensive evaluation of nutrient and sediment loads over the last three decades at multiple locations in the Susquehanna River basin (SRB), Chesapeake's largest tributary...
Zhang, Qian; Ball, William P.; Moyer, Douglas L.
U.S. Geological Survey Chesapeake science strategy, 2015-2025—Informing ecosystem management of America’s largest estuary
Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has the critical role of providing scientific information to improve the understanding and management of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The USGS works with Federal, State, and academic science partners to provide research and monitoring, and communicate results of these activities to enhance...
Phillips, Scott; Blomquist, Joel D.; Phillips, Scott; Blomquist, Joel D.; Bennett, Mark; Berlin, Alicia; Blazer, Vicki; Claggett, Peter R.; Faulkner, Stephen; Hyer, Kenneth; Ladino, Cassandra; Moyer, Douglas; Muir, Rachel; Noe, Gregory B.; Phillips, Patrick J.
Fluvial geomorphology and suspended-sediment transport during construction of the Roanoke River Flood Reduction Project in Roanoke, Virginia, 2005–2012
Beginning in 2005, after decades of planning, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) undertook a major construction effort to reduce the effects of flooding on the city of Roanoke, Virginia—the Roanoke River Flood Reduction Project (RRFRP). Prompted by concerns about the potential for RRFRP construction-induced geomorphological instability...
Jastram, John D.; Krstolic, Jennifer L.; Moyer, Douglas; Hyer, Kenneth Evaluation and application of regional turbidity-sediment regression models in Virginia
Conventional thinking has long held that turbidity-sediment surrogate-regression equations are site specific and that regression equations developed at a single monitoring station should not be applied to another station; however, few studies have evaluated this issue in a rigorous manner. If robust regional turbidity-sediment models can be...
Hyer, Kenneth; Jastram, John D.; Moyer, Douglas; Webber, James S.; Chanat, Jeffrey G.
Knowledge and understanding of dissolved solids in the Rio Grande–San Acacia, New Mexico, to Fort Quitman, Texas, and plan for future studies and monitoring
Availability of water in the Rio Grande Basin has long been a primary concern for water-resource managers. The transport and delivery of water in the basin have been engineered by using reservoirs, irrigation canals and drains, and transmountain-water diversions to meet the agricultural, residential, and industrial demand. In contrast, despite the...
Moyer, Douglas; Anderholm, Scott K.; Hogan, James F.; Phillips, Fred M.; Hibbs, Barry J.; Witcher, James C.; Matherne, Anne Marie; Falk, Sarah E.
Total nutrient and sediment loads, trends, yields, and nontidal water-quality indicators for selected nontidal stations, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985–2011
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partners, routinely reports long-term concentration trends and monthly and annual constituent loads for stream water-quality monitoring stations across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This report documents flow-adjusted trends in sediment and total nitrogen and phosphorus...
Langland, Michael J.; Blomquist, Joel D.; Moyer, Douglas; Hyer, Kenneth; Chanat, Jeffrey G.