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.
Education and Certifications
B.S. in Biology (1995), University of New Mexico
M.S. in Biology (1998), University of New Mexico
Science and Products
USGS revises 2020 nontidal load and trend results
Tracking Status and Trends in Seven Key Indicators of River and Stream Condition in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Updated 2020 Nutrient and Suspended-Sediment Trends for the Nine Major Rivers Entering the Chesapeake Bay
USGS develops tool to further examine nutrient and sediment trends in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
USGS updates trends for nutrients and sediment in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Freshwater Flow into Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay Estimated Streamflow: METHODS
Chesapeake Bay Estimated Streamflow: WEBSITE HISTORY
Streamflow in the Watershed and Entering the Chesapeake Bay
Monitoring High-Priority Stream Crossings Along Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline Routes
Chesapeake Bay Water-Quality Loads and Trends
James River Research Corridor: Mountains to Sea Innovative Water Quality Network
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network stations: Water years 1985-2020 (ver. 2.0, January 2023)
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network stations: Water years 1985-2018 (ver. 2.0, May 2020)
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring stations: Water years 1985-2020
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring stations: Water years 1985-2019
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring stations: Water years 1985-2017
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network stations: Water years 1985-2016
Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Suspended-Sediment Loads and Trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network Stations: Water Years 1985-2014
Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Suspended-Sediment Loads and Trends measured in Nine Chesapeake Bay Tributaries: Water Years 1985-2015
Progress in reducing nutrient and sediment loads to Chesapeake Bay: Three decades of monitoring data and implications for restoring complex ecosystems
Tracking status and trends in seven key indicators of stream health in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Nutrient trends and drivers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
An approach for decomposing river water-quality trends into different flow classes
Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
Estimation of nonlinear water-quality trends in high-frequency monitoring data
Estimation bias in water-quality constituent concentrations and fluxes: A synthesis for Chesapeake Bay rivers and streams
Riverine discharges to Chesapeake Bay: Analysis of long-term (1927–2014) records and implications for future flows in the Chesapeake Bay basin
Decadal-scale export of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment from the Susquehanna River basin, USA: Analysis and synthesis of temporal and spatial patterns
U.S. Geological Survey Chesapeake science strategy, 2015-2025—Informing ecosystem management of America’s largest estuary
Fluvial geomorphology and suspended-sediment transport during construction of the Roanoke River Flood Reduction Project in Roanoke, Virginia, 2005–2012
Evaluation and application of regional turbidity-sediment regression models in Virginia
Geonarrative: Land Motion and Subsidence on the Virginia Coastal Plain
Along the coast of Virginia, the USGS and our partners are constantly monitoring our land and waters in new and innovative ways. In Virginia, scientists at the Virginia and West Virginia Water Sciences Center are drilling deep into the Earth to assess the impacts of groundwater use. By studying the impacts of groundwater use, scientists can determine associated risks, such as land subsidence.
Geonarrative: Nontidal Network Mapper
The Nontidal Network Mapper geonarrative is a data-driven, interactive narrative that shares the short-term water-year nutrient and suspended-sediment load and trend results for the Chesapeake Bay Program’s non-tidal network (NTN). The mapper provides the primary findings for nitrogen, phosphorus and suspended-sediment trends, and gives the user tools to further examine results.
Science and Products
- Science
Filter Total Items: 14
USGS revises 2020 nontidal load and trend results
Issue: The USGS has revised loads and trends through 2020 from monitoring stations in the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) Nontidal Network (NTN). The original release of the results was in July 2022. During a process to implement a new software package for the next update of NTN data, the USGS discovered some questionable data values. Most of the questionable values were related to a coding...Tracking Status and Trends in Seven Key Indicators of River and Stream Condition in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Identifying and tracking the status of, and trends in, stream health within the Chesapeake Bay watershed is essential to understanding the past, present, and future trajectory of the watershed’s resources and ecological condition. A team of USGS ecosystem scientists is meeting this need with an initiative to track the status of, and trends in, key indicators of the health of non-tidal freshwater...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 grasses. The grasses...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 the...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 reduction goals.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 amounts of nutrients, sediment, and contaminants...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. Approaches for summarizing data and describing it using statistics follow standard practices...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 using dynamic web-content software technology. Beginning in 2019 the original dynamic web...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 safe...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...Chesapeake Bay Water-Quality Loads and Trends
Access the most recent data gathered from the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Monitoring Network, learn about the techniques used to collect this data, and read about the history of the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Monitoring Program. Nontidal Network (NTN) data refers to data from the 123 monitoring stations where nutrients and sediment are collected monthly and during storms. River Input Monitoring (RIM)...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 classroom, and increased understanding of... - Data
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network stations: Water years 1985-2020 (ver. 2.0, January 2023)
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in major rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network (NTN) stations stations for the period 1985 through 2020. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WRTDS (Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network stations: Water years 1985-2018 (ver. 2.0, May 2020)
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in major rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network (NTN) stations for the period 1985 through 2018. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WRTDS (WeightedNitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring stations: Water years 1985-2020
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in major rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring (RIM) Network stations for the period 1985 through 2020. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WRNitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring stations: Water years 1985-2019
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in major rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring (RIM) stations for the period 1985 through 2019. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WRTDS (WeiNitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring stations: Water years 1985-2017
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in major rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring (RIM) stations for the period 1985 through 2017. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WRTDS (WeiNitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads and trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network stations: Water years 1985-2016
Degassing thermal features at Yellowstone National Park include spectacular geysers, roiling hot springs, bubbling mud pots, fumaroles, frying pans, and areas of passive degassing characterized by steaming ground. Most of these features are readily identified by visible clouds of steam that are occasionally accompanied by a strong rotten egg odor from emissions of hydrogen sulfide gas. Gas composiNitrogen, Phosphorus, and Suspended-Sediment Loads and Trends measured at the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network Stations: Water Years 1985-2014
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the Chesapeake Bay Nontidal Network (NTN) stations for the period 1985 through 2014. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WRTDS (Weighted RegresNitrogen, Phosphorus, and Suspended-Sediment Loads and Trends measured in Nine Chesapeake Bay Tributaries: Water Years 1985-2015
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment loads, and changes in loads, in rivers across the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been calculated using monitoring data from the nine Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring (RIM) stations for the period 1985 through 2015. Nutrient and suspended-sediment loads and changes in loads were determined by applying a weighted regression approach called WRTDS (Weig - Multimedia
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Filter Total Items: 29
Progress in reducing nutrient and sediment loads to Chesapeake Bay: Three decades of monitoring data and implications for restoring complex ecosystems
For over three decades, Chesapeake Bay (USA) has been the focal point of a coordinated restoration strategy implemented through a partnership of governmental and nongovernmental entities, which has been a classical model for coastal restoration worldwide. This synthesis aims to provide resource managers and estuarine scientists with a clearer perspective of the magnitude of changes in water qualitAuthorsQian Zhang, Joel Blomquist, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Jennifer L. Keisman, Doug L. Moyer, Michael J. LanglandTracking status and trends in seven key indicators of stream health in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
“The Bay Connects us, the Bay reflects us” writes Tom Horton in the book “Turning the Tide—Saving the Chesapeake Bay”. The Chesapeake Bay watershed contains the largest estuary in the United States. The watershed stretches north to Cooperstown, New York, south to Lynchburg and Virginia Beach, Virginia, west to Pendleton County, West Virginia, and east to Seaford, Delaware, and Scranton, PennsylvanAuthorsSamuel H. Austin, Matt J. Cashman, John Clune, James E. Colgin, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Kevin P. Krause, Emily H. Majcher, Kelly O. Maloney, Chris A. Mason, Doug L. Moyer, Tammy M. ZimmermanByEcosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Environmental Health Program, Chesapeake Bay Activities, Eastern Ecological Science Center, Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Water Science Center, Pennsylvania Water Science Center, South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC), Virginia and West Virginia Water Science CenterNutrient 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 summarizes recent trends in nitrogen and phosphorus in nAuthorsKenneth E. Hyer, Scott W. Phillips, Scott W. Ator, Doug L. Moyer, James S. Webber, Rachel Felver, Jennifer L. Keisman, Lee A. McDonnell, Rebecca Murphy, Emily M. Trentacoste, Qian Zhang, William C. Dennison, Sky Swanson, Brianne Walsh, Jane Hawkey, Dylan TaillieAn 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 Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season”) method.AuthorsQian Zhang, James S. Webber, Doug L. Moyer, Jeffrey G. ChanatSediment 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 watersheds and estuaries around the world, and this synAuthorsGregory B. Noe, Matt J. Cashman, Katherine Skalak, Allen Gellis, Kristina G. Hopkins, Doug L. Moyer, James S. Webber, Adam Benthem, Kelly O. Maloney, John Brakebill, Andrew Sekellick, Michael J. Langland, Qian Zhang, Gary W. Shenk, Jennifer L. D. Keisman, Cliff R. HuppEstimation 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-frequency data are lacking. To address this gap, an evaAuthorsGuoxiang Yang, Doug L. MoyerEstimation 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 general lack of effort to identify factors that influenceAuthorsQian Zhang, Joel Blomquist, Doug L. Moyer, Jeffrey G. ChanatRiverine 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 to determine the relationships among long-term precAuthorsKaren C. Rice, Doug L. Moyer, Aaron L. MillsDecadal-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 watershed. Sediment and nutrient riverine loadings, includAuthorsQian Zhang, William P. Ball, Doug L. MoyerU.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 ecosystem management for both the Chesapeake and other NAuthorsScott Phillips, Joel D. Blomquist, Mark Bennett, Alicia Berlin, Vicki Blazer, Peter R. Claggett, Stephen Faulkner, Kenneth Hyer, Cassandra Ladino, Douglas Moyer, Rachel Muir, Gregory B. Noe, Patrick J. PhillipsFluvial 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 and sediment liberation and the detrimental effects thesAuthorsJohn D. Jastram, Jennifer L. Krstolic, Douglas Moyer, Kenneth HyerEvaluation 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 developed successfully, their applications could greatlyAuthorsKenneth Hyer, John D. Jastram, Douglas Moyer, James S. Webber, Jeffrey G. Chanat - Web Tools
Geonarrative: Land Motion and Subsidence on the Virginia Coastal Plain
Along the coast of Virginia, the USGS and our partners are constantly monitoring our land and waters in new and innovative ways. In Virginia, scientists at the Virginia and West Virginia Water Sciences Center are drilling deep into the Earth to assess the impacts of groundwater use. By studying the impacts of groundwater use, scientists can determine associated risks, such as land subsidence.
Geonarrative: Nontidal Network Mapper
The Nontidal Network Mapper geonarrative is a data-driven, interactive narrative that shares the short-term water-year nutrient and suspended-sediment load and trend results for the Chesapeake Bay Program’s non-tidal network (NTN). The mapper provides the primary findings for nitrogen, phosphorus and suspended-sediment trends, and gives the user tools to further examine results.