Joel Blomquist
Biography
Education
BS: Biology, Augustana College, SD.
Professional Experience
Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Maryland, Delaware, and District of Columbia Water Science Center.
Research / Professional Focus / Current Projects
Currently serves as a team leader for the USGS Chesapeake Bay Science Team and leader of the Maryland River Input Monitoring Program.
Research and technical interests include:
- Monitoring program design and evaluation
- Nutrient and Sediment transport
- Pesticides in water and drinking water
- Integrated analysis approaches
Past Projects
Previous leadership positions include:
- Project Leader, Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources (CENR)- USGS, USEPA Joint Assessment of Water Quality in the Mid Atlantic States
- Chief, National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) Potomac River Basin Study Unit
- Studies Section Chief
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...
Improving Our Understanding and Helping with Water Quality Improvements
Understanding trends in stream chemistry is critical to watershed management and often complicated by multiple contaminant sources and landscape conditions changing over varying time scales.
USGS science informs revised water-quality restoration plans for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed
Science Summary
Record Amounts of Rainwater Flow off the Land into Chesapeake Bay
As the Mid-Atlantic states' super-soaker summer draws to a close, record amounts of rainwater have flowed off the land and into Chesapeake Bay, with potential consequences for the nation's largest estuary. USGS measurements show freshwater flows into the bay in August 2018 were the highest ever recorded for that month by a wide margin. River flows into the bay have been unusually high since...
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...
USGS data is foundation for new dissolved oxygen forecast
USGS data is the foundation for the new dissolved oxygen forecast. A large summer ‘dead zone’ is forecast for the Chesapeake Bay after a wet winter and spring.
NOAA, USGS and partners predict larger summer ‘dead zone’ for the Chesapeake Bay
Low- and no-oxygen area threatens crabs, oysters, fish