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Kyle Blasch, Ph.D.

As the Associate Regional Director for the USGS Northwest-Pacific Islands Region, Kyle helps lead seven USGS Science Centers in the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Islands.

Kyle Blasch is the Associate Regional Director for the USGS Northwest-Pacific Islands region which encompasses Department of the Interior Regions 9 and 12.  Kyle supports the Regional and Deputy Regional Director with planning, directing, and evaluating science and operational activities within 7 Ecosystems and Water Science Centers located in Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.  Kyle is currently the USGS Wildfire Response Coordinator facilitating the optimal use of USGS resources to support wildfire incident response.

Prior to joining the Region, Kyle served as the Director of the Idaho Water Science Center Director, COVID19 Response Coordinator, Acting Deputy Regional Director, and Acting Deputy Director of the WMA Office of Planning and Programming.  

Kyle started his career with the USGS in 1999 as a Research Hydrologist and has continued dabbling with stream permanence, ecodrought, remote sensing, vadose zone processes, and ground water processes. 

Professional Experience

  • 1994 - Present - United States Air Force Reserves, Bioenvironmental Engineer

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D., Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona

  • M.S., Meteorology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • B.S., Civil/Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • B.S., Earth Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Affiliations and Memberships*

  • American Geophysical Union (AGU)

  • American Water Resources Association (AWRA)

Science and Products

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USGS hydrographer measuring streamflow on the Donner Und Blitzen River, Oregon

Monitoring Streamflow in Remote Headwater Streams

Remote headwater streams are important sources of water that are not well understood. Working with other USGS science centers across the country, we are developing methods for estimating streamflow in these environments. Data from these efforts will contribute to improving our understanding of water availability and how drought may be affecting these stream ecosystems.
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Idaho Water Science Center
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Monitoring Streamflow in Remote Headwater Streams

Remote headwater streams are important sources of water that are not well understood. Working with other USGS science centers across the country, we are developing methods for estimating streamflow in these environments. Data from these efforts will contribute to improving our understanding of water availability and how drought may be affecting these stream ecosystems.
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Section of Prospect Creek where stream has no flow

Probability of Streamflow Permanence (PROSPER)

PRObability of Streamflow PERmanence (PROSPER) Rivers and streams are constantly changing. Streamflows can change throughout the year and between years due to snowmelt, precipitation, diversions, and return flows. For many streams, these fluctuations determine whether a stream has year-round flow or not. PROSPER is a project initiated to better understand what causes these fluctuations in...
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Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Idaho Water Science Center, Washington Water Science Center, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
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Probability of Streamflow Permanence (PROSPER)

PRObability of Streamflow PERmanence (PROSPER) Rivers and streams are constantly changing. Streamflows can change throughout the year and between years due to snowmelt, precipitation, diversions, and return flows. For many streams, these fluctuations determine whether a stream has year-round flow or not. PROSPER is a project initiated to better understand what causes these fluctuations in...
Learn More
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Upper Whitehorse Creek stream drying

Identifying Resilient Headwater Streams to Mitigate Impacts of Future Drought in the Northwest

Streams are classified as perennial (flowing uninterrupted, year-round) or intermittent (flowing part of the year) or ephemeral (flowing only during rainfall events). The classifications of “streamflow permanence” were primarily established in the middle 20th century and are often outdated and inaccurate today if they were not adjusted for changes in land use, wildfires, or climate.Understanding w...
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Climate Adaptation Science Centers
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Identifying Resilient Headwater Streams to Mitigate Impacts of Future Drought in the Northwest

Streams are classified as perennial (flowing uninterrupted, year-round) or intermittent (flowing part of the year) or ephemeral (flowing only during rainfall events). The classifications of “streamflow permanence” were primarily established in the middle 20th century and are often outdated and inaccurate today if they were not adjusted for changes in land use, wildfires, or climate.Understanding w...
Learn More
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USGS science for a changing world logo

Potential Impacts of Prospective Climate Change on Groundwater Recharge in the Western United States

Groundwater withdrawals in the western US are a critical component of the water resources strategy for the region. Climate change already may be substantially altering recharge into groundwater systems; however, the quantity and direction (increase or decrease) of changes are relatively unknown as most climate change assessments have focused on surface water systems. We propose to conduct a broad
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John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
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Potential Impacts of Prospective Climate Change on Groundwater Recharge in the Western United States

Groundwater withdrawals in the western US are a critical component of the water resources strategy for the region. Climate change already may be substantially altering recharge into groundwater systems; however, the quantity and direction (increase or decrease) of changes are relatively unknown as most climate change assessments have focused on surface water systems. We propose to conduct a broad
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Evaluation of select velocity measurement techniques for estimating discharge in small streams across the United States

Multiple instruments and methods exist for collecting discrete streamflow measurements in small streams with low flows, defined here as less than 5.7 m3/s (200 ft3/s). Included in the available methods are low-cost approaches that are infrequently used, in part, because their uncertainty is not well known. In this work, we evaluated the accuracy and suitability of three low-cost velocity measureme
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Water Resources, Idaho Water Science Center, New York Water Science Center

Precision of headwater stream permanence estimates from a monthly water balance model in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Stream permanence classifications (i.e., perennial, intermittent, ephemeral) are a primary consideration to determine stream regulatory status in the United States (U.S.) and are an important indicator of environmental conditions and biodiversity. However, at present, no models or products adequately describe surface water presence for regulatory determinations. We modified the Thornthwaite monthl
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Water Resources, National Geospatial Program, Idaho Water Science Center

Use case development for earth monitoring, analysis, and prediction (EarthMAP)—A road map for future integrated predictive science at the U.S. Geological Survey

Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 21st-century science strategy 2020–30 promotes a bureau-wide strategy to develop and deliver an integrated, predictive science capability that works at the scales and timelines needed to inform societally relevant resource management and protection and public safety and environmental health decisions (U.S. Geological Survey, 2021). This is the ove
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Ecosystems, Water Resources, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, Western Geographic Science Center, Upper Midwest Water Science Center, California Water Science Center

The influence of climate variability on the accuracy of NHD perennial and non-perennial stream classifications

National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) stream permanence classifications (SPC; perennial, intermittent, and ephemeral) are widely used for data visualization and applied science, and have implications for resource policy and management. NHD SPC were assigned using a combination of topographic field surveys and interviews with local residents. However, previous studies indicate that non‐NHD, in situ st
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Water Resources, Idaho Water Science Center

A guidebook to spatial datasets for conservation planning under climate change in the Pacific Northwest

This guidebook provides user-friendly overviews of a variety of spatial datasets relevant to conservation and management of natural resources in the face of climate change in the Pacific Northwest, United States. Each guidebook chapter was created using a standardized template to summarize a spatial dataset or a group of closely related datasets. Datasets were selected according to standardized cr
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Ecosystems, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center

Laboratory assessment of alternative stream velocity measurement methods

Understanding streamflow in montane watersheds on regional scales is often incomplete due to a lack of data for small-order streams that link precipitation and snowmelt processes to main stem discharge. This data deficiency is attributed to the prohibitive cost of conventional streamflow measurement methods and the remote location of many small streams. Expedient and low-cost streamflow measuremen
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Water Resources, Idaho Water Science Center

Probability of streamflow permanence model (PROSPER): A spatially continuous model of annual streamflow permanence throughout the Pacific Northwest

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed the PRObability of Streamflow PERmanence (PROSPER) model, a GIS raster-based empirical model that provides streamflow permanence probabilities (probabilistic predictions) of a stream channel having year-round flow for any unregulated and minimally-impaired stream channel in the Pacific Northwest region, U.S. The model provides annual predictions for
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Water Resources, Ecosystems, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Idaho Water Science Center, Oregon Water Science Center, Washington Water Science Center

Streamflow contributions from tribal lands to major river basins of the United States

While many studies on tribal water resources of individual tribal lands in the United States (US) have been conducted, the importance of tribal water resources at a national scale has largely gone unrecognized because their combined totals have not been quantified. Thus, we sought to provide a numerical estimate of major water budget components on tribal lands within the conterminous US and on USG
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Water Resources, Idaho Water Science Center

Using remote sensing to characterize and compare evapotranspiration from different irrigation regimes in the Smith River Watershed of central Montana

According to the 2005 U.S. Geological Survey national water use compilation, irrigation is the second largest use of fresh water in the United States, accounting for 37%, or 484.48 million cubic meters per day, of total freshwater withdrawal. Accurately estimating the amount of water withdrawals and actual consumptive water use (the difference between water withdrawals and return flow) for irrigat
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Water Resources, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Implications of projected climate change for groundwater recharge in the western United States

Existing studies on the impacts of climate change on groundwater recharge are either global or basin/location-specific. The global studies lack the specificity to inform decision making, while the local studies do little to clarify potential changes over large regions (major river basins, states, or groups of states), a scale often important in the development of water policy. An analysis of the p
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Water Resources, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, California Water Science Center, John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis

Predicting alpine headwater stream intermittency: a case study in the northern Rocky Mountains

This investigation used climatic, geological, and environmental data coupled with observational stream intermittency data to predict alpine headwater stream intermittency. Prediction was made using a random forest classification model. Results showed that the most important variables in the prediction model were snowpack persistence, represented by average snow extent from March through July, mean
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Water Resources, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center

Regional groundwater-flow model of the Redwall-Muav, Coconino, and alluvial basin aquifer systems of northern and central Arizona

A numerical flow model (MODFLOW) of the groundwater flow system in the primary aquifers in northern Arizona was developed to simulate interactions between the aquifers, perennial streams, and springs for predevelopment and transient conditions during 1910 through 2005. Simulated aquifers include the Redwall-Muav, Coconino, and basin-fill aquifers. Perennial stream reaches and springs that derive b
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Water Resources, Arizona Water Science Center
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A Spatially Continuous Model of Annual Streamflow Permanence Throughout the Pacific Northwest

An interdisciplinary team comprised of USGS and university scientists has developed the Probability of Streamflow Permanence Model or PROSPER which...

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Blasch is New Director of USGS Idaho Water Science Center

Dr. Kyle W. Blasch begins work today as the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Idaho Water Science Center, headquartered in Boise.

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Science and Products

*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government