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.
Science and Products
Monitoring Streamflow in Remote Headwater Streams
Probability of Streamflow Permanence (PROSPER)
Identifying Resilient Headwater Streams to Mitigate Impacts of Future Drought in the Northwest
Potential Impacts of Prospective Climate Change on Groundwater Recharge in the Western United States
Science and Products
- Science
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.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...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...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 - Publications
- News
*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