This newsletter summarizes the outcomes of a workshop exploring the linkages and potential benefits of combining river basin health report cards and system dynamics modelling. These two approaches have traditionally been utilized separate from each other, however merging the two will lead to better management of the world's river basins.

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The coastal communities of Louisiana are highly vulnerable to coastal change, yet the population has remained steady in the midst of highly dynamic environmental, social, and economic conditions. Adaptations in the form of social networks, mobility, and ingenuity have enabled Louisiana’s coastal communities to remain viable, although changed over time. Much of Louisiana’s coastal zone is outside of the current system of hard infrastructure (primarily levee) protection.

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The Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers (CSCs) and their managing organization, the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center at the U.S. Geological Survey, have chosen the emerging climate science field of Ecological Drought as a research focus area. This newsletter highlights the outcomes of a two-day workshop held in Raleigh, North Carolina as part of a series of meetings at each of the nation’s eight CSCs.

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Regression-based approaches are often employed to estimate riverine constituent concentrations and fluxes based on typically sparse concentration observations. One such approach is the recently developed WRTDS (“Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season”) method, which has been shown to provide more accurate estimates than prior approaches in a wide range of applications.

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Two statistical approaches, weighted regression on time, discharge, and season and generalized addi- tive models, have recently been used to evaluate water quality trends in estuaries. Both models have been used in similar contexts despite differences in statistical foundations and products. This study provided an empirical and qualitative comparison of both models using 29 years of data for two discrete time series of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) in the Patuxent River estuary.

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The influence of sea level rise and warming on circulation and water quality of the Chesapeake Bay under projected climate conditions in 2050 were estimated by computer simulation. Four estuarine circulation scenarios in the estuary were run using the same watershed load in 1991-2000 period. They are, 1) the Base Scenario, which represents the current climate condition, 2) a Sea Level Rise Scenario, 3) a Warming Scenario, and 4) a combined Sea Level Rise and Warming Scenario.

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Interactions among global change stressors and their effects at large scales are often proposed, but seldom evaluated. This situation is primarily due to lack of comprehensive, sufficiently long-term, and spatially extensive datasets. Seagrasses, which provide nursery habitat, improve water quality, and constitute a globally important carbon sink, are among the most vulnerable habitats on the planet.

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Antimicrobial resistance is a global health issue. The discharge, maintenance and transfer of antimicrobial resistance to the aquatic environment and the risk this presents is relatively unknown. This work describes the presence and distribution of antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli in surface waters of seven rivers in south east Queensland, Australia.

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On Oct. 13–14, 2016, River Action, in association with the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, hosted the ninth annual Upper Mississippi River Conference, entitled “Raise the Grade,” in Moline, Illinois. The conference brought together over 200 participants from 95 organizations to develop solutions to overcome the many challenges identified in the 2015 America’s Watershed Initiative (AWI) Report Card for the Mississippi River watershed.

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The Indian River Lagoon on the east coast of Florida is a biodiverse ecosystem of temperate and tropical habitats with significant aesthetic, social, and economic value. However, development pressures have been increasing for decades with 2016 being a year of record algal blooms and fish kills.

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