Daily forecasts of beach water bacteria levels have been developed and automated by a beach water quality forecast team. With support from the Southeast Coast Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA), R software and a variety of data sources were used to model daily bacteria levels in beach swimming waters in Myrtle Beach, SC. Modeled (predicted) water quality results are then shown for beach locations via a website and mobile device app.

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The Mississippi River watershed is a globally important resource, providing water resources for people, industries, and ecosystems, food and energy production, and transportation of important agricultural and industrial commodities. Management of the watershed for these potentially conflicting uses and services is challenging, as the watershed spans parts of 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces.

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The America's Watershed Initiative concluded the series of workshops in the five basins with a meeting in Arlington, Virginia to discuss the integration of basin results into the overall watershed results. The meeting also addressed issues that are applicable at the scale of the entire watershed, but that were not evident from the basin workshops. This meeting built on the results of the workshops held in each of the basins in the watershed over the previous year.

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The America's Watershed Initiative Report Card project continued with regional workshops for the Missouri River Basin, held in Rapid City, South Dakota, May 22–23, 2014 and in Kansas City, Missouri, August 26, 2014. At the workshop, stakeholders and experts from social, economic, and environmental sectors identified easily understood and transparent ways to measure status and trends for the Missouri River Basin in relation to six broad goals.

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The aim of this report card is to provide a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of 2013 Coastal Bays health. Coastal Bays health is defined as the progress of four water quality indicators (total nitrogen, total phosphorus, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen) and two biotic indicators (seagrass, hard clams) toward scientifically derived ecological thresholds or goals.

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The America's Watershed Initiative Report Card project continued with a regional workshop for the Arkansas River and Red River Basins, held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 14–15, 2014. At the workshop, stakeholders and experts from social, economic, and environmental sectors identified easily understood and transparent ways to measure status and trends for the Arkansas River and Red River Basins in relation to six broad goals.

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This project analyzed existing aquatic sediments, plants, and animals collected throughout the watershed to pinpoint key sources of nitrogen. As submerged aquatic vegetation has disappeared in regions heavily impacted by land-use activities, macroalgae and oysters were deployed and incubated in situ to help trace the origin of nitrogen inputs by identifying, delineating and mapping the relative influence of the varied urban and agricultural land uses in the watershed.

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In 2013, Baltimore's streams, river and Harbor scored between 51% and 57%. While this is a failing score, it is an improvement over the 2012 scores, which ranged from 40% to 42%. These modest improvements show that we are headed in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Without significant infrastructure repair and environment restoration, areas dominated by urban and suburban development will continue to have poor water quality.

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This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of Chesapeake Bay. In 2013, the report card includes five water quality indicators and two biotic indicators. In 2013, the overall grade for Chesapeake Bay is a 45%, a C. This means the Bay is in moderate health. Fisheries indicators as well as trajectories of reporting region health are also presented. For further details, visit the Report Card website.

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The America's Watershed Initiative Report Card project continued with a regional workshop for the Lower Mississippi River Basin, held in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 25-26, 2014. At the workshop, stakeholders and experts from social, economic, and environmental sectors identified easily understood and transparent ways to measure status and trends for the Lower Mississippi River Basin in relation to six broad goals.

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