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 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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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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Harpers Ferry National Historical Park provides a wealth of natural resource values, including riparian habitats, floodplains, agricultural fields, geologic exposures, rare limestone glades, developed areas, and upland forests. These resources were assessed using the Vital Signs framework. Overall, the natural resoures in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park are in degraded condition and are under threat from surrounding land use, regionally poor air quality, and overpopulation of deer.

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Catoctin Mountain Park provides a wealth of natural resource values, largely resulting from the maintenance of forest and wetland habitats. These resources were assessed using the Vital Signs framework. Overall, the natural resoures in Catoctin Mountain Park are in moderate condition but are under threat from surrounding land use, regionally poor air quality, and overpopulation of deer.

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Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park provides a wealth of natural resource values, due to its location spanning four physiographic provinces. These resources were assessed using the Vital Signs framework.

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