The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, has partnered with IAN and Harwell Gentile & Associates, LC, to develop a vision for a report card on the health of the Gulf of Mexico. The report card will be a graphical representation of the environmental condition of the Gulf that is scientifically based, widely accessible, and readily understandable by policy-makers, stakeholders, scientists, and, most importantly, the general public.

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The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, along with its partners Harwell Gentile & Associates, LC, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, proposes to develop a comprehensive framework for a Report Card on the health of the Gulf of Mexico.

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The Great Barrier Reef is the largest and best-known coral reef ecosystem in the world. This first report card provides an estimate of the status of the key indicators for the period preceding 2009. It is based on historical data and trends and takes into account the influence of a variable climate from year to year. This serves as a baseline that will be used as a point of comparison to measure progress towards Reef Plan goals and targets.

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This document contains report card summaries for the Cape York, Wet Tropics, Burdekin, Mackay-Whitsunday, Fitzroy, and Burnett-Mary regions. Each section details the region profile, and key findings, as well as summarizing the report card results for land practices, catchment indicators and loads, and the marine parameters; water quality, seagrass, and corals. It also describes positive actions in the regions to improve ecosystem health.

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The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is renowned internationally for its ecological importance and beauty. However, despite it being one of the best managed coral reefs in the world there is a very real risk of damage to the reef from climate change. This technical document details all aspects of the report card process. It includes sections on management, methods, and detailed results for all regions.

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This report card summarizes 2010 water quality in the Chester River, based on data collected by the Chester River Association and various partners. It examines the health of the river in both tidal and non-tidal regions, and provides information on what concerned stakeholders can do to help improve water quality.

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The aim of this report card is to provide a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of 2010 Coastal Bays health. Coastal Bays health is defined as the progress of four water quality indicators (TN, TP, Chl a, DO) and two biotic indicators (seagrass, hard clams) toward scientifically derived ecological thresholds or goals. The six indicators are combined into one overarching Coastal Bays Health Index, which is presented as the report card score.

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This document provides guidelines for the successful production of tidal ecosystem health report cards.

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This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of 2010 Chesapeake Bay health. The overall health of Chesapeake Bay, assessed using water quality and biotic indicators, declined slightly in 2010. The overall grade decreased from a C in 2009 to C- in 2010. Only two reporting regions (James River and York River) had improved grades in 2010, three were unchanged, and nine declined.

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This newsletter summarizes the baseline health assessment produced in 2011 by EcoCheck for Friends of Deep Creek Lake in preparation for production of future annual lake report cards. A unique assessment framework and preliminary data analysis results are presented, along with suggestions for future work and action items for concerned citizens. For further details, see the full assessment document.

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