The world’s waters are threatened by a host of problems. Impacts from human activities like development and overuse are exacerbated by changes in climate, and increased competition by different societal interests, putting vulnerable communities and ecosystems at risk. Creating a sustainable balance of water needs for both nature and people is challenging. It will require people that are competing for water resources to work together in new collaborations and partnerships.

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The first Yucatán Coast Report Card was released in April 2018, by the Laboratorio Nacional de Resiliencia Costera (LANRESC), in Sisal, Yucatán Mexico. The report card illustrates the unique connections of groundwater to important coastal resources and values through porous rock and a system of underground waterways. The report card scores indicators for biodiversity, habitat, and water resources.

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In past report card years, specific regions throughout Chesapeake Bay have shown improving trends, but this is the first year that the overall Chesapeake Bay is showing significant improvement. Overall Chesapeake Bay Health Scores have been variable in the past. However, since 2015, Chesapeake Bay Health Scores have consistently been in the high C range (53, 54, 54). These consecutive high scores have contributed to an overall positive trajectory for the first time.

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Ecosystem health report cards are being considered by the Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change to evaluate performance measures for, and Ontario's contributions within, the Great Lakes basin community. IAN travelled to Toronto to lead an ecosystem health report card training workshop May 16–17, 2018. This newsletter summarizes the results of that training workshop.

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Small islands can guide visualization of the diverse information requirements of future context-relevant coastal governance. On small marine islands (<20 000 km2), negative effects of coastal challenges (e.g., related to population growth, unsustainable resource use or climate change) can develop rapidly, with high intensity and extreme impacts.

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The first ever Tennessee River Basin Report card provides a snapshot assessment of ecosystem stressors, condition, and protection in the Tennessee River Basin. This report card was produced in collaboration with the Tennessee River Basin Network, the Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

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The Tennessee River Basin Report Card was developed as a tool for prioritization and restoration decisions made in the Tennessee River Basin. The report card document is also meant to serve as an outreach tool for use by managers to highlight particular issues of importance when communicating conservation and restoration with the public. This methods document discusses how the report card was developed and how the grades were calculated.

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The aim of this report card is to provide a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of 2016 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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This newsletter describes the results from the second of the regional workshops to develop the Everglades Report Card and 2019 System Status Report. The Greater Everglades team worked with the Integration and Application Network to begin identifying key indicators and narratives of the Greater Everglades region for these two documents. This two-day workshop, held in Davie, Florida, was the second of three regional workshops to develop the Everglades Report Card and 2019 System Status Report.

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This newsletter describes the results from the third of the regional workshops to develop the Everglades Report Card and 2019 System Status Report. The Lake Okeechobee team worked with the Integration and Application Network to begin identifying key indicators and narratives of Lake Okeechobee for these two documents. This two-day workshop, held in West Palm Beach, Florida, was the third and last regional workshop to develop the Everglades Report Card and 2019 System Status Report.

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