Residents of the Chesapeake Bay watershed depend upon a healthy Bay for food, recreation, and commercial enterprises. But the ways in which we use the watershed’s lands—from driving our cars to spreading fertilizers—impact the health of the Bay’s waters. Wastewater treatment plants, agricultural operations, and urban runoff are major sources of the nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution that threaten the Bay’s health.

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

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Moreton Bay is internationally recognised for its large population of green sea turtles and dugongs, and for its unique location next to a major capital city. Following the January flood, there has been serious concern about the impact of the flood plume on these symbolic Moreton Bay creatures. This newsletter provides an overview of some of the initial flood impact assessment results for seagrasses, turtles and dugongs, and identifies the risks that need to be monitored.

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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 is the third annual West & Rhode Rivers report card. It presents data and information on eight different ecological health indicators. In 2010, new analysis methods were used that were developed in collaboration with the Mid-Atlantic Tributary Assessment Coalition (MTAC), but the findings still remain consistent with the past two years.

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This newsletter is the 5th annual South River Scorecard. It presents data and information on six water quality indicators, a human health indicator, an enforcement indicator, and two descriptive indicators. The scorecard also includes information on actions that citizens can take to help improve the health of the South River.

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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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This report describes the baseline condition assessment produced by EcoCheck for Friends of Deep Creek Lake in preparation for production of future annual lake ecosystem health report cards. A new and innovative assessment framework, discussion of the individual indicators, and results of data analysis are presented, along with suggestions for future monitoring and research needs.

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Intense rainfall between 10-12 January 2011 caused flash and river flooding throughout the region. This newsletter focuses on the flood impacts on creeks, streambanks and paddocks. The floods caused significant impacts to waterways and the adjacent floodplains. The greatest impacts occurred in the Lockyer, Mid and Upper Brisbane and Bremer catchments with devastating loss of life and significant environmental damage.

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The 2011 floods in South East Queensland were devastating to the people and economy of Queensland, with lives lost and homes and infrastructure destroyed. As communities across Queensland rebuild their homes and businesses, the impact of the floods on the ecosystems that support commercial and recreational activities of the state are unknown.

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