This report card is an assessment of the aquatic health of the Magothy River, which are based on data collected by the Magothy River Association and various partners. It reports the status of vital habitats and water quality in the Magothy during 2009 based on three different indicators.

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Fisheries research funded by the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) provides science and information to enable natural resource managers to make informed decisions. The NCBO Fisheries Science Symposium is a chance for fisheries scientists in the Bay area to present their research findings and create collaborations. This document is an EcoCheck/NCBO collaboration and summarizes some of the key topics presented at the 2009 symposium.

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Rock Creek Park (ROCR) is a forest and wetland oasis in the heart of Washington, D.C. A National Park Service natural resource condition assessment (NPS NRCA) was conducted using two synthetic frameworks: 1) an ecological monitoring framework, and 2) a habitat monitoring framework. Data metrics and thresholds were determined and monitoring data applied.

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This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed assessment of 2008 Coastal Bays’ health. Prepared annually, the report card rates six reporting regions of the Coastal Bays, using six indicators combined into a single overarching index of health. Health is defined as progress towards established scientifically derived ecological thresholds or goals. The overall health of Coastal Bays was moderate in 2008, obtaining a grade of C+.

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The central Kura River basin is a large river basin in the mountainous South Caucasus region of Eurasia. It contains important water resources for three countries—Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan—and has a combined population of some 17 million people. There are many threats to these shared water resources, including nutrient inputs, heavy metal pollution, and sediment erosion.

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The central Kura River basin is a large river basin in the mountainous South Caucasus region of Eurasia. It contains important water resources for three countries—Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan—and has a combined population of some 17 million people. There are many threats to these shared water resources, including nutrient inputs, heavy metal pollution, and sediment erosion.

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This report card provides a transparent, timely, and geographically detailed annual assessment of 2008 Chesapeake Bay habitat health. This is the third year that the report card has been released. This report card rates 15 reporting regions of the Bay using six indicators that are combined into a single overarching index of habitat health. The overall health of Chesapeake Bay was poor in 2008, obtaining a grade of C-.

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The Chesapeake Bay Program and its partners developed an improved stream health indicator that provides a regional assessment of benthic (bottom-dwelling) macroinvertebrate community health. Benthic data collected in different ways by various natural resource agencies were incorporated into a Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity that rates stream health across the entire 64,000 square miles of watershed that drain into Chesapeake Bay.

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This newsletter introduces the first Severn River ecosystem health report card. The report card summarizes 2008 water quality results, which are based on data collected by the Severn Riverkeeper Program. This report card helps to clarify the Severn's health, and provides instructions on what individuals can do to improve its condition.

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This newsletter describes the second annual Chester River report card. The Chester River Estuary received an overall grade of D and the Chester River creeks received an overall grade of C+. In addition to the grades, the newsletter includes information on increased monitoring, provides a comparison of a healthy and unhealthy Chester River, and suggests actions that citizens can take to improve the health of the Chester River.

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