Increasingly, scientists and non-scientists, especially employees of government agencies, tend to use weak or equivocal language when making statements related to science policy and governmental regulation. We use recent publications to provide examples of vague language versus examples of strong language when authors write about regulating anthropogenic pressures on natural resources. Lifeless language is common in agency reports, policy documents, and even scientific papers published by academics. Such language limits success in regulating anthropogenic pressures on natural resources. This challenge must be recognized and countered as a driver of the condition of water and associated resources. We also list sources of vague wording, provide global examples of how ambiguous language and political influences have contributed to water resource degradation, discuss the recent history of science censorship, and offer possible solutions for more direct scientific discourse. We found that: (1) equivocal language was especially common in concluding statements and not only by government employees; (2) authors discussed confusing language concerns in an agency publication; and (3) agency employees sometimes used active, strong language. Key drivers of weak language include: (1) holding on to old paradigms and resisting new knowledge; (2) scientific uncertainty; (3) institutional manuscript review policies; (4) employment and funding insecurity; and (5) avoiding the appearance of advocacy. Examples associated with euphemistic language included climate change, flow and physical habitat alteration, dams, agriculture, mining, forestry, and fisheries, as well as resistance towards monitoring, assessing, and reporting ecological conditions. Suggestions for mitigating equivocal language involve employment protections and greater focus on scientific ethics. We conclude that natural resource scientists should resist calls to employ imprecise language. Instead, they should be strong advocates for prescriptive and protective natural resource actions—based on their science—to halt and reverse the systemic degradation of those resources.

The effectiveness of the Clean Water Act in mandating the abatement of gross pollution by setting technology standards for categories of municipal and industrial point sources is well documented. Still, the CWA has not been modernized to update water quality standards, it has not readily employed the latest science, and the benefits have not been documented nearly well enough. Increasingly insidious attempts to undermine its continued effectiveness have arisen over the past 10–15 years mostly at the state level.

Freshwater biota are more comprehensive and direct indicators of biological impacts, and more meaningful to the public than water quality or physical habitat surrogates. Freshwater biotic data and the multiple biological indicators developed from them offer a much richer array of data for assessing the impacts of pollution controls than a limited set of physical or chemical measures. In recent decades, assemblage-based assessments by ecologists, environmental scientists, and water quality agencies have been employed globally for determining the condition of, and threats to, freshwater ecosystems. A key step in this advance has been the development of multimetric indices (MMIs) or indices of biotic integrity (IBIs) based on quantitative assessments of algae, macrophyte, macroinvertebrate, fish or riparian bird assemblages. In Europe, where biological assemblages are mandated for assessing freshwater ecosystem health, many indices are multimetric. However, the proliferation of MMIs globally has not always occurred through the application of rigorous study designs and monitoring protocols, nor have they always effectively incorporated functional metrics, stressor assessments, and statistical analyses. Therefore, in this review, we discuss eleven major concerns with the development and application (including logistical limitations) of multimetric indicators based on freshwater biota to encourage more rigorous and widely applicable (transferable) MMI use and implementation. Specifically, our concerns focus on reference conditions; sampling effort, methods, and season; trophic guild definition; metric comprehensiveness, options, screening and scoring; and MMI validation. MMIs could also benefit from increased attention to ecological mechanisms and metric development, to further improve our understanding of anthropogenic impacts as well as rehabilitation effects on freshwater ecosystems globally. Paying closer attention to study designs, ecological mechanisms and metric development should further improve our understanding of anthropogenic impacts and better facilitate rehabilitation of degraded freshwater ecosystems, as well as aiding in the conservation of healthy freshwater ecosystems globally.

Two new Ohio localities for the Freckled Madtom (Noturus nocturnus Jordan and Gilbert, 1886) were recently discovered. These are the first, and currently only, Freckled Madtom collected in Ohio waters. A single individual was collected in the Scioto River in Scioto County by the Midwest Biodiversity Institute (MBI) and a previously misidentified specimen was collected in the Ohio River at the Hannibal Locks and Dam by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO). The closest historical records are from the Little Sandy River and Big Sandy River drainages in eastern Kentucky. Other Ohio River collections have been made near the border of Kentucky and Indiana. The origins of the recent Ohio specimens are unknown; whether they emanate from other known populations or have been overlooked altogether is unclear.

Since 1966, an increasing number of studies have reported the occurrence of external fish abnormalities (e.g., deformities, fin erosion, open sores, and tumors) in a variety of aquatic habitats (streams, lakes, estuaries, and marine) and discussed possible relationships between anomalies and environmental quality. Fish with external deformities, erosion, lesions, and tumors (neoplasms) were first observed by Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) biologists in 1979 while sampling a large urban stream, the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. Although all fish captured are identified and counted during Ohio EPA stream surveys, only fish that are weighed (individually, in aggregate, or by subsample) are examined for external anomalies at most sites. Sampling was conducted during the day except in the Ohio River, where night electrofishing was used for improved catches of most species. Each sampling site consisted of a fixed distance ranging from approximately 150 to 200 meters for wading methods and 500 meters fa boat-sampled sites.

This chapter utilizes an existing method of deriving such threshold relationships: compare lines derived from this method to lines drawn by eye for Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) metrics, describes threshold relationships for several different environmental datasets and examines the problems, limitations, and concerns when deriving and interpreting such threshold associations. The maximum number of sensitive fish species in Ohio streams and rivers is strongly and clearly limited by physical habitat quality, as measured by the IBI. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a well-known limiting parameter for fish in streams and rivers, and is one of the primary causes of aquatic life impairment in Ohio streams. DO criteria in Ohio's water quality standards criteria differ and are stratified by aquatic life use. A major consideration when calculating a 95th percentile regression is choosing the range of the independent variable. The 95th percentile line is considered an empirical estimate of an upper threshold effect of an independent parameter on some dependent parameter.

This chapter describes the situations where Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) scores have been adjusted; and suggests additional modifications and criteria to further improve the responsiveness, sensitivity, and accuracy of the IBI. The application of the IBI in Ohio rivers and streams has been partly focused on assessing the effects of point source discharges on aquatic life, which during the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s were sometimes quite severe. Identification of stressors that are associated with impaired fish assemblages is an important benefit of biological monitoring. Habitat impacts result in shifts in the species and trophic composition except for total loss of habitat result in the significant reduction of species or severe reductions in abundance. Another situation where the IBI may require manual after-the-fact adjustment is at sites dominated by young-of-year (YOY) or juvenile fish. Schlosser and Angermeier and Karr have demonstrated the effect that YOY fish can have on the IBI and the subsequent interpretation of site quality.

There is growing interest in the use of DNA barcoding and metabarcoding approaches to aid biological assessments and monitoring of waterbodies. While biodiversity measured by morphology and by DNA often has been found correlated, few studies have compared DNA data to established measures of impairment such as multimetric pollution tolerance indices used by many bioassessment programs. We incorporated environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of seston into a rigorous watershed-scale biological assessment of an urban stream to examine the extent to which eDNA richness and diversity patterns were correlated with multimetric indices and ecological impairment status designations. We also evaluated different filtering approaches and taxonomic classifications to identify best practices for environmental assessments. Seston eDNA revealed a wide diversity of eukaryotic taxa but was dominated by diatoms (36%). Differentiation among sites in alpha and beta diversity was greater when operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were classified taxonomically, but coarse resolution taxonomy (kingdom) was more informative than finer resolution taxonomy (family, genus). Correlations of DNA richness and diversity with multimetric indices for fish and macroinvertebrates were generally weak, possibly because Metazoa were not highly represented in our DNA dataset. Nonetheless, sites could be differentiated based on ecological impairment status, with more impaired sites having lower eDNA diversity as measured by the Shannon index, but higher taxonomic richness. Significant environmental drivers of community structure, as inferred from constrained ordination analyses, differed among kingdoms within the eDNA dataset, as well as from fish and macrobenthos, suggesting that eDNA provides novel environmental information. These results suggest that even a simple seston eDNA filtering protocol can provide biodiversity information of value to stream bioassessment programs. The approach bears further investigation as a potentially useful rapid assessment protocol to supplement more intensive field sampling efforts.

A 37-year series of standardized fish assessments in the Scioto River (Ohio, USA) since 1979 coupled with historical information documents a near complete recovery from heavily polluted conditions in the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries. Nearly 100 fish species were extirpated downstream from the city of Columbus (Ohio, USA) by sewage and industrial pollution. The 1972 amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act) mandated the control of sewage and industrial pollution. Reductions in loadings of untreated or poorly treated sewage were incremental. Full recovery to near-prepollution composition and abundance took more than two decades after advanced wastewater treatment was achieved. Unpolluted tributaries served as recolonization sources for populations of extirpated species. These positive changes extended across all fish assemblage members as evidenced by increased values of the Ohio index of biotic integrity; modified index of well-being; native species richness, density, and biomass; and the reduced incidence of external anomalies on fish. These restoration successes and their documentation were facilitated by the Clean Water Act that set forth the goals for water quality standards and treatment technology for reducing water pollution and conducting baseline and follow-up monitoring. An important lesson learned was that serious doubts that existed in the 1970s about the feasibility of advanced wastewater treatment technology and the attainability of water quality standards in an effluent dominated river were completely erased by the demonstrated improvements in the fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages in the Scioto River. The extent of improvements in recreational opportunities have tracked that of the biota by an increased use for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and related forms of recreation. However, maintaining these improvements will require continuation of high levels of wastewater treatment and water quality standards. A growing human population that is forecast to increase by one-half million persons by 2050 makes maintaining the currently high levels of biological integrity a continuing challenge. Given the lessons learned with the mosaic of stressors in the Scioto River over the past 150 years, we believe this challenge can be met successfully.

The Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) is a conceptual model that describes changes in aquatic communities with increasing levels of anthropogenic stress. The gradient represented by the BCG has been divided into 6 levels of condition that biologists consider readily discernible in most areas of North America. We developed quantitative BCG models for 7 warm-water stream types in Minnesota for both fish and macroinvertebrates. Panels of aquatic biologists calibrated the general BCG model to Minnesota streams by assigning test samples (271 macroinvertebrate and 288 fish samples) to BCG Levels 1 to 6. From the panelists’ descriptions of their criteria for assigning sites to levels, a set of quantitative operational rules was developed for performing the same task. We developed a decision model based on fuzzy-set theory to account for discontinuities and to identify when BCG assignments might be intermediate between adjacent levels. This model captures the consensus professional judgment of the panel and uses panel-derived rules. Decisions based on the quantitative model for macroinvertebrates exactly matched 77% of the panel decisions, 89% within ½ BCG level, and 100% within 1 BCG level. Decisions based on the quantitative fish model exactly matched 70% of the panel decisions, 86% within ½ BCG level, and 99% within 1 BCG level. The BCG provides a tool to interpret aquatic biological condition along a gradient of naturalness and is consistent across stream types and political boundaries. It includes documentation of baselines to prevent inadvertent shifting, and the BCG logic rules are transparent, a desirable property for communicating condition, management goals, and water-quality criteria.

Water resource protection goals for aquatic life are often general and can result in under protection of some high quality water bodies and unattainable expectations for other water bodies. More refined aquatic life goals known as tiered aquatic life uses (TALUs) provide a framework to designate uses by setting protective goals for high quality water bodies and establishing attainable goals for water bodies altered by legally authorized legacy activities (e.g., channelization). Development of biological criteria or biocriteria typically requires identification of a set of least- or minimally-impacted reference sites that are used to establish a baseline from which goals are derived. Under a more refined system of stream types and aquatic life use goals, an adequate set of reference sites is needed to account for the natural variability of aquatic communities (e.g., landscape differences, thermal regime, and stream size). To develop sufficient datasets, Minnesota employed a reference condition approach in combination with an approach based on characterizing a stream’s response to anthropogenic disturbance through development of a Biological Condition Gradient (BCG). These two approaches allowed for the creation of ecologically meaningful and consistent biocriteria within a more refined stream typology and solved issues related to small sample sizes and poor representation of minimally- or least-disturbed conditions for some stream types. Implementation of TALU biocriteria for Minnesota streams and rivers will result in consistent and protective goals that address fundamental differences among waters in terms of their potential for restoration.

We developed a systematic process to evaluate state/tribal bioassessment programs to provide information about the rigor of the technical approach. This is accomplished via on-site interviews to produce an evaluation that assigns one of four levels of rigor as an outcome. Level 4 is the most rigorous and reflects a technical capacity to accurately determine incremental condition and support management programs. The remaining three levels are less able to assess incremental condition and are appropriate for only some management support needs. Accurately determining impairment and diagnosing pollution-specific stressors are fundamental tasks that states/tribes must accomplish to provide management support. This goal is fulfilled to varying degrees by most states/tribes. The evaluation employs a checklist and a sliding scale of rigor for 13 technical elements. Feedback is provided to each state/tribe via a technical memorandum that describes the technical components of the monitoring program, highlights strengths, and recommends improvements for specific technical issues. This can be used to refine the bioassessment and monitoring programs to better support management programs. The results of 14 state/tribal evaluations are included here. The majority (nine states, one tribe) revealed that most operate at level 2 with developmental activities that will elevate the level of program rigor already underway. Two states operate level 4 programs and each have numeric biocriteria and refined designated uses in their water quality standards. This is the ultimate goal of the process of engaging states in the development of bioassessment programs in the U.S.

Mandated total maximum daily load (TMDL) analyses present an excellent opportunity to restore the nation's degraded waters. The current norm for TMDL practice is, however; unlikely to achieve this goal without improved water quality standards plus systematic monitoring and assessment using biological criteria. Better than chemical and physical criteria alone, biological criteria link human actions, their impacts on water bodies, and societal goals, which are expressed as designated uses. To be adequate, monitoring should improve understanding of the connections among stressor, exposure, and response gradients. Water quality standards, monitoring, and assessment can improve water resources because they track water body condition, not the number of TMDLs completed. Federal and state leadership must set policy goals, as required by the Clean Water Act, and provide adequate fiscal and professional resources. States with high-quality programs should serve as models. Administrators should use the advances made in 2 decades of water resource science to improve their water management programs. Without such improvements, those involved in the TMDL process will continue to be frustrated, and the nation's waters will continue to decline.