AFS Water Quality Section

09/24/2026

New paper about instream flows:
'https://academic.oup.com/fisheries/advance-article/doi/10.1093/fshmag/vuag060/8833898?utm_source=authortollfreelink&utm_campaign=fisheries&utm_medium=email

09/18/2026

https://www.wral.com/weather/unc-study-flood-prone-homes-outside-fema-map-chapel-hill/

A peer‑reviewed study of 78 floods finds 43% of North Carolina buildings that took on water over the past two decades sit outside FEMA’s hazard zones, exposing insurance gaps and urging better risk data.

09/16/2026

https://patch.com/new-jersey/secaucus/amp/34820563/data-center-spills-5-500-gallons-of-diesel-into-secaucus-creek

The spill happened Friday night at Equinix data center, which is located on Hartz Way and is expanding.

09/05/2026

https://lnkd.in/p/etQ-VR4b

09/05/2026

Not good for fish. Not good for humans.

The US Constitution doesn’t provide a right to clean drinking water or accurate information from public officials, a divided federal appeals court ruled.

08/30/2026

Long-term biological success of water quality laws in Ohio
Water quality laws are intended to increase “integrity” so that they are fishable, swimmable, safe for drinking, etc. A recent paper by Seth Drake et al. from the Ohio State University show that U.S. clean water laws that regulate point source pollution have worked for Ohio fish and insect communities, but not so much for mussels, which have dispersal limitations. To kick off the 156th annual conference of the American Fisheries Society in Columbus, Ohio read all about their work here:

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

04/21/2026

All,

Much is happening in the world of instream flow and water level conservation!

The web sites for the joint Instream Flow Council and American Fisheries Society's Instream Flow & Water Level Conservation (IFWLC) Project to establish a "National Center for Ecologically Sustainable Water Conservation & Management (Center)" were updated April 13, 2026.

Water 💧Training Project Center Home Page
https://www.instreamflowcouncil.org/training-center/

Water 💧Training Center RFIQ Processes Page
https://www.instreamflowcouncil.org/training-center-rfiq/

If unfamiliar with this project, the Center will be hosted by Oregon state University and supported by a consortium of partnering institutions in the United States and in Canada.

The Center will offer continuing education and related support services to all types of water stakeholders to ensure a combination of human and ecological uses of freshwater and estuarine water sources (surface and ground) will be managed on a sustainable integrated basis.

Specific to the AFS community, the Center will contribute to improved water quantity management allocation outcomes that will conserve (protect, restore, and enhance) adequate amounts of clean lotic and lentic sources of water required to sustain fish production and habitats.

Please reach out to Christopher Estes if you have any questions.

Establishing a New National Center for Ecologically Sustainable Water Conservation & Management (Center) Using a Request for Statements of Interest and Qualifications, RFIQ (multi-stage Process and Timeline) Latest Update: April 13, 2026 See Water Training Center home page for ALL other Center backg...

04/16/2026

THE SENATE IS VOTING ON THE BOUNDARY WATERS RIGHT NOW!
Tonight, while most people are watching TV or putting their kids to bed, the U.S. Senate is taking a vote that could permanently end protections for one of the most beloved wilderness areas in America.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota 1.1 million acres of pristine lakes, rivers, and forest. The most visited wilderness in the entire country. And tonight, the Senate is voting on whether to open it to copper mining.
The vote is happening as you read this. The resolution is H.J. Res. 140. It uses the Congressional Review Act to strip a 20-year mining ban protecting 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest that feeds directly into the Boundary Waters watershed.
A few minutes ago, the Senate voted 51-48 just to proceed. That margin tells you everything about where this is headed.
Here’s what makes this especially infuriating: the mine would be operated by Twin Metals a subsidiary of a Chilean company with a deal to smelt the copper in China. Foreign company with foreign profits. American wilderness destroyed. China gets the copper. We get the pollution.
And if it passes? It’s not just a setback you can undo in four years. The Congressional Review Act has a poison pill once a protection is overturned this way, no future president can ever issue a similar one again without a brand new act of Congress.
The Boundary Waters wouldn’t just lose its protections tonight. It would lose them permanently.

04/13/2026

Innovative Technologies for Assessing Chemicals of Emerging Concern Impacts to Fisheries Resources ( # 47)

We invite you to submit an abstract for our Symposium, which will be held at the 2026 National meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Columbus, OH by April 22. The meeting runs from August 30-Sept 3. Our symposium will address potential impacts of chemicals of emerging concern (CECs), such as pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, PFAS/PFOS, plastic additives/microplastics, newer pesticides/herbicides, and engineered nanomaterials on aquatic food webs. In this symposium, the Water Quality Section (WQS) is seeking presenters who can help answer the following questions: (1) how do CECs directly or indirectly impact fisheries resources, (2) whether there are compounds with low detection limits (e.g.,pyrethroids) in storm water runoff that may contribute to downstream chronic health problems in fish and their food webs, and (3) what technological advances or methods are available to help fisheries and water quality agencies detect, remove, and/or monitor CECs to safeguard these resources and the consumers of contaminated fish. We invite members to contribute presentation abstracts. Following the symposium, plan to join us for a roundtable discussion. Submit your abstract here: https://afsannualmeeting.fisheries.org/call-for-abstracts/.

04/11/2026

Remember residents of Kingston, TN and others where large spills and worker deaths during cleanups occurred.

The Trump administration on Thursday proposed weakening rules for the disposal of ash produced by burning coal that can contain hazardous heavy metals and contaminate groundwater.