Fish Community measures the condition of freshwater fish communities in the watershed. This indicator is comprised of the fish multi-metric index developed by the EPA and measures river health in categories including taxonomic richness and composition, percent migratory taxa, native species, pollution tolerance, etc.
The data used in the 2022 and 2023/2024 report cards were from 2013-2019.
How is it measured?
Fish community for 2022 was assessed using the most recent five years of data from each reporting region. Values for good, fair, and poor conditions were determined for each of the three ecoregions in the watershed. Samples were scored based on the threshold of the ecoregion they fell within, then averaged at the HUC12 level. These scores are area-weighted to the region scores.
Threshold levels
Coastal Plains
| Good | > 57.3 |
| Fair | 57.3-46.8 |
| Poor | < 46.8 |
Northern Appalachians
| Good | > 57.6 |
| Fair | 57.6-47.1 |
| Poor | < 47.1 |
Southern Appalachians
| Good | > 60.3 |
| Fair | 60.3-49.8 |
| Poor | < 49.8 |