Effective management of freshwaters depends on reliable information of how proposed activities will translate to ecological outcomes and, in turn, their economic value. However, several challenges arise when attempting to reconcile variables and methods often used in ecological studies with those that can inform economic valuation and water management. Many of the complications in aligning the needs of each discipline stem from mismatches in the spatial and temporal scales at which variables are measured and modeled. For example, ecologists often rely on relatively static watershed information, such as land use composition, to drive spatial statistical models of ecological outcomes. While these models can provide useful insights into broad ecological patterns, they may lack the temporal resolution needed to inform management. In contrast, managers and economists often require process-based models that link management practices, such as stream buffers, to the temporal variability of water quality outcomes, enabling them to predict their potential effects. However, such models are often spatially limited, and lack transferability to broader extents or new locations, limiting their utility for informing regional or national efforts. A second challenge arises when attempting to translate ecological outcomes into terms that are meaningful for nonmarket valuation studies. For their part, economists need ecological or water quality outcomes that the public can easily understand for nonmarket valuation, often limiting them to simplified representations of water quality, such as the water quality ladder. Expressing complex ecological outcomes in a way that resonates with the public remains a major challenge. A final challenge lies in reconciling biological indicators of impairment with traditional management “levers” aimed at reducing conventional pollutant loads. This talk explores these challenges and highlights work to refine watershed-scale metrics and ecological modeling to improve their relevance for states and managers for testing scenario outcomes and economic valuation of freshwaters.