The International Lake Environment Committee (ILEC) and the River Systems Institute–Texas State University will co-sponsor the 14th World Lake Conference, to be held in Austin, Texas, USA, 31 October - 4 November, 2011. The conference provides an interactive international forum for the exchange of knowledge and experiences on important lake and reservoir science, management and governance issues. The conference is a biennial event with previous conferences having been convened in Argentina, China, Denmark, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, and the USA. The anticipated conference participants include international, national, and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, academic organizations, representatives of the private sector, and other water stakeholders from both developed and developing countries. As highlighted in the conference title, “Lakes, Rivers, Groundwater and Coastal Areas: Understanding Linkages,” a dramatic departure from the traditional focus on lake systems and their lentic properties is the expanded perspective of how lake and reservoir systems are hydrologically linked to river systems, both upstream and downstream. ILEC has been exploring transmedia lentic-lotic linkages and interactions, and their management implications, over the past several years in a global study, and will highlight their insightful findings at the 14th World Lake Conference.