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5 In most regulated streams and rivers, major alterations were also observed in the composition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities (see review by Ward and Stanford 1979a). The important factors controlling macroinvertebrates (temperature, flow, and substrate) were also found to affect lower trophic levels (e.g., primary producers such as benthic algae), However, the limited data available on the flora of regulated streams were secondary information obtained during studies of the macro i nve rtebrate and fish communities (Lowe 1979). Three of the most significant events in the evolution of instream flow methods in the West occurred within a four-month period in 1976. In April, the results of a study to document and evaluate existing methods for fisheries, wildlife, water quality, recreation and aesthetics were published (Stalnaker and Arnette 1976). This document, an early product of the Western Water Allocation Project in the Office of Biological Services of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife r Service, represented the first attempt to compile detailed information on the various fisheries methods and to critically examine them The next month, a symposium and specialty conference on instream flow needs sponsored by the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society was held in Boise, Idaho. The proceedings of the conference, which addressed the legal, social, and biological aspects of the instream flow issue, were published in a two-volume series (Orsborn and Allman 1976a,b) that "may prove to be a landmark in the history of the subject" (White 1979). Finally, in July 1976, the multidisciplinary Cooperative Instream Flow Service Group (IFG)* in the Office of Biological Services of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was established in Ft. Collins, Colorado. The purpose of the IFG was to advance the "state-of-the-art" and become the center of activity related to instream flow assessments (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1977). Within a short period of time after formation of the *The IFG is now known as the Instream Flow and Aquatic Systems Group.