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These efforts illustrate an important point indi- viduals are most likely to recognize unsustainable resource use first when it affects their local environment. Thus, local watershed groups playa critical educational role and also represent a force for sustainable management at the basin level. Water in the West: The Challenge for the Next Century more coordinated approach by local, state, and federal agencies seems prudent, given the heavy reliance on groundwater by agriculture in some regions and by municipal water users in many areas. The western states need good information about groundwater to make informed water management decisions. The resources to perform these studies vary by state, and the federal government's role in providing information can be critical. The USGS, in conjunction with state officials, should help quantify existing data bases and should make available any computer models, geophysical methodology, seismic information, or other tools that could be used to assist decisonmakers. The USGS should also engage in analysis of groundwater resources and provide policy relevant information such as forecasts of aquifer life to the water resources community. Reasons for Hope The challenges ahead are daunting. Progress will require significant changes in our water institutions and the way that we manage our water resources. Steady political leadership will be essential. Yet, there are already many signs of progress. All around the nation, individuals and communities are taking a greater role in stewardship of their natural resources. Hundreds if not thousands of watershed groups now exist nationwide. They have been organized for many reasons-to monitor water quality, to restore fish habitat, to improve recreation, to promote water-related economies. They are providing a community-based forum for resolving, at the local level, some of the most difficult kinds of water conflicts-in stream flows, nonpoint source pollution, fish passage, and subdivision of riparian areas. They are achieving success often without regulatory intervention and with very meager funding because they capitalize on the sense of ownership and obligation to others that exists foremost at the community level. Residents of the West are also supporting improved resources management with their votes and dollars. The most notable example is the recent bond election in California, where voters approved hundreds of millions of dollars to help restore the Bay-Delta estuary and improve the reliability of water supplies. Public support such as this is being mobilized frequently by strong federal-state partnerships, such as the Bay-Delta Accord, which demonstrate that with forward-looking political leadership, very difficult problems can be addressed in a collaborative way. Solutions are not simple or quick; but where good-faith efforts are undertaken, citizens have shown their willingness to provide the necessary funds. As in the Bay-Delta effort to solve water problems, states in general are taking on a range of roles that is broader than their historic mission of enforcing water rights. They are becoming much more proactive in addressing issues that in the past might have been left to federal agencies or not addressed at all. For example, the Western Governors' Association is addressing the issue of land use planning and protection of open space from uncontrolled growth, traditionally not a politically profitable topic in the West. The federal government, in turn, is experimenting with ways to make achievement of national environmental goals easier. The use of Habitat Conservation Plans, for example, is showing some promise of enlisting private landowners in cooperative efforts to more effectively protect ecosystems and habitats, rather than just individual xxx