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Summary Since the Gold Rush, California and the American West have been transformed from vast, sparsely populated open spaces into one of the world's leading regions for food production and manufactur- ing, Much of that development was made possible by tapping the region's abundant natural resources, especially water, and putting them in the service of human needs, That rapid and intensive development has made significant changes in the natural environment. Fish populations have been depleted, wetlands drained and rivers forced into artificial channels. Natural water flow patterns have been altered by dams and levees, Native species of many plants and animals have declined, and in some cases become extinct. Water quality has been impaired by pollutants from mining, urban sources and agricultural activities. In the last decades of the 20th century, policy-makers and stakeholders alike acknowledged the extent of environmental change that had occurred over the past 150 years and began efforts to repair it. Interior Secretary Babbitt confirmed that recognition in 1999 when he declared "the reclamation age" of the past 100 years to be over, and called for water policy in the coming century to be made "in the context of the entire watershed." The recognition of the need for environmental res- toration was manifested in several significant federal and state laws that tried in various ways to inject environmental values into decision-making processes about land use and economic develop- ment. The evolution by the courts of the Public Trust doctrine also helped add environmental concerns to debates over use of natural resources, especially water, Many of the laws that were enacted, such as the ESA, have been highly controversial because they increased uncertainty and had the potential to affect how water and land are used. Initial environmental restoration efforts were narrowly focused, often on a particular animal species whose numbers had dwindled. Scientists soon recognized that while individual species may benefit from this approach, it did little to help larger ecosystems, Out of that realization emerged new approaches such as adaptive management, watershed management, and California's NCCP program that broadened the reach and the appeal of environmental restoration. These newer approaches sought to conserve individual species within the context of broader eco- system restoration objectives and tried to move away from imposed solutions or programs to involve al stakeholders in decisions about restoration objectives. 14 The efficacy of these new approaches is still being tested in "laboratories" ranging from relatively small conservation projects all the way to the CVPIA fish- doubling program and the massive CALFED ecosystem restoration plan, Conservancies like those on Deer Creek and local efforts led by national organizations like The Nature Conservancy's Cosumnes River Project are at the forefront of eco- system restoration, They have brought together a diverse range of stakeholders to experiment with watershed management strategies that aim to restore environmental values such as riparian habitat, fisheries and wetlands. On a larger scale, CALFED is developing an ambitious adaptive management strategy for restoring at least part of the streamflows, wetlands and habitat that once existed in the Delta. While there are many individual success stories among the smaller environmental restoration projects, it remains to be seen if they can be scaled up to more ambitious goals such as those envisioned by CALFED, That's one reason why CALFED planners have stressed that flexibility is so impor- tant in implementing its ecosystem restoration plan, The push for environmental restoration has increased uncertainty among some stakeholders, who fear it could affect water deliveries from the CVP and SWP upon which farmers and urban water users alike have depended for decades, CVP contractors are particularly concerned about how the environR mental water guarantee in the CVPIA will be managed when the next drought cycle occurs, ~ The overall outlook for environmental restoration appears favorable, Until the 19608, little attention was paid to the environmental consequences of water projects, agricultural activities or urban development. Today, because of laws like the ESA, environmental concerns are an integral part of decisions about growth, land use and water use. The CVPIA and the CALFED process have helped raise environmental restoration to the same level as that held by traditional water issues of supply, demand, storage and distribution, And the CALFED process has brought all stakeholders to a common table to discuss how environmental restoration can be balanced with other needs in the overall context of water management. It remains to be seen if all stakeholders will stay committed over the several decades it will take to accomplish environmental restoration on the scale envisioned by CALFED, and restore at least part of California's rich environmental heritage.