Where federal watershed programs have included substantive mandates, however, in many cases they have done more harm than good to watershed health. To achieve this change, watershed programs should be driven by clear, enforceable substantive mandates to restore and protect aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, federal and state laws and programs that do more to degrade than to protect aquatic ecosystem integrity should be modified or repealed in concert with restoration efforts. Otherwise, efforts to stabilize the patient will fail because the sources of illness will remain. Finally, the mission of watershed programs must be defined broadly.
Some proposals continue to focus on single issues or sets of issues, such as water quality.
Watershed programs should be designed to address, in concert, all activities that affect the integrity of the aquatic ecosystem within a watershed. Programs must encompass all aspects of the hydrologic cycle, including links between land and water, water quality and quantity, and groundwater and surface water. Consistency Previous efforts to establish nationwide watershed management were rejected in part due to resistance to mandatory federal programs affecting land and water use. Moreover, the resurgence of watershed programs around the country in the absence of a national mandate suggests that people and institutions may oppose when required what they may be willing to do when asked. However flexible a national program is intended, some believe that it will become encased in rules that stifle innovation.