The great salmon stocks that once ran from the Pacific to the Sierra declined toward extinction. In 1993, the Department and the state of California convened stakeholders in a protracted negotiation that lead to the Bay Delta Accord of 1994. The process was then formalized into Cal-Fed, charged by Governor Wilson and President Clinton with working toward a comprehensive water resource plan. In 1994, California voters signaled their support for this process by approving a billion dollar water bond issue. Congressional support has followed.
Many similar processes are now underway in Nevada, Oregon, Montana, and other states.
Each of them is characterized by a desire to step away from stale ideological arguments, to get down on the ground, and to find workable compromises that will enable every community to prosper and to live in harmony with Creation. And that is our task for the coming century.