Many of those who came were no doubt drawn by the large amounts of funding to be made available to watershed groups, local governments, private landowners, and other non-governmental organizations through proposition dollars. But there was another reason at work: the representatives of watershed groups large and small—those who work directly with communities, landowners, and the vast array of governmental agencies—know firsthand that coordinating programs at the watershed level is the most efficient and effective approach to addressing many of the challenges we face in restoring our environment in California.

This was primarily a listening session for Winston Hickox, Martha Davis (the public representative), and myself, along with the deputy directors from over eighteen departments under the Resources Agency and Cal/EPA, including the California Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the California Bay-Delta Authority.

The participants stayed late into the afternoon for breakout sessions at which they identified five important Watershed Council priorities: integrated planning, not unexpectedly, was the unanimous choice as the most important issue to address followed by education and outreach, economics, and funding, and data and information exchange and access.

The final priority was the need to further develop California Watershed Council policy, governance, and operations. I was personally struck by how committed the participants were, how eager they were to set aside differences and criticisms, roll up their sleeves, and work together. The discussions at this important day were far from conceptual; those who attended were thinking strategically—and I think the upcoming meeting of Biodiversity Council is an excellent opportunity to move forward to ensure that federal and state agencies, along with our many other members, are keeping pace.

The CBC has already endorsed the principles of watershed management, and its Watershed Work Group’s best funding practices and other recommendations will be used by the Watershed Council. I believe that it is time to also identify strategic approaches for agencies to find new ways to work together, use existing staff more efficiently, assure that funds can be targeted for projects that have multiple benefits, and build plans that communities can rally around. This is a challenge that the Biodiversity Council is well suited to address and achieve.