Watershed Management for Endangered Aquatic and Riparian Species: Facts and Fallacies

River basin management is becoming increasingly complex in the United States since watershed managers are required to take into consideration the threatened and endangered (T&E) species that inhabit aquatic and riparian ecosystems. Unfortunately, too many fallacies and political agendas have crept into the picture. Suppositions and hypotheses fly everywhere in the political-legal environment under the guise of making "conservative" decisions for preservation of T&E species, but few are rigorously tested. Some of the fallacies are: single species management works, extrinsic factors cause the problems, simple solutions are available, fluvial systems are stable, we understand the natural range of variability, and ecosystems can be restored, etc. Watershed management decisions in the 21st century related to T&E species must be founded on the basis of solid science.