Paradigm challenge: integrating freshwater research and education / Penny Firth -- A giant step backward / David H. Moreau -- Challenges to water research / L. Douglas James -- The changing nature of water management and its reflection in the academic literature / Christopher Lant -- A perspective from the chair of the Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission / Denise Fort -- Future directions in water resources science and engineering: a view from the U.S. Geological Survey / Robert M. Hirsch and Gail E. Mallard -- Building a research foundation for sound enviromental decicions / Peter W. Preuss.