Access to water is essential to all life, but it is equally essential for utilitarian purposes such as power generation, agriculture, manufacturing, and construction. Although its global supply was once considered limitless, today’s demands for water have far exceeded its availability in many settings, especially in densely populated geographic regions, which are often located in arid and semiarid zones. In some of these areas, intricate and expensive water conveyance systems have been constructed to deliver water from wetter regions, which correspondingly has led to diminishment of their supply. With these increased demands comes an increased risk to degrade freshwater ecosystems worldwide, fostering intense competition between needs that are strictly anthropogenically focused and utilitarian-based versus those that meet basic needs of freshwater ecosystems. Defining defensible flow and water level regimes that promote healthy ecosystems (rivers, lakes, wetlands, estuaries) is vital for their conservation (protection, restoration, and enhancement) and management. Supporting this is the need for research, development, and training in the interdisciplinary science-based methods to derive these flows/water levels, coupled with effective laws, policies, and public involvement. In this article, we posit that the most effective means of achieving this (i.e., defensible flow and water level regimes) is through the establishment of a National Center for Ecologically Sustainable Water Conservation and Management (Center) that mirrors in some respects the former Cooperative Instream Flow Service Group (CIFSG) that functioned from 1976 to 2001. Our rationale and a selected pathway leading to the development of the Center is described.
