From water development to water management - Federal agency opportunism inan era of policy devolution

This article examines the impact on the Department of Interior Bureau of Re clamation of changes in federal water quality policy by a citizen suit in O regon. Having languished for most of the 1980s and early 1990s on the verge of termination, the Bureau has responded in unique and innovative ways to new mandates faced by Oregon and thus demonstrated ifs ability to move beyo nd water development to natural resource management and environmental stewa rdship. Despite significant reductions in force and budgetary constraints, the Bureau of Reclamation exemplifies a new model of agency cooperation wit h local policy initiatives in an era marked by regulatory devolution.