“For unnumbered centuries of human history the wilderness has given way.
The priority of industry has become dogma. Are we as yet sufficiently
enlightened to realize that we must now challenge that dogma, or do without
our wilderness? Do we realize that industry, which has been our good servant,
might make a poor master? Let no man expect that one lone government bureau
is able—even tho it be willing—to thrash out this question alone.
.....Our remnants of wilderness will yield bigger values to the nation's
character and health than they will to its pocketbook, and to destroy them
will be to admit that the latter are the only values that interest us.”
 - Aldo Leopold

The task of restoring degraded areas and elements within a watershed begins
with learning what was historically there, and understanding  the roles and
interrelationships that sustained those indigenous ecosystems.

Many people have pointed out that this ideal may be impossible to attain
because: 1) we know very little about historic ecosystems, 2) some key
species may be lost, and 3) such efforts may be prohibitively expensive.
They, therefore, shy away from using the term 'restoration' and settle on
the more broadly applicable and attainable term, 'rehabilitation.'

This term--known to the medical community--suggests a practice that aims
to repair or replace "essential ecosystem structures and functions that
have been altered or eliminated by disturbance."
(G.D. Cooke and W.R. Jordan III, 1995).

Where to start?

Similarly, the medical model proposes that we assess the health of
the system. Measuring the biological diversity of the waters,shoreline, wetlands,
streams and rivers and thier incumbent flora and fauna could provide effective and
economical indicators of overall ecological health of this great inland sea and its watershed.
Once measured, this range of natural systems that supports all living things, this biodiversity,
needs to be protected and preserved. Then, rehabilitation and remediation can begin.