I. The agencies and the regional economy. 1. "The mighty Met" : a center of power -- 2. Growth and identity -- 3. The politics of groundwater -- 4. A desert conundrum -- 5. The search for cheap water -- II. Accountability. 6. How decisions get made and who gets to make them -- 7. Debating the language of policy -- III. Innovation : a problem of management, not technology. 8. Water quality : new issues, old priorities -- 9. Groping toward reallocation -- 10. The role of efficiencyt -- 11. Toward a new mission -- IV. Reference material