To help us create the future we want, researchers at the Pacific Northwest Ecosystem Research Consortium summarized information on population density and distribution, agricultural practices and crops, and native vegetation.

Then, working with a group of knowledgeable stakeholders, they developed three alternative “visions” or scenarios for the future. These show the combined effects of policy decisions on urban, rural residential, agricultural, forestry, natural lands, and water uses, across the entire basin through the year 2050.