When one works in the arena of policy and management 
decision-making, it becomes evident very quickly that scientists 
and managers view the world, and each other, quite differently. 
Managers often see scientists as intent on collecting unlimited 
quantities of irrelevant data over infinite time periods, and as 
not wanting to state conclusions without significant qualifying 
language. Perhaps it is this quality that once led Senator 
Proxmire to lament that he wanted more one-armed scientists, 
ones who would not say, "But on the other hand." 
On the other hand, scientists view managers (and politi¬ 
cians) as not understanding the need for large data bases col¬ 
lected under standardized conditions over long periods of time 
before conclusions can be reached with any degree of certainty. 
They judge the manager's quick decisions, based on what they 
consider insufficient information to be arrogant guesses, or 
worse, purse political expediency. 
The purpose of this paper is to show that each set of 
players needs to learn from the other, and that there do exist 
procedures for maximizing the degree to which decision-making, 
policy development and resource management can utilize technical 
information. 
This combination of circumstances surrounding the status of 
ecological information on the River-Delta-Bay-Ocean ecosystem 
indicates that we have serious problems regarding the adequacy 
of information on the resources that we are trying to manage. 
It also indicates that there does not exist an agreed-upon set 
of management goals for this, the largest estuary on the Pacific 
coast. Despite the over $3 billion spent on improving Bay water 
quality since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, and 
despite the presence of over 75 agencies, academic institutions, 
and non-profit organizations concerned with the Bay and environ¬ 
mental issues, we have yet to develop a system which established 
widely accepted management goals. One Bay scientist expressed 
his concern over this problem as follows (Conomos, 1977): 
In response to environmental concerns during the past few 
decades, legislative committee have agreed that this estu¬ 
arine system should be protected against further indiscrim¬ 
inate and unrestrained exploitation. These committees and 
subsequent Federal and state legislation have mandated that 
sound plans for long-term intelligent and rational manage¬ 
ment of this valuable resource be formulated and imple¬ 
mented. There is, unfortunately, little scientific data on 
which to base these plans. Our knowledge of the complex 
physical, chemical, biological, and sedimentological estu¬ 
arine processes is relatively primitive. This is surpris¬ 
ing, considering the importance and irreplaceable nature of 
the system, the magnitude and cost of the public works al¬ 
ready built or in the planning stages, and the demands and 
standards imposed by environmental and regulatory agencies. 
126 
