The New York/New Jersey Harbor Watershed is a highly complex environment encompassing one of the largest cities in the world, as well as suburban, rural, and agricultural regions; a wide range of topography; several large and important rivers; a major port; and a population of nearly 14 million people. Like all complex, urban watersheds, the Harbor Watershed is contaminated both from historical pollution and from ongoing pollution. This contamination and its associated problems for fi sh, wildlife, and humans continue to impact every aspect of the Watersheds functions. The Watershed community has come to understand the importance of the Harbor for quality of life, and efforts have been underway for 30 years to reverse the trend of further degradation and to work towards identifying ways to improve the Harbor. This monumental task is one that could be undertaken only in a stepwise fashion, with each effort building on previous work. Ten years ago, it was suggested that the time had come, and the tools were emerging, to look at Harbor Watershed contamination more holistically, using work already available and ongoing to identify actions that could curb the flow of contamination to the Harbor. Furthermore, it was agreed that it was time to test a new paradigm for achieving successful policy change. The regions stakeholders who were going to be asked or required to change their practices needed to be at the table.