Respondents were first handed a card thatlisted the four key ecosystem services that a re-stored plains river such as the Platte river couldprovide. These were listed and described as:1.Dilution of wastewater: adequate river flowsare important for diluting fertilizer and pesti-cides that run off from farm fields, wastewaterdischarges from treatment plants and pollu-tants in urban stormwater. This dilution in-sures the river is not toxic to fish and is safefor water-based recreation such as boating.They were then handed a color drawing thatillustrated the lack of dilution along a hypo-thetical section of the Platte river.2.Natural purification of water: one of the mostimportant services of streamside vegetationand wetlands is the natural purification ofwater. Run-off from city streets and agricul-tural fields contain various pollutants such asoil, pesticides, and fertilizer as well as excesssoil. These pollutants are absorbed by the plants and broken down by plants and bacte-ria to less harmful substances. Pollutants at-tached to suspended soil particles are filteredout by grasses and other plants and depositedin floodplains. This process helps improve wa-ter quality.Respondants were then handed acolor drawing contrasting the current condi-tion in the upper half of the diagram to thenatural purification process in the lower partof the diagram. This diagram is illustrated inblack and white in Fig. 1.3.Erosion control: streamside vegetation alsoplays a role in the control of erosion. Plantsand their roots hold stream banks and filterwater. The results in clear, clean water re-quired by fish (point to blue water and fish onthe left diagram; not shown here). In the ab-sence of vegetation, rain and melting snowerodes the stream banks and rainfall washessoil from fields directly into river. This erodedsoil fills the river bottom with mud. The resultis muddy water and shallow rivers that do notprovide healthy habitat for fish (point tobrown water on right hand side diagram; notshown here). As noted in the above text, acolor diagram contrasting presence and ab-sence of the erosion control service was pre-sented to the respondent.4.Habitat for fish and wildlife: on the left side ofthe diagram (not shown) you can see the vari-ety of vegetation along the river provides habi-tat for a wide range of wildlife includingwoodpeckers, ducks, shorebirds and deer.Trees and shrubs in floodplains offer shelterand areas for nesting and roosting of manybird species. In addition the vegetation shadesthe stream keeping the water cool for fish andreducing algae growth which is detrimental tofish. Streamside corridors also are importantfor animal migration.After the current state and restored level ofeach individual ecosystem service was describedand illustrated, we then showed composite figuresfor current management (shown in Fig. 2) andincreased ecosystem service (shown in Fig. 3).This helped to bring together all of the individualecosystem services into what the overall ecosystemwould look and function like under the currentcondition and restoration. Note, all of the figuresused in the interviews were in color to betterillustrate the change in water quality