The implementation of the proposed design, with its large and complex geography, many stakeholders, long time-span, and several scales of decision, is a process that involves many techniques, responsible agencies, and organizations. The implementation chart (Table 3) shows the major strategies incorporated into the design and their respective implementation techniques, based largely on Alternative Techniques for Managing Growth by Irving Schiffman (1989). The list of agencies and stakeholders which have responsibility for the various aspects of implementation is expanded from those described by the Santa Margarita River Association (1995). It is only through regional coordination and inter-agency cooperation that the major strategies can become implemented.

Figure 52 shows some of the major implementation responsibilities. For example, the priority conservation lands and the flood control network may be protected through three types of techniques: full-fee acquisition, cooperative partnerships, and private conservation. These are achievable only through shared responsibility between the public and private sectors.

As described previously, the design guidelines address the management of areas outside the priority conservation lands. Most of these guidelines can be implemented at the local level within traditional zoning ordinances. Others may require regional coordination.

Transportation upgrades and the proposed rail line would be carried out via the currently responsible agencies of government, as would improvements connected to water management.

Clearly, a major, coordinated, regional effort will be necessary to gain the support of the public to facilitate the private and inter-agency cooperation needed to implement such major design strategies as those proposed herein. The conservation investments, infrastructure improvements, zoning strategies, and guidelines can positively influence flood control, fire management, and long-term preservation of the regional landscape ecological pattern and its high biodiversity.