Terminal lakes present a unique management challenge because of the very nature of their hydrologic systems: they lie at the lowest point of the basin, and the only way water can leave is through evaporation. Activities upstream, including input of salts and contaminants, as well as diversions for agriculture and cities, all impact such lakes, and their ecological systems bear the consequences. Feature articles discuss the management-and mismanagement-histories of Walker, Pyramid, Owens, Mono, and Great Salt lakes, and the Salton Sea.