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<br />Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin <br /> <br />conclude that the federal agencies have accomplished much that is good and <br />are working hard to do better. Most residents of the Basin probably have no <br />strong opinion one way or another. <br /> <br />In sum, there is no consensus in this Basin about steps to take to reduce the <br />level of frustration. Although few disagree with the need for meaningful, <br />affordable public participation that is effective and inclusive, many feel <br />threatened by proposals for institutional innovations. The mere suggestion <br />of a Basin-wide institution with resource-planning or -management <br />responsibilities generally elicits vehement opposition from resource <br />managers. A similar response comes from those who derive economic <br />benefits from current resource policies, see such proposals as unfair attempts <br />to change the rules in the middle of the game, and believe they have nothing <br />to gain and everything to lose by pursuing compromise with others. Those <br />wanting greater influence on resource-management decisions, such as some <br />representatives of Pueblos or environmental organizations, typically are at <br />most lukewarm to the idea, fearing that they have too little political power <br />and technical expertise to participate in such an institution effectively and, <br />hence, they would be disadvantaged even further than they are now. <br /> <br />~~ <br /> <br />i <br />;~ <br />. <br /> <br />'_1 <br /> <br />~:-' <br /> <br />B.5. Contributory Problem #5: There is Widespread Uncertainty About the <br />Hydrosystem and Ecosystem of the Upper Rio Grande Basin <br /> <br />'.' <br /> <br />':.- <br /> <br />Much is unknown about the current status of the Basin's water and related <br />resources. Some of this uncertainty stems from the vagaries of nature that <br />continue to lie beyond the grasp of scientific knowledge, despite intense <br />effort. Much of it, however, is the result of deliberate decisions to ignore <br />knowledge that has lain within reach. Moreover, many conclude that <br />resource-management decisions in the Basin have been made without <br />recognition of the limits of knowledge and the consequences for posterity, <br />and thus, constitute a fundamental failure of water management in the West <br />(William deBuys, comment of draft report). <br /> <br />,-<' <br /> <br />h <br /> <br />;}:: <br /> <br />:";, <br /> <br />~", . <br /> <br />The hydrology of the Basin has been subjected to intense study, but major <br />breakthroughs in understanding have occurred sporadically (Bureau of <br />Reclamation, Middle Rio Grande Assessment Preliminary Discussion Draft). <br />Until recently, the conventional wisdom was that the Albuquerque area <br />rested on a readily-accessible aquifer roughly the size of Lake Superior and <br />that this aquifer was closely connected to and readily recharged by surface <br />flows in the Rio Grande. A reexamination ofthis hypothesis was prompted <br /> <br />\;:. <br /> <br />f'S2981 <br /> <br />~. <br /> <br />100 <br />