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Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin cumbersome. An alternative approach involves different interest groups working cooperatively, searching for innovations and agreements that allow competitors to make mutual progress. In this chapter we briefly examine some of the conditions that generally must exist for cooperative efforts to succeed. We then describe some of the past efforts to solve the Basin's resource-management problems cooperatively, and we conclude with an outlook for future cooperative efforts. ~ , 'J A. Requirements for Cooperative Resource Management There is no standard formula for cooperative resource management. The determinants of success vary depending on the type of issues being addressed, the characteristics of the participating parties, and the emotional legacy of past actions. Nonetheless, several factors commonly are believed to be instrumental in increasing the likelihood of success. ~~: ri i,. One factor is deemed essential. Each party must see that it has something to gain by participating in the effort in good faith. Sometimes this requirement is turned on its head: each party must see that it has something to lose by not participating. This requirement often has not been satisfied in the Upper Rio Grande Basin, as some groups that enjoy the greatest use and control over water have felt they have nothing to gain and much to lose by working with groups seeking to restrict their use and control. This observation applies generally to irrigators, who account for 80 percent of diversionary use in the Basin, and to the agencies representing their interests. It also applies, as a rule, to those who have first access to water and related resources, either because they are located higher in the Basin and have the physical capacity to use surface flows, or because they are first in time and have a superior claim to water and other resources over those who came later and future generations. I:: '.; '" t,.-: :i:: ."~ t... ,;. '.,~ '.', Four additional factors can substantially influence the success of a cooperative effort (Rieke et al. ). One, the effort must have broad participation embracing all interest groups with a stake in, and ability to alter, the outcome. Two, it must have sufficient technical expertise to yield plausible answers to the "What if?" questions that must arise if the participants are to explore innovative solutions to difficult problems. Three, it must have a process that allows each party to feel it has been treated fairly relative to the others; generally the process entails having a coordinator that -.~. :. ~':i. 110 ('C2991 f'<"f; ." .-., >-c-;