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Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin state lines. As we describe above, the Compact creates incentives for water managers in each state to manipulate water flows to take advantage of the Compact's provisions-by trying to create or prevent "spills" at Elephant Butte-rather than to maximize the net benefits derived from the water. Representatives of Pueblos in the Basin argue that the Compact, being an agreement among states, has no bearing on the sovereignty of Pueblos or the U.S. obligations to them. Resource managers in Texas complain that the Compact so far has not facilitated resolution of their concerns about the degraded quality of water reaching Texas as runoff from agricultural lands in southern New Mexico. Competitors for groundwater observe that the Compact does not provide guidance for management of this resource. Advocates of taking a holistic approach to managing the Basin's ecosystem conclude that the Compact creates barriers by focusing each state's attention on the amount of water flowing across political boundaries that have no ecological meaning. , ,,< . . :~ Despite these beliefs, some observers have concluded that, because the Compact has a ubiquitous presence in resource-management activities that might affect interstate flows, it may be possible-indeed, necessary-to employ the Compact as a tool for addressing a wide array of other issues. By and large, state resource managers and representatives of the irrigators and others who engage in the greatest direct use of water adamantly express opposition to any proposal that might be seen as an attempt to circumvent the Compact and the institutions that have built up around it. Some of the defenders see nothing wrong with the Compact and how these institutions affect management of the Basin's water and related resources. Others, though no less dedicated in their insistence that the Compact playa central role in resource management, interpret the Compact to have greater flexibility and are more sanguine that the Compact-related institutions can take a leading role in addressing environmental and other issues. 8~ '.: ::' ',-.; ,;;2 "" ~.::- ~f .~ < ,.0- ~:{ '.co, 2. New Mexicorrexas Water Commission The New MexicolTexas Water Commission evolved out ofthe settlement of litigation between EI Paso, New Mexico, and several stakeholders with an interest in water from the Bureau of Reclamation's (BuRec's) Rio Grande Project, which extends from Elephant Butte to Ft. Quitman. The litigation began after EI Paso challenged New Mexico's statutory embargo on exporting water out ofthe state. In 1980, EI Paso applied to the New Mexico State Engineer Office (SEO), requesting pennission to appropriate and transport ~".(: " f.' ,;-.:; 112 ,.r ')I"o.~ . v...~jv...j IJi: !:"~ (_',0: I... -# I", Il.'l