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Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin first is that federal policies and actions should view the Basin's water and related resources as elements of an ecosystem, not as independent resources separate from the ecosystem. The history of resource management in this Basin exhibits a strong emphasis on managing water quantity for consumptive uses, with little or no regard for the unintended consequences for water quality or for the impacts on the structure and function of riverine and riparian ecosystems. Both inside and outside the Basin, ecologists have sounded alarms about the potential consequences of continuing in this mode. Ignoring these alarms would be foolhardy. We recommend that federal resource managers strive to understand more fully the potential ecological consequences of resource-management decisions, to help stakeholders and the public share this understanding, and to give these consequences appropriate ~eight in every relevant decisionmaking process. f 'j~ i~ " t The second essential feature of this recommendation is that federal policies and actions should recognize the full set of competing demands for the Basin's water and related resources and, wherever appropriate, strive to optimize these resources' contribution to the economy. In Chapter 3, we identify three economic criteria for defining and evaluating the major problems associated with the growing competition for the Basin's scarce water and related resources. These same criteria also are useful for evaluating the extent to which alternative federal policies and actions contribute to the economic well-being of Basin residents and other Americans. Insofar as possible, federal policies and actions should strive to increase (1) the net value ofthe bundle of goods and services derived from the Basin's water and other resources; (2) the levels of employment, income, and other indicators of standard of living associated with these resources; and (3) perceptions that the resources are managed fairly. ~!:' \'. r. '> ..; '.~ T-: ',- l.~ ,- ~;. These two features, ecological and economic, of this recommendation are inextricably linked. Humans and human activity are part of the ecosystem. Insofar as this report is an examination of the competition for scarce resources derived from the ecosystem, we adopt a distinctly anthropocentric view and conclude that human well-being, measured against the three criteria mentioned in the previous paragraph, will be enhanced by taking a broad view of how resource-management policies and actions affect both the ecosystem and the economy. ~. I. i . '.0 Why is this an appropriate recommendation for federal policies and agencies? There are two primary reasons. The first is that the scientific evidence strongly supports the conclusion that resource-management 128 f.r'" ^. 8 \' O.J '..1 V '...I ~ \ r I.