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H:~ -,-J .;~ -;-j Conclusions and Recommendations 10-;'-' 'I>;~J ~;-~ ;.', decisions will have repercussions not just locally but throughout the ecosystem and regional economy. Thus, the overall economic benefits the nation derives from the Basin's resources are likely to increase the more managers take these repercussions into account. The second is that nonfederal resource-management institutions in the Basin are not likely to take these repercussions fully into account in the foreseeable future. Groups in the Basin have a long history of taking a parochial view of their interest in water and related resources. A common view is that water not consumed in one's state or local district is "wasted." -J. ~~-. In making this recommendation, although we observe that past and current federal policies and actions generally do not correspond with a broad view of the ecological and economic repercussions, we are not saying all resource managers are unaware of the Basin's ecological and economic issues. Indeed, many struggle with these issues daily. The fact remains, however, that each agency's management of water and related resources has been and continues to be focused on a subset of the resources and driven largely by concerns for a subset of the competing demands. :-..) ~~ We believe four changes in how federal agencies do business will expedite policies and actions with a broader view of the ecosystem and economy. Federal agencies with a significant impact on the Basin's resources should (1) promote ecosystem-management institutions; (2) initiate an integrated scientific assessment of ecological and economic conditions in the Basin; (3) describe tradeoff's more clearly; and (4) communicate ecological and economic issues more clearly. We discuss each ofthese in turn. "~ '.j 1. Promote Institutions That Take a Broad View of the Economy and Environment ~ , One analyst of the organizational and legal aspects of ecosystem manage- ment recently observed, "As a practical matter ecosystem management is dependent on developing new organizational relationships for managing natural resources" (Meidinger 1997). We agree. At least since the turn of the century, public resources have been managed under the Progressive model, which places great responsibility on agency experts and assumes some separation between their objective, goal-driven planning and the vicissitudes of public opinion. Now, however, with new knowledge of the unpredictability of ecosystems, intensely greater competition for natural resources, and a more-empowered public demanding to be involved, some 129 i 1[' ') ..... \ '-.-'Vv 9