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Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin recognized that, at the margin, the value of the demand for water relating to the minnow exceeded the demand for water elsewhere and diverted it from the low-value use to the high-value use. This episode shines light on other aspects of the disparities between today's realities and the historical models that underlie the governance of the Basin's water and related resources. In contrast to Colorado and the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID), where most water uses are carefully metered and monitored to prevent actual use from exceeding authorized use, there is much less metering and monitoring in the Middle Rio Grande Valley. Using data from U.S. Geological Service gauging stations, a recent report by the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (Miller 1996) compared actual diversions with those authorized by Congress. The author concludes (p.8) that the actual diversions "are substantially greater ( notwithstanding the fact that the actual amount of acreage irrigated in the Middle Rio Grande Project today, which is approximately 60,000 acres, is substantially less than the 85,000 acres authorized by Congress." The reality is that nobody has known the details of who diverted how much water in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, an area where the competing demands for water and related resources are especially complex and the economic costs of diverting water away from non-irrigation uses are especially high. This limitation should, however, change soon. The BuRec has used drought-relief funds to purchase and install additional metering equipment, and is contracting with MRGCD to transfer title, subject to performance requirements. ki ~ ., t;. ~: \;. -~ :~ '). .,': ".: ','-" ~1 B.6. Contributory Problem #6: The Relationship Between the Resources and the Economy is Poorly Understood ~~~i ;~~ Uncertainty about the economy exacerbates the hydrological and ecological uncertainties. The Basin's economy is undergoing dramatic change. For the Basin as a whole, the economy is not agrarian, but heavily urban. Although the four major urban areas-EI Paso-Ciudad Juarez and Albuquerque and, to a lesser extent, Las Cruces and Santa Fe-<>ccupy only a minor fraction of the geographic landscape, they dominate the economic landscape, even in places far removed and where farming and ranching are common activities. :,.. ,'~': ~ ,'. .".', The mechanisms ofthis change, however, are not well-understood. The professional literature on regional and urban economics contains many studies documenting at a national level the declining importance of factors, ~~ lc:. 104 (i;~ 2985