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<br />;.1, <br />;.J <br /> <br />r:J <br />.-)':; <br /> <br />An Overview of the Basin's Resource-Management Problems <br /> <br />j1' <br />f <br /> <br />Considerable effort by New Mexico's senior U.S. senator was required to get <br />federal agencies and other parties to work together to assess the biological <br />needs of the bosque ecosystem in the Middle Rio Grande and develop a plan <br />for managing the ecosystem-the only one of its kind in the Basin. Even so, <br />the plan's recommendations are very broad in nature and, despite constant <br />attention and dialogue among stakeholders, tangible change in operations by <br />the major water agencies has yet to be realized. <br /> <br /> <br />It is unrealistic to expect that things will get simpler or easier in the future. <br />Instead, the competition for resources will intensify, and, as it does, the <br />stakeholders will continually face not just the day-to-day problems, such as <br />. how to coordinate research or keep water in the river during one summer for <br />the Rio Grande silvery minnow, but also the more fundamental ones, such <br />as: <br /> <br />. Who should have a "place at the table" and, thus, have a say in decisions <br />regarding overall resource-management decisions and decisions <br />regarding specific resources? <br /> <br />. What is the public-welfare interest in these resources, and how should <br />the inevitable conflicts between private and public interests be managed? <br /> <br />-.-:'; <br /> <br />. How should the stakeholders accommodate what some see as new <br />demands and other see as the inevitable consequences of old ones? For <br />example, should the weight of conserving species rendered endangered by <br />past resource-management practices fall on those who benefited from <br />these practices in the past, those who want to engage in similar practices <br />in the future, or on society as a whole? <br /> <br />~~~.: <br /> <br />t; <br /> <br /> . <br />:J! <br />~~ <br /> . <br /> . <br /> <br />How should the stakeholders encourage decentralization, innovation, and <br />experimentation? <br /> <br />How should the stakeholders communicate with the public and manage <br />all the various types of risk and uncertainty regarding the hydrology, <br />ecosystem, and economy? <br /> <br />How should the stakeholders coordinate with Mexico on the management <br />and use of shared resources? <br /> <br />The current level of distrust among the stakeholders in this Basin creates <br />extraordinary challenges for any attempt to address the problems associated <br /> <br />~' .. 4).~' ~ n <br />I: \/..."J~~ <br /> <br />107 <br />