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<br />.'.'1 <br />~'" <br />., <br /> <br />Executive Summary <br /> <br />;:,.~, <br /> <br />1. Bottom-line Problem #1: The Resources are Finite, but the <br />Demands are Not <br /> <br />;; <br /> <br />The Basin's water and related resources are components of, and produced by <br />an ecosystem. This ecosystem, like all others, has limits on how much water <br />and other resources can be. extracted from it to support and sustain humans. <br />Within the past decade, the edges of the ecosystem's carrying capacity have <br />become more clear. The designation of the Rio Grande silvery minnow as an <br />endangered species reflects the extreme stress within the ecosystem. The <br />low snowpack during 1995-96 showed that the supply of water can fall far <br />short of current consumption levels, and the prospect of global climate <br />change promises to exacerbate the shortfall. Both the Albuquerque area and <br />the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez area have bumped against the limits ofthe <br />supply of readily accessible groundwater, and are expecting rapid population <br />growth. Many locations within the Basin have either encountered declines in <br />water quality or recognized that such declines may materialize in the <br />foreseeable future. <br /> <br />y; <br /> <br />;.,< <br /> <br />:.:.j <br />:;:j <br />:z.... <br /> <br />2. Bottom-line Problem #2: The Basin's Water and Related Resources are <br />Persistently Allocated in a Manner That is Less Than Ideal <br /> <br />..~ <br /> <br />If the Basin's water and related resources reflected the nation's ideals of <br />competitive markets, they consistently would go to their highest-value uses. <br />As the economy changes over time, some demands for a resource would grow, <br />others would diminish, and the resources would shift accordingly through <br />multiple, voluntary transactions. Reality, however, is far different from this <br />ideal. For most, if not all, of the Basin's water and related resources the <br />prevailing prices do not tell the economic truth about either the overall <br />scarcity of the resources or the strength of one demand relative to another. <br />As a result, the local, regional, and national economies forgo valuable goods <br />and services as well as opportunities for more jobs, larger incomes, and <br />higher standards of living. Some groups, especially the Pueblos, assert that <br />the system is grossly unfair. <br /> <br />c <br />~ <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />Many additional factors contribute to the bottom-line problems. These <br />contributory problems include: <br /> <br />. The Basin's Resources Have Not Been Managed as Elements of an <br />Ecosystem <br /> <br />/.1')8--;0 <br />' .t '- I <br /> <br />8-7 <br />