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Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin netwol\k of canals and 71 percent ofthe native fish species no longer can be found in this area. Only one portion of the Basin's ecosystem, the riparian cottonwood forest known as the bosque in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, has been examined extensively. The forest no longer is dispersed throughout the historical floodplain, much of it is disconnected hydrologically from the river, and significant changes in ecological structure and function are expected to occur if current management regimes continue. In 1994, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed the Rio Grande silvery minnow as an endangered species. The prior-appropriation doctrine underlies most water movement in the Basin, but it does not apply uniformly to all resources or in all areas. Also important is the influence of aboriginal rules and custom, Spanish and Mexican laws antedating the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ceded much of the Basin to the U.S., international treaties, the Rio Grande Compact, the federal government's trust responsibilities for Pueblo tribes and as stewards of many resources, and the unique laws and institutions of the three states. Water-management issues are especially complex in New Mexico. The state does not recognize instream flows as a beneficial use and, hence, it does not protect instrearn flows. Furthermore, it has not adjudicated most water rights in the Basin and there is little infrastructure for measuring flows and diversions. Particularly disturbing to many is the lack of adjudication for Pueblo water rights which, at some places and times ofthe year, probably would embrace all surface flows. ,. < Competition for the Basin's water and related resources is far more intense and complex than in the past. Decades ago, demand came primarily from agriculture, but it now competes with demands reflecting the spiritual value Indians and others place on the river, the contributions the river makes to the Basin's quality of life, and the myriad uses of water in a modern metropolitan city. Some ofthe competition manifests itselfthrough market mechanisms, but most does not. Powerful economic forces are changing the character of the competition for resources by reducing the ability of traditional resource-intensive industries, such as agriculture, and increasing the ability of non-consumptive and passive uses, such as recreation, to generate new jobs and higher incomes. Increasingly, the economic prospects of communities are determined by their ability to produce, attract, and keep a highly qualified workforce and, as both firms and households become more footloose, communities that offer a high quality of life outperf<f~ (b.&Gtflat '. I ..' ) ';,.: ," S-4 j~ i ~::