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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I might sell for more than $1 million under current market conditions. Although water rights in other western states generally sell for less than in Colorado, purchases for instream flow maintenance are nevertheless prohibitively expensive in many instances. In lieu of purchasing water rights, some advocates have negotiated to induce reservoir owners to alter their operations in order to enhance instream flows during critical times. This strategy is particularly applicable in the West since one-quarter of all the farmland in the region is served by federal Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs. In addition, scores of private reservoirs are scattered throughout the region, providing opportunities for innovative operating criteria that promote instream resources. Examples of this strategy have occurred on the Rio Chama in New Mexico, an area devoid of state-recognized instream flow rights. On the Rio Chama, a river heavily fished and rafted, recreational users negotiated with owners of water in an upstream reservoir to alter their operating criteria to maximize releases of stored water on summer weekends. This arrangement did not cost the water owners anything since they were able to recapture the water for subsequent beneficial use in a downstream reservoir-and the commercial rafting industry and recreational users received enhanced opportunities on weekends. High in the headwaters of the Rio Chama, another arrangement was entered into between fishing interests and the Bureau of Reclamation to promote instream flows. In Heron Reservoir, the Bureau stores water imported from the Colorado River basin for the benefit of Albuquerque and other Rio Grande basin users. Pursuant to contracts with the Bureau, the users must take delivery of their water by December 31 or lose it. Since many contractors did not request deliveries until close to the deadline, December found the Rio Chama with very high flows followed by extremely low flows during critical winter months. This release schedule proved detrimental to the local trout population, and talks with fishing interests commenced to persuade the Bureau to extend the delivery deadline into April. An agreement was reached which results in no harm to the Bureau, provides more breathing room to water contractors, and enhances winter flows in the Rio Chama. Throughout areas of the West, alteration of reservoir operations may prove useful to instream resources. Also, opportunities for enhancement may exist even in those locales without reservoir storage. For example, instream flows could be enhanced simply by moving the place of use or point of diversion of a senior irrigation right further downstream. Also, where needed, arrangements could be made with irrigators to defer diversions during critical dry spells to enable the survival of local fish populations. Paying an irrigator for crop damage during infrequent drought events would be far less expensive than purchasing the permanent water right. 1-11