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<br />DuMars has a similar concern with using a water court or administrative agency as <br />the sole forum in which to balance competing public interest criteria. Among his reasons: <br />At the administrative level, the typical decision maker is a person trained in <br />engineering or some other technical area and lacks the staff to help him/her <br />make a decision on subject matter of this kind. At the judicial review level, <br />the judge, while perhaps able to perceive the overall policy issues, is <br />constrained by his attempts to arrive at a "holding" on what is essentially a <br />philosophical-political debate.74 <br /> <br />DuMars' recommended approach entails the establishment of regional water <br />planning processes wherein local communities would identify public interest values <br />attributable to water in the area of origin and convey those findings to the regulatory <br />agency or water court responsible for reviewing water transfer applications. The <br />legislature, by defining which parties have "standing" to comment on public interest <br />determinations, could include potential water transfer proponents in the regional.planning <br />processes. The planning documents that emerge would be advisory in nature and would <br />provide the decisionmaker with the breadth of information necessary to appropriately <br />balance contending public interest factors.75 <br /> <br />This type of regional water planning process was incorporated into New Mexico <br />legislation enacted in 1987 (Chapter 182, House Bill 337; attached as Appendix). The act <br />authorizes the Interstate Stream Commission to make grants or loans to regional water <br />planning entities to formulate regional water plans. Such an entity is defined as "an area <br />within the state that contains sufficient hydrological and political interests in common to <br />make water planning feasible." As a condition for financial assistance, a planning proposal <br />must contain "adequate review of water conservation and the effect on the public welfare." <br /> <br />'\7 <br />