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Fifteen regional planning entities have received grants from the Interstate Stream Commission totalling roughly $1 million. The commission anticipates that the entire state will be covered with regional planning processes within the next two years. Three regional plans have been completed; an additional six should be prepared by the end of 1991.76 The planning documents ultimately will be submitted to the state engineer. They are not considered to be binding on the state engineer when he considers proposed water transfers out of a region. They are designed to assist him in understanding the values each region ascribes to water and what the projected future water needs in each region might be. The state engineer will use the planning documents as the basis for conducting public hearings on water values and water uses within each region and to define what constitutes the public welfare through the rule-making process., Another regional water planning approach that legislatures may want to consider is that in Montana, established in 1987 by the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC). Unlike New Mexico, Montana's process is initiated by the state and is designed to address specific issues in water basins. DNRC provides the organizational framework for reaching local consensus in resolving a particular problem. The department's intent is to have communities determine their water future. The formation of a basin advisory committee consisting of affected water users and interests appointed by the governor is the institutional structure for promoting consensus on regional water plan development. The Milk River Basin Advisory Committee is the only one that has been formed to date. It was established to decide how to resolve water shortages among eight irrigation districts, three Indian reservations, a national wildlife refuge, and a town. The regional committee has met four times to date. Its eventual 38