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,,'"" ~1') ~:~,--t ..-l ;':-) (~ alleged debt situation mean that every year's scheduled delivery must be met. Until some progress is made paying off the alleged debt, Colorado and the Valley have no "breathing room." Failure to meet the requirement for just one year, even for a very small amount of water and regardless of the reasons, would allow Texas and New Mexico to reopen their suit. Knowledgeable sources believe that what would probably come out of that action ,would be the assignment of a River Master to the Rio Grande. The River Master would be responsible only for seeing that the terms of the Compact were met. This would remove the administration of many water-~elated issues from local control. Government management of small scale, irrigation systems often does not work out very well for the local users. It is in the Valley's interest to work out a system on the local level which allows the Compact to be met and to avoid having a system imposed on it from "above. If For the short term, th~ Colorado State Engineer's office is responsible for the difficult and thankless task of making sure the Compact is complied with. Like most holding actions, the effort has to be undertaken piecemeal 'and year to year. Almost every attempt by the State Engineer's office to regulate the flow of water in the river or even to try to develop the guidelines of a system to accomplish this has met vigorous resistance. The response of those who see their vital interests threatened is completely reasonable. The response is always, "Why me?". To which the State Engineer responds, "We have to' start somewhere." To which the individual responds, "See you in court." Each individual's act is reasonable and no one would argue with his right to bring his own complaint before the law. The net result, however, has be'en conflict, the polarization of various interest groups, and the "climate of economic' fear" which was mentioned earlier. Until a system is established which will assure a source of water to reliably meet the annual Compact requirement and to make ,progress in "paying off" the alleged debt, this situation will continue. It is '" a situation which is causing the Valley real economic hardship. The hardship is . not related to the quantity of water required. The hardship is the result of - 'il'the failure to define a system for providing the water and the uncertainty which '"this has caused. Farme,rs have quite enough risks to take in the course of a normal year's business. The weather; markets, the economy in general, and many other things make farming a gamble under the most secure conditions. An addi- tional area of uncertainty, whether or not adequate water will be available at' the needed time in the growing season, has direct economic consequences. It affects the decisions of individual farmers on whether or not to put a crop in the field and their ability to secure the financial backing to run their busi- nesses for a year. The attempts to remove that area of uncertainty by actual or threatened legal action drains large amounts of money out of the Valley, too. In 1966, Texas and New Mexico brought the Compact dispute to the Supreme Court. Valley residents realized that the terms of the Compact might actually be enforced. The need was recognized for a local organization to protect the Valley'S water rights and to develop programs which would all~w the histori- cally established framework of Valley agriculture to continue while still pro- viding room for new economic development. At the urging of Valley residents, 4 --