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<br />EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br /> <br />siveness of interests and issues, more effective coordination and strategic planning, <br />and better information integration. The success of these processes is sufficient to sug- <br />gest that their lessons be extended throughout the basin. The strategies outlined in <br />this report do not suggest the need to radically redirect current management <br />approaches. Instead, they support and build on creative work going on across the <br />basin. <br /> <br />This study was not without controversy A partnership between a federal management <br />agency and a regional conservation organization was met with suspicion in many <br />quarters. Yet throughout the study appreciation was voiced by many parties for the <br />opportunity to present their concerns. We found basin stakeholders to be as deeply <br />involved in finding solutions as with finding fault. More often than not stakeholder <br />comments were articulated in the form of suggestions for steps to remedy their con- <br />cerns and several common elements emerged. Among these were better education, <br />communication, information, understanding, coordination, planning, identification, <br />flexibility, and cooperation at all levels of management. While many suggested the <br />need for these components at the basin level, others argued for more regional or local <br />control. Regardless of where they would be implemented the following components <br />were found to be a consistent part of the solutions suggested by Colorado River basin <br />stakeholders. <br /> <br />CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF BASIN MANAGEMENT <br /> <br />Discussions throughout the study suggested that the next 75 years of Colorado River <br />basin management will be fundamentally different from the past 75 years. <br />Stakeholders urged broader stakeholder participation to integrate tribal, recreation, <br />environmental and other interest groups into the process. It was evident that future <br />management should incorporate the values of natural resource protection, aesthetics <br />and recreation along with traditional consumptive uses. Future challenges should <br />focus on balancing the increasing demands on the rivers limited resources and incor- <br />porating the scientific knowledge available in its decisions. <br /> <br />Several components of basin management repeatedly surfaced in stakeholder com- <br />ments and during discussions at the Colorado River Workshop. These are not entire- <br />ly new elements and are evident to varying extents in many of the processes present- <br />ly underway across the basin. The following critical components of basin manage- <br />ment wove a common thread throughout the study discussions. <br /> <br />. COORDINATION AND INTEGRATION IN MANAGEMENT <br />It is evident that the solutions to the complex and inter-connected issues of the <br />Colorado River basin span regional, state, and water district boundaries. <br />Participants repeatedly voiced frustration with a lack of coordination and integra- <br />tion across these boundaries. In the future, these components will become increas- <br />ingly important to achieving effective basin management. Many current processes <br />embrace this component, yet opportunities exist throughout the basin for better <br />coordination between individual groups and processes. <br /> <br />III BROAD STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT <br />Historically many stakeholder groups have not participated in basin management. <br />Foremost among these have been the Native American tribes who, as sovereign <br />