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<br />Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin <br /> <br />the structures of the local, regional, and national economies. These effects <br />are commonly called the economic impacts of an alternative and are different <br />from the effects on economic values. <br /> <br />Where there is competition for water and related resources, any resource- <br />allocation decision necessarily creates both economic winners and economic <br />losers. The characteristics of these two groups and the nature of the <br />distribution of the wins and losses influence perceptions about the fairness of <br />the decision. Hence, a comprehensive assessment of the competition for <br />water and related resources generally must examine the comparative <br />impacts of resource-management alternatives on perceptions of fairness. In <br />particular, the assessment should examine issues associated with property <br />ownership, subsidies, and groups of special concern. <br /> <br />B. Economic Forces Shaping the Competition for Water and Related <br />Resources <br /> <br />Many of the changes shaping the competition for the Basin's resources stem <br />from powerful economic forces at play across the international, national, and <br />regional landscapes. In this section we discuss some of these forces. We <br />focus particularly on a study area within the Basin, the area between Santa <br />Fe, New Mexico and EI Paso, Texas. This area embraces the bulk of the <br />Basin's population, most of its current economic activity, and nearly all of the <br />anticipated growth in both population and economic activity. The <br />metropolitan areas and counties that comprise the study area are listed in <br />Table 2.1. <br /> <br />~: <br /> <br />i' <br />t <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />The study area includes four metropolitan areas: Santa Fe, Albuquerque, <br />Las Cruces, and EI Paso. Albuquerque and EI Paso, each with a population <br />of about 650,000, are considerably larger than the others, but even they are <br />too small to provide all of the functions normally associated with a major, <br />regional node (Hoover and Giarratani 1984). Hence, it is important to <br />recognize that the economy of the study area does not function in isolation <br />from such nodes. The study area is somewhat peculiar in that it is heavily <br />influenced by, not one, but three major regional nodes: Dallas, Denver, and <br />Phoenix. Most, if not all, ofthe following discussion regarding the study <br />area generally applies to these regional nodes and, hence, to promote <br /> <br />r: <br />F.'3 <br />c. <br /> <br />\'-", <br />?> <br />~~-:: <br /> <br />t -~ <br /> <br />c,; <br />r> <br /> <br />44 <br /> <br />C ~'1)9 ')e- <br />"It" ...J <br /> <br />~~ <br />~>/ <br />