WSP05845

• File Number: 8507
• Description: Rio Grande Project
• State: CO
• Basin: Rio Grande
• Date: 7/1/1997
• Title: Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin part 2
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

An Overview of the Basin's Resource-Management Problems

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reductions in the productivity of soils and the quality of water produced in
these watersheds. In some cases, activities on upland areas have altered
runoff patterns and the soil's ability to retain water so that some streams
that once were perennial are now intermittent. Finch and Tainter conclude
that, "From an ecosystem perspective, managing the quantity and quality of
nutrients and sediments delivered from upland watersheds to the Rio
Grande and its tributaries should be a major goal of Basin Management."

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Manipulations of water quantity also render some resources unsuitable for
some uses. The construction and operation of dams, irrigation canals, and
other facilities also sometimes remove all the water from stretches of the
river that otherwise would remain wet. More generally, the manipulation of
water flows by these facilities alters the hydrograph so that at some times
there is more water and other times less than there otherwise would be.
These changes can dramatically reduce the water's suitability for some
plants and animals. Restrictions of the periodic pulse of floodwater onto the
floodplain, for example, have significantly altered the floral composition and
spatial distribution of the bosque in the Middle Rio Grande (Crawford et al.
1993b). Changes in the hydrograph, together with changes in water
temperature, occasioned when the water released from Cochiti Dam is colder
than natural flows, also appear to affect the survival of the endangered Rio
Grande silvery minnow. The minnow and other species also are affected by
dams and other barriers to movement along the river.

B.3. Contributory Problem #3: Resource-Demands That Come From
I ndustrial Activities and are Measured in Monetary Terms are Difficult
to Reconcile With Those That are Not

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Both the culture of the modern industrial society and basic human nature
sometimes create subtle biases favoring industrialized, monetized demands
for natural resources over demands that do not have these characteristics.
The language of resource economics often embodies these biases, insofar as it
applies terms, such as "wasteful," to activities, such as using water for
irrigating crops that have little cash value but playa significant cultural role
for some groups within the Basin (El-Ashry and Gibbons 1988). Further
biases arise insofar as industrial demands are far more amenable than
nonindustrial demands to extensive quantification. Psychological research
has found that, all else equal, people place greater weight on arguments
accompanied by large volumes of quantitative data than on those that are
not (Josephs et al. 1994).

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