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Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin Numerous observers have commented on the difficulties inherent in managing resources and an ecosystem when some of the competing demands have a strong cultural element and others do not (DeBuys 1990; DuMars 1993; Finch and Tainter 1995).9 The difficulties are not just analytical in nature. City dwellers, rural farmers, newcomers, old timers, Indian Pueblos, Hispanic groups, grassroots interest groups, and large bureaucracies all take different approaches to the management process, itself. They often have a different view of what should matter in the decisionmaking process, use different terminology, and prefer different pathways for making decisions. Finch and Tainter make these useful observations about the connections between cultural differences and the competition for the Basin's water and related resources: t-: I:: ~~ . Conflicting cultural perceptions and goals in land use underscore an important point: environmental problems are essentially human problems, and solutions to them require more than the traditional bio-physical approaches. Too often, those who work in natural resource management have not foreseen that their work has social and cultural consequences. Especially in places where cultural diversity is high, and where land and resource use differ by cultural group, how people use the land can easily become a part of cultural identity. It can also be part of a strategy to resist assimilation. The issues that arise from threats to traditional land use are more than merely economic. Subsistence practices and other uses of land may be no easier to abandon than any other aspect of cultural identity. These issues are particularly salient in... the Rio Grande Basin. ._~. .:.; (~, !I'. jT' ~: ~<. ~: ~:; ,,~; . -.';' , I',,~ '11'" ~ ,I ~ -~, J '---~ 9 According to National Research Council's 1996 book, A New Era for Irrigation, the public views agriculture in two not necessarily consistent ways. Tbe first is that irrigated agriculture is an industry that happens to be essential to human existence. Tbe competing view sees irrigated agriculture as an individual culture that shapes the way people live and determines part of the national identity. How society views irrigated agriculture affects decisions about the management of water resources. If the industry view of irrigated agriculture is chosen, farmers will bear most, if not all, of the costs of production, On the other hand, if society views irrigation as a culture, then society will share in the costs and uncertainties off arming largely through the provision of various subsidies, Although the prevailing view of irrigated agriculture varies from region to region and person to person, trends in recent years indicate that irrigated agriculture in the U.S, is increasingly being viewed as an industry that must compete in the global economy (National Research Council 1996), ",~ ,. -~, r:~; 96 [...",'.. "",,- Y:j