Overview
The Middle Rio Grande
Water Supply Study, Phase 3, projected for the Middle Rio Grande Basin (the Jemez y Sangre, MRG, and Socorro-Sierra regions
between Otowi Gage and Elephant Butte Dam) a likely scenario – with full implementation of all mutually compatible alternatives
in all of the regional water plans – resulting in an average RG Compact deficit of 7,100 acre-feet per year. This scenario
simply adopts the hugely over-ambitious assumptions built into the plans themselves about achievable water savings from implementing
those alternatives. Under more realistic assumptions, given the variations in supply, a Compact default does not seem unlikely.
This constitutes a collective problem for the three regions affected; to address it realistically requires collaboration among
all interested parties in these regions. They have a choice: to engage proactively in finding solutions, or to cede control
of their water destiny to others.
The project, with major
support from the McCune Charitable Foundation, initially consisted of a series of three professionally facilitated one-day
workshops, involving a wide spectrum of stakeholder interests in the regions including local public officials. Regional water
planning committees selected their own participants. Pueblo representatives were chosen separately because their
interests had not been effectively represented in the development of the regional plans. Participants explored the coordination
problem and the collective dilemma they faced in how to share the limited renewable supply available within the Basin.
Originally, the project
was to develop a “white paper” – a working document to be shared with regional planning committees,
the ISC RWP-SWP Ad Hoc Committee, and others, describing a proposed mechanism for (1) revisiting and resolving conflicts in
the recommendations of the three RWPs, and (2) negotiating about specific inter-regional transfer applications. The project
has moved well beyond this stage, and (as of January 2008)is in the process of finalizing a "scope of work" for inter-regional
cooperation, as described below.
Rationale
Assumptions, whether by
public officials or other interested parties, that a region, jurisdiction, or sector of society can pursue its perceived self-interest
without regard to the impacts of its decisions on the whole – in this case, the Middle Rio Grande Basin (encompassing
the reach between the Otowi Gage and Elephant Butte Reservoir) – seem likely to have the opposite effect, leaving all
parties worse off.
The primary example of
this is a potential under delivery of water to Texas in violation of the Rio Grande Compact. A default on the Compact stands
out because it is easy to measure, and because the consequences (at least the immediate ones) are predictable and would have
major impacts on the residents dependent on waters of the Basin. But there are other consequences of chronic, unmanaged shortages
of water – even if there were no Compact default – to local rural and urban economies, to the sustainability of
the Basin’s ecosystem, and therefore ultimately to the livability of our communities.
The regional water plans
of the three regions within the Basin took major steps, enabling those involved in their development to understand the sources
and limits of their regions’ supply, the nature of current demand on that supply, and the projected future demand over
a 40-year horizon. The planning process also allowed the people in each region to state, given these understandings, what
values they wished to promote in the allocation of that supply – how the “public welfare” of their regions
would be enhanced by favoring some strategies over others.
Though regional
water plans tried to deal with supply and demand issues within their regions, they did not overcome the problem of
inter-regional coordination. We also lack institutions
for ensuring that the regional water planning alternatives are implemented, much less the conflicts addressed. This project
is an important element in understanding and creating the necessary conditions for successful implementation of regional water
plans, especially where such inter-regional conflicts exist. It will enable affected interests and jurisdictions within the
three MRG planning regions to learn about the conflicts and complementarities in their plans and to identify and recommend
ways to work together to increase cooperation and resolve conflicts.
The
Initial Workshop Series (Summer-Fall 2006)
The major work of
this project was planned for three workshop sessions. These were held on Monday, June 26, Tuesday, August 22, and Tuesday,
September 26. (The agendas and summaries of these workshops, along with background materials, can be reviewed by clicking
on appropriate links below.) The organizers anticipated that based on common understanding of the physical and
institutional dimensions of the problem developed in the first meeting, the second would focus on developing alternative strategies
for addressing the issues and the third on specific recommendations, to be embodied in the “white paper.” This
proved to be too optimistic. The Dialogue report on the workshops discusses the reasons.
Follow-up:
an ongoing dialogue
A sub-group of workshop
participants met several times between November 2006 and June 2007 under the auspices of the Utton Transboundary Resources
Center at the UNM School of Law to develop a proposed work plan to continue the cooperative efforts begun in the workshops.
A fourth workshop was held in August 2007 and relevant materials are posted below.
