The future scarcity of water in the Middle Rio Grande Basin, as in other Southwest regions concerns resource managers and users alike. The Rio Grande Basin's water supports 40% of New Mexico's total population. As the population increases, so does the water usage. Given that the water comes from a finite source, a significant issue on the horizon is that of water management and preservation.

This Water Resources Initiative is being established to address this concern. Sandia National Laboratories has conducted a series of three panel meetings of water resources stakeholders (representing government, industry, citizens' interest groups, and academe) to identify information needs for future water resources management. The first panel defined the overall objective of the Middle Rio Grande Water Resources Initiative. This panel also developed and ranked criteria that would be used to determine the relative importance of issues that decision makers should address in managing these water resources. The second panel identified the issues to be addressed and assessed the relative importance of these issues. The third Panel developed information that is essential to address each of the issues.

Setting the Context... the Vital Issues Process

This is a structured set of dialogs among the principal stakeholders associated with the topical area of interest.

Advanced Computational Capabilities... the 'Silicon' Computer

Where available, this is a suite of computer modeling tools that can be used to provide valuable analytical results germane to the topic.

Access to World-Class Experts... the 'Protein' Computer

The Protein Computer component of the Decision Support System will provide a distributed collaborative environment for decision makers, analysts, consultants, and interested stakeholders to share information, exchange data, and analyze the model results real time. Opportunities will include videoconferencing, simultaneous viewing of "silicon" computer model results, white board teleconferencing of data and ideas, file transfer, as well as chat rooms.

For more information contact Dr. Dennis Engi, (505) 845-8284.

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