ABSTRACT
The New Mexico discussion will also focus upon the conflict between the social values of agricultural preservation and economic improvement. The conflict between the historical, rural character of the state and the modern demand for transfer of water rights to industrial and municipal uses is most clearly focused in the middle Rio Grande basin of New Mexico. Facing the prospect of a steadily diminishing quantity of agricultural acreage, the District has begun to look more closely at the potential for leasing of its water rights for non-agricultural uses. The changing character of the population and area served by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has created considerable stress for the District as a water institution. Judicial, legislative, and marketplace events have all exerted pressure for institutional change, even extending to modification of the method for determining its directors from judicial appointment to popular election.
