ABSTRACT
In the previous chapters we examined the complex array of policy issues surrounding a condition of fully allocated water supplies in the water-scarce Southwest. While some major issues remain unsolved, from our analysis it does not appear that water scarcity as such will be an impenetrable barrier to further development of the area’s natural resources to meet regional and national demands if the region’s water institutions can respond to the situation with a degree of flexibility. But from studies performed by the Southwest Region Under Stress Team it seems likely, perhaps surprisingly, that air quality considerations will have a much greater bearing upon both the level and the pattern of future resources development than will water scarcity.
