Water conservationists should be commended.(Evening)

EDITORIAL

Finally there is consensus among some of the major players on the Rio Grande that water conservation and ecological values are worthy.

Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez and a coalition of six environmental groups on Wednesday announced an agreement they say will ensure the survival of the river, whose waters are the source of much competition and conflict.

They are to be commended for compromising rather than continuing a protracted and costly legal confrontation that was counterproductive.

In exchange for significant conservation concessions from the city that acknowledge the need for water to sustain the river itself as an …