In 1985, the Sixty-ninth Texas Legislature enacted House Bill 2, which directed the State water agencies to identify critical ground-water areas within the State of Texas, conduct studies of those areas, and submit the findings along with recommendations on whether a ground-water conservation district should be established in the study area. One area so identifed for study is in Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy Counties, collectively known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Selected papers from a symposium on A new Focus on Integrated Analysis of Groundwater-Surface Water Systems, held during the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics XXIV General Assembly in Perugia, Italy, 11-13 July 2007.