A multi-bureau Shared-Water Resources Issues Team was created to identify, compile, and communicate significant issues related to the shared-water resources of the U.S.-Mexico border area. Woodward and Durall, as part of the Issues Team, used surface-water drainage basins as the primary basis for defining and delineating the extent of the border area from a shared- water resources perspective, and divided the border area into 8 subareas.

The United States and Mexico are geographic neighbors with high economic asymmetry, but also a shared history and intense social, cultural, economic, and security relations. Over 15 million people reside along the U.S.-Mexico border and share an environment that includes many watersheds and air basins transcending political boundaries. Pollution impacts on both sides of the border have required a coordinated response at the local, state, and federal level.At the federal level, a joint institution was created in in 1889 as the International Boundary Commission and later renamed the International Boundary and Water Commission to provide binational solutions to issues that arise during the application of U.S.-Mexico treaties regarding boundary demarcation, right to transboundary waters, sanitation, water quality, and flood control in the border region. Two additional international institutions were created in 1994 as a side agreement to NAFTA in response to NGO input. The Border Environment Cooperation Commission and the North American Development Bank (later merged into one organization) were created to assist local communities to coordinate with state and federal agencies with a mandated to improve the environmental conditions of the U.S.-Mexico border region in order to advance the well-being of residents in both nations.The purpose of this chapter is to better understand the role of these binational organizations in water diplomacy and conflict management in the broader context of cooperation over shared water resources. The intent is to assess through a theoretical framework how these organizations have contributed to the prevention, mitigation, or solution of water conflict specifically along the Rio Grande, which spans 2,000 kilometers along U.S Mexico border.

Explains the nature of water development and utilization on the U.S.-Mexico border, using the border city of Nogales as its focus in delineating the social, economic, political, and institutional problems that stand in the way of effective management, and arguing for the development of a more integrated and participatory approach to managing binational water resources.

This collection of papers examines water management in two of the world’s prominent, arid transboundary areas facing similar challenges. In the Middle East, the chronically water-short Israeli-Palestinian region has recognized the need both to conserve and supplement its traditional water sources. Across the globe on the North American continent, Arizona—a state in the southwestern United States bordering Mexico—relies significantly on the overallocated Colorado River, as well as on non-renewable groundwater supplies. For both regions, sustainable and cost-effective solutions clearly require innovative, multifaceted, and conflict-avoiding approaches. This volume is predicated on the role that “science diplomacy” can play in resolving difficult water-related issues. The history of natural-resources disputes confirms that the scientific approach can reveal ways to overcome division. Experience has shown that scientifically-trained experts who are sensitive to sociopolitical conditions can assist in developing and evaluating feasible water management solutions. The insights and expertise of a distinguished and diverse group of researchers fill these chapters. Contributors include established authorities as well as a number of budding scholars. In a field traditionally dominated by males and by engineers, this collection benefits from significant gender diversity and contributions from a broad spectrum of disciplines. Policymakers, water managers, specialists such as university researchers and consultants, and citizens all have an interest in finding sustainable strategies to address the many water-management issues discussed in this volume. The assembled papers underscore that much work remains to be done.