Border Institute VIII
Mechanisms to Collaboratively Plan and Operate Transboundary Watersheds
The goal of Border Institute VIII (http://scerp.org/new/pubs/borderinstitute.asp) is to find, develop, and promote implementation of mechanisms that foster binational cooperation on water and related issues by following a watershed approach to planning and operation of trans-border water bodies. A watershed approach focuses on the health of the total watershed and everything in it. A watershed is the area of land that drains water, sediment, dissolved materials, and runoff pollutants to a common outlet. Many ecological and human processes occur within a watershed and contribute to the overall health (and economic benefits) of a watershed (http://trw.sdsu.edu/English/WshdOverw/wshOverwFrame.htm). Some current and emerging international tensions could have been reduced with water-shed-scale planning (such as the All American Canal see http://scerp.org/pubs/mono13.htm )
Watershed planning has progressed much recently (EPA http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/, laws http://www.epa.gov/win/law.html, and www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-382) but much is left to do when watersheds cross jurisdictional boundaries. The call to adopt such scales and thinking has been heard widely for nearly a decade and has been echoed in the U.S.-Mexico border region by: Good Neighbor Environment Board 2000 report (http://www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb/gneb4threport/annrpt900eng.pdf ), SCERP (http://geography.sdsu.edu/Research/Projects/TWRP/twrphome.html), and others. The main challenges implementing such measures are outlined in the GNEB’s 2005 annual report (http://www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb/gneb8threport/gneb8threport.pdf).
Transcending the various levels and types of political boundaries is critical in the border region. Background on the legal, economic, geopolitical, and physical context are found in papers by the CEC (http://www.cec.org/pubs_docs/documents/index.cfm?varlan=english&ID=812), IBWC (http://www.ibwc.state.gov/DocumentEngQwithCover.pdf), Southwest Hydrology (http://www.swhydro.arizona.edu/archive/V4_N5/ ), and CNA (http://www.diputados.gob.mx/leyinfo/decre/LAN_29abr04.doc). Specific examples of binational coordination of watershed efforts can be found for the Rivers:
San Pedro (http://scerp.org/new/det_research_pub.asp?IdInvestigacion=7182)
Tijuana (http://trw.sdsu.edu/English/Publications/draft/Final_ENG_9-16-05_press_4_BODY_APP.pdf), Santa Cruz, (http://trw.sdsu.edu/English/Publications/draft/Addendum_ENG.pdf), and
Tecate ( http://trw.sdsu.edu/English/GIS/InterMaps/interMapsFrame.htm).
Data, databases, information, maps, GIS, models (http://www.borderplus20.sdsu.edu/ ) and other tools act as decision support systems. These can facilitate binational discussion, guide prioritization, and begin the process of detailing necessary actions ( www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-382, http://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/agwa/template_header.htm, http://aguanet.imta.mx/, http://www.crwr.utexas.edu/riogrande.shtml, http://infoteca.semarnat.gob.mx/website/geointegra/Cmviewer/viewer.htm, http://gisdata.usgs.gov/website/borderhealth/, http://www.n-h-i.org/Projects/InternationalRivers/RioGrande/RioGrande.html, http://www.rioweb.org/basinfacts.html, http://elpaso.tamu.edu/Research/wateris.htm, http://wrri.nmsu.edu/publish/techrpt/tr317/downl.html,
and http://www.scerp.org/new/complete_bull.asp?IdBol=37)
Principles, context, and solutions tried on other watersheds are found within:
Inter-governmental coordination (http://www.epa.gov/border2012/pdf/2012_english.pdf),
Non-point source pollution controls (http://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/)
Ordenamiento Ecologia (http://www.ine.gob.mx/dgoece/ord_ecol/index.html), and
Inter-jurisdictional planning mechanisms (http://www.ine.gob.mx/dgoece/ord_ecol/index.html).
Watershed Councils or Consejos, Organismos, o Commisions de Cuencas (http://www.ine.gob.mx/ueajei/publicaciones/consultaPublicacion.html?id_pub=452), (http://www.cna.gob.mx/eCNA/Espaniol/Transparencia/T_ConsejoCuenca.htm), have begun and hold promise.
Models on how to proceed can be found in Europe and U.S-Canada border:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/water/water-framework/overview.html and
http://cwp.resources.ca.gov/uploads/images/53/MOU_watershed.pdf.
La Paz Agreement:
Bulletins published by Baker & Mckenzie related to water issues. [Download]