SCERP Project Number: EP93-15 & MIEP
Principal Investigator: Dr. Paul Ganster and Mr. Clifton Metzner, Jr.
San Diego State University
Goal: The overall goal of this project was to address important border environmental problems, largely in the California-Baja California border region but with connections to other areas along the border, through a focused program of applied policy workshops.
Rationale: The workshops under the auspices of SDSU, include in-depth discussions of technical and policy aspects of key border environmental issues relating to energy use and the environment and water reclamation markets in the California-Baja California region. Participants include authorities and experts from both the United States and Mexico who discuss the range of issues and problems, as well as strategies and specific solutions to these problems. The meetings facilitate open communication among participants, unencumbered by bureaucratic and protocol considerations. An important component of the workshops is the creation of binational networks of individuals interested in key issues.
Approach: Energy Needs and Air Pollution in the Border Region. The subject specialist for this workshop was Dr. Alan Sweedler, Professor of Physics, Director of the Center for Energy Studies and Co-Director of the Institute for International Security and Conflict Resolution at San Diego State University. He was assisted by UABC's Victor Castillo.
The purpose of this project was to conduct research on the impact of the energy sector on the human and physical environment and the evolution of environmental policy in the U.S.-Mexican border region. The relationship between production, distribution, and consumption of energy resources and their impact on the environment will become an issue of growing importance as the population of the border region increases and as both sides of the border grow more economically interdependent.
The study was divided into the following five parts:
1) Survey of the energy system currently in place in the border region focusing on those aspects that most directly impact the environment.
2) Impact of these energy sectors on the physical and human environment in the border region, including air quality, impact on surface and ground water quality, and environmental consequences of accidents in the energy sector.
3) Different future energy needs scenarios and their environmental consequences.
4) Policy implications of the various scenarios in terms of their environmental impact and economic cost.
(Description of Workshop and study incorporated into the San Diego regional
energy plan)
Water Reclamation and Reuse in the California-Baja California Border Area. The applied component of the Water Reclamation and Reuse in the California-Baja California Border Area is directed by Dr. Mark Thayer, Department of Economics, San Diego State University, and a specialist on economic aspects of environmental issues. Mtro. Victor Castillo, School of Economics at the Autonomous University of Baja California, has served as a Mexican researcher and liaison with this project. The research examined the potential markets for reclaimed water, as well as the potential for a developing market of agricultural water reserves.
With the severe drought situation in Southern California and northern Baja California over the past six years there is a chronic shortage of water and a significant lack of storage capacity. With the tremendous growth in the border region as well as the expected industrial expansion with the unfolding of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the use of reclaimed water or changing existing water markets for irrigation, industrial, and public use will be essential.
There has been a critical need for analysis of the potential role of reclaimed water and the potential market for agricultural water rights in meeting the binational region's water requirements in the future. Development of a consensus regarding the supply and demand of water, both reclaimed and reappropriated, in the San Diego-Tijuana region as well as better information regarding cost and technology alternatives. This study will provide the basic framework of data that policymakers and planners will need in the future.
Status: The energy workshop was held June 2-3, 1994, in San Diego. It centered around the study prepared by Dr. Sweedler, which analyzed the border region's energy use and the related environmental issues. It included important data on the binational energy trade, air quality, and recommendations for future actions. The proceedings of the energy workshop are now in press.
The water study has been completed. A policy workshop, held in January 1995, drew on water experts from local and state government, academia, and private industry from both sides of the border. The applied research results were made available at this time. In addition, the researchers presented their project and its findings at the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy's annual Technical Conference in San Diego California on March 30, 1995.
This program sought to complement the ongoing applied border environmental research efforts by also participating in the development of a transborder geo-graphical information system (GIS). By working with related research projects focusing on GIS, the findings can be implemented in a data set to create technical support for border environmental policy decisions. Through the formulation and development of a transborder GIS, the research data set will be easily folded into a valuable technical support tool.
In addition, researchers participated in a workshop designed to address the status of urban infrastructure of Tijuana, Baja California, México. In this project, researchers from various fields discussed the current situation and pending crisis in Tijuana's urban infrastructure, including housing and other issues related to urban development. A particular element of the workshop focused on the implications of Tijuana's rapid development on the San Diego region.
Potential Users/Technology Transfer:
The energy study as well as the proceedings from the workshop are being made widely available to the appropriate government authorities in both countries for review and use in their binational negotiations, as well as to state and local authorities, academic experts, private industry, and the general public. In addition, the outcomes of this project have been incorporated into the Regional Energy Plan for San Diego, prepared by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).
The potential users for the water study include local and state policymakers in the California-Baja California region, as well as water intensive industry. This issues is of particular interest to the Cities of San Diego and Tijuana who are eager to develop long range plans to attract and retain high technology firms which often times have water intensive operations.
The FY92 SCERP-supported phase of this project: P-11
The FY93 SCERP-supported phases of this project:: EP93-15
and MIEP
Last updated 7/1/99