In this Section:

	Background
	Project Overview
	Methods
	Results
	References
	Related Links
	Contacts

Research and Products:
Border/Mexico Studies

Background

Cities in the desert region of the western U.S.-Mexico border share an interdependent space and geographic landscape, yet the two countries have distinct institutions and legal frameworks that govern how environmental resources such as water are used, allocated, and conserved. In order for U.S. border states to work effectively to resolve issues and conflicts over water with their Mexican neighbors, it is critical to have a comprehensive understanding of the water management framework in Mexico. Two CLIMAS projects aim to further explore these issues.

I. Decentralization of Urban Water and Climate Science Use for Sustainability Planning in Border Cities

In 1992 and 2004, Mexico initiated dramatic water policy reforms that reshaped the institutions and structures for managing water in urban and rural contexts. Mexico’s new National Water Law (or Ley de Aguas Nacionales) introduced a “new water culture” focused on a management role for state and municipal governments, rather than for the federal government; increased participation by local water users in water policy formulation; an emphasis on full-cost recovery principle for paying for water (“user pays” principle); the introduction of market mechanisms such as formal water markets, water banks, and a public water rights registry; and an emphasis on private sector participation in providing and financing urban and rural water services. The new law also created a national network of major river basin councils intended to promote integrated river basin management. The new law also operates within the contexts of society and the environment. Figure 1 briefly describes these contexts and the related governmental structural reforms and new water management institutions.

II. River Basin Councils and Climate Science Use toward Sustainability Planning in Sonora

As part of a decentralized governance strategy under the influence of the World Bank, many countries around the globe have turned a greater focus on river basin councils as a principal feature of water management structures. Reforms to Mexico’s National Water Law (LAN) in April 2004 strengthened the existing provisions of the LAN for a regional watershed approach. Of a national network of 25 major river basin councils whose creation is mandated in the legislation, three are located in the state of Sonora. A hierarchy of subregional and local watershed councils are located there as well.

The three Sonoran river basin councils (consejos de cuenca) are the Matape-Yaqui Council, the Rio Mayo Council, and the Alto Noroeste (Upper Northwest) Council, which includes watersheds in the northern part of Sonora. River basin councils are comprised of one representative from each of five major productive sectors, including urban, industrial, ranching, agriculture, and hydroelectric.

As evident in the Decentralization of Urban Water Management study, river basin councils bring major economic sectors together for planning and coordination of water use and issues related to major river basins. Thus, the river basin councils open—at least in theory—new windows of possibility for the use of climate information and climate science to guide water use planning that could potentially result in a more environmentally sustainable resolution of water problems and conflicts.

III. Community and Conservation: Assessing Public Values Toward the Lower Colorado River and Delta—A Binational Study

The period 2000-2006 was the Colorado watershed’s driest in the historical record, dating back to 1861. The critical water problem in the Colorado Delta region affects communities in southwestern Arizona, Baja California and Sonora. The Colorado River’s resources are over-allocated to seven western states in the U.S. and two in Mexico, and the water shortages have been heightened by fast-growing urban populations and intensified agricultural use on both sides of the border. The Colorado Delta supports significant remnant wetland areas of high biodiversity and important riparian habitats for endangered species, such as the vaquita porpoise, the Yuma clapper rail, the bobcat, and the desert pupfish. As drought, climate change, and policy decisions reduce the water flows in the Colorado River, the Delta’s wetlands are being reduced and impaired. These riparian areas are also important to thousands of people living in or near the Delta, who rely upon the riparian resources for ecotourism, hunting and fishing, and family recreation. This project assesses how local communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border use and value these riparian resources. The project also seeks to understand the role of climate perception and climate information in shaping decision-making processes about environmental resources in the region.

The project has centered on three kinds of stakeholders: first, decisionmakers from government, non-governmental organizations, and academia who help shape policy that affects the land and water resources in this region; second, individual households in U.S. and Mexican local communities within the region; and third, civic groups active within the region.