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2007 Ground Water Summit |
Tuesday, May 1, 2007 : 2:10 p.m.
North American Transnational Ground Water: NAFTA, IJC, and IBWC
Examples of cooperation include the Abbotsford-Sumas aquifer (USA-Canada) and the Santa Cruz basin (Mexico-USA). A task force was created for the Abbotsford-Sumas aquifer to address water quality issues impacting both Canada and the USA. Mexico and the USA are funding a study to address water quality problems in the Santa Cruz basin on the USA-Mexico border
NAFTA creates some interesting situations, and the Hermosillo aquifer in the Mexican state of Sonora is a prime example. Although it is not a transnational aquifer many of the agricultural products grown with water from the Hermosillo aquifer are in high demand due to the easing of trade restrictions. This increased demand has created internal conflict over the rights to and use of the water in the aquifer.
An exception to bilateral transnational cooperation is the case of the Sierra Blanca nuclear waste facility in Texas. The USA’s desire to site this facility relatively close to the border strained relations between Mexico and the USA.
The IBWC, IJC, and individual stakeholder groups illustrate that transnational ground water management is generally functioning well in North America. Although disagreements do exist, cooperation among countries is the general rule. The “unknown” is NAFTA’s approach to ground water as an economic good, which interjects yet another consideration into transnational ground water management.
Michael E. Campana, PhD, Oregon State University Michael E. Campana is Director of the Institute for Water and Watersheds and Professor of Hydrogeology at Oregon State University. Prior to that he was Water Resources Program Director at the University of New Mexico, and a research hydrologist at the Desert Research Institute. His interests include hydrophilanthropy, water resources in developing countries, transboundary water resources issues, and regional hydrogeology. He has worked in Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Egypt, Kazakhstan, and the South Caucasus. He is founder, president, and treasurer of the Ann Campana Judge Foundation (www.acjfoundation.org), a 501(c)(3) organization devoted to water, health, and sanitation issues in developing countries.
Geoff Klise, Consultant Geoff Klise is an independent consultant working with the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission and Sandia National Laboratories to help develop a regional surface and ground water model of the Gila and San Francisco Basins in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. He has a BS in Environmental and Engineering Geology from Western Washington University and a Master of Water Resources (MWR) degree from the University of New Mexico.
Alyssa M. Neir, Golder Associates Inc. Alyssa M. Neir is an environmental planner with Golder Associates, Inc. She received her Master of Water Resources (MWR) degree with a concentration in Policy/Management from the University of New Mexico in 2005. Ms. Neir received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.