U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program

The United States and Mexico share transboundary aquifers along the border. These transboundary aquifers are an essential and in many cases the only source of water for border communities. Declining water levels, deteriorating quality, and increasing use of groundwater resources by municipal and other water users on both sides of the international border have raised serious concerns about long-term availability of this supply. Water quantity and quality are determining and limiting factors that ultimately control future economic development, population growth, and human health along the border. However, knowledge about the extent, depletion rates, quality, and solute movement of transboundary aquifers is inadequate and in some areas completely absent. Binational and multi-state collaboration is needed to develop new, reliable, and comprehensive information on these critical aquifers. The purpose of the U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program, under Public Law 109-448, is to conduct binational scientific research to systematically assess priority transboundary aquifers. This program has developed binational cooperation and is providing essential new information and a scientific foundation for state and local officials to address pressing water resource challenges in the U.S.-Mexico border region and Rio Grande Basin. Investigations have been conducted in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey and border Water Resources Research Institutes and in collaboration with appropriate state agencies, stakeholders, Mexican counterparts, and the International Boundary and Water Commission. This presentation/session will include scientists from both U.S. and Mexican organizations who have worked on the TAA scientific programs, development of binational agreements, and sharing of aquifer characteristics. This presentation will also discuss information exchange, policy and governance issues, and future research needs and plans.