Integration of Science and Policy in the Management of Transboundary Water Resources with Specific Approaches on Transboundary Aquifers along the U.S. and Mexico

The International Boundary and Water Commission (or IBWC), United States and Mexico, is an international body that was created to address the various boundary and water issues as they may arise. The 1944 Water Treaty addresses the allocation and distribution of shared rivers for the Rio Grande, Tijuana, and Colorado River. During the application of these treaties, the IBWC can seek to address an issue or new concept by convening binational meetings with leaders from each country and develop solutions that may lead to concurrence and commitment under an IBWC Minute. IBWC Minutes are binding upon both governments and become part of the Treaty. To date, IBWC has signed 322 Minutes.

Many of these Minutes include the allocation and distribution of shared surface waters. There is only one reference to transboundary groundwater resources within the IBWC framework. Under the 1944 Water Treaty, Minute No. 242 was signed in 1973. The Minute noted that a groundwater agreement would be developed in a subsequent agreement. The U.S. and Mexico also agreed to establish a buffer at San Luis, Arizona, and San Luis, Sonora that would limit groundwater pumping within 5 miles of the border.

Collaborative efforts related to groundwater were focused on data collection that were based on Minute No. 242 and a subsequent agreement of the IBWC signed in 2009, known as a Joint Report of the Principal Engineers, to prepare and support binational transboundary aquifer studies along the border. The IBWC framework serves to bring scientists together, to conduct joint investigations, foster information exchange, and work under a framework that is mutually agreed to and respected by both countries. The role of the IBWC may be to help bring the science and policy discussions together in a forum that could lead to the development of a framework document for groundwater.