Five-year interim report of the United States-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program: 2007--2012

Open-File Report 2013-1059
Edited by: William M. Alley

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Abstract

Transboundary aquifers are an essential, and in many cases, singular source of water for United States – Mexico border communities, particularly in arid regions. Declining water levels, deteriorating water quality, and increasing use of groundwater resources by municipal, industrial, and agricultural water users on both sides of the international border have raised concerns about the long-term availability of this supply. Water quantity and quality are determining and limiting factors that ultimately control agriculture, future economic development, population growth, human health, and ecological conditions along the border. Knowledge about the extent, depletion rates, and quality of transboundary aquifers, however, is limited and, in some areas, completely absent. The U.S. – Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act (Public Law 109-448), referred to in this report as “the Act,” was signed into law by the President of the United States on December 22, 2006, to conduct binational scientific research to systematically assess priority transboundary aquifers and to address water information needs of border communities. The Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), to collaborate with the States of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas through their Water Resources Research Institutes (WRRIs) and with the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), stakeholders, and Mexican counterparts to provide new information and a scientific foundation for State and local officials to address pressing water-resource challenges along the U.S. – Mexico border.

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Five-year interim report of the United States-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program: 2007--2012
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2013-1059
DOI 10.3133/ofr20131059
Year Published 2013
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Office of Groundwater
Description iii, 31 p.
First page i
Last page 31
Time Range Start 2007-01-01
Time Range End 2012-12-31
Country United States;Mexico
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details