The Rio Grande/Rio Bravo is the ribbon of life that delineates one of the longest international borders in the world. In the upper portion of the basin, Mexico is wholly dependent upon flows released by the United States. In the lower portion, the U.S. is largely dependent upon flows Mexico releases down the Rio Conchos tributary. The river is also one of the most environmentally degraded rivers in North America, described by former U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt as a "water system in crisis."
Approximately ten million people live in the Rio Grande Basin, a number expected to double within thirty years. Residents, such as those of El Paso and Cuidad Juarez, depend on a highly variable and over-appropriated water supply, including bi-national aquifers. Poverty and lack of clean drinking water are problems on both sides of the border. Yet, 90% of the water supply is used in agriculture, which is the staple of the economy in the U.S. and Mexico border areas.
This project examines the hydro-physical opportunities for expanding beneficial uses of the fixed and highly variable water supply. The project partners are building a water resources database and an associated hydrologic planning model for the entire basin. The model will enable us to better understand hydrologic dynamics in the basin and evaluate the feasibility of scenarios to improve water management, especially those that bridge management and jurisdictional boundaries. The scenarios respond to the needs and objectives of stakeholders in each sector and country. “Winning scenarios” will be subjected to an economic feasibility analysis, and finally, a legal and political feasibility analysis. Strategies include: increasing local agriculture’s resilience to periodic drought through conjunctive water management strategies; improving reliability of water supplies to population centers through conservation transfers; and restoring lost environmental functions in the river system through reoperation of the existing reservoirs.
Contact: Gregory Thomas
Project Website:
Bi-National Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Project
