Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Development of a Bi-national Groundwater Management Model to Provide for a Sustainable Water Supply Within the El Paso / Ciudad Juarez Region
EPA Grant Number: SU832491Title: Development of a Bi-national Groundwater Management Model to Provide for a Sustainable Water Supply Within the El Paso / Ciudad Juarez Region
Investigators: Keller, G. Randy , Chew, Mariana , Walton, John , Tidwell, Vincent
Institution: The University of Texas at El Paso
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: October 1, 2005 through October 1, 2006
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2005) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
The El Paso/Juarez region comprises the largest metropolitan area on the border between the United States and Mexico (City of El Paso Department of Planning and Research, 2004). The region faces challenges in the way water is managed due to different political jurisdictions and laws governing water management on both the U.S. and Mexican sides of the border. The population growth in the Paso del Norte region, where the cities of El Paso and Juarez are located, is considerable higher than the US/Mexico border and World population growth. (EPWU, TWDB, INEGI and US Census Bureau, 2004). The Rio Grande/Rio Bravo and the main aquifers, Hueco and Mesilla Bolsons, are the primary sources of surface and groundwater for agriculture and municipal use, respectively. Regional Raw Water
Water resources in the region are being shared by the two border cities and, consequently, by two countries where among others, clear asymmetries exist in how public administration, budget, information, infrastructure, basic services, population trends, and social and economical status are identified. Adding to the bi-national complexity, there are numerous entities involved in “regional” strategic planning where each entity works independently and true coordinated, regional planning does not occur.
The various bi-national, regional stakeholders have produced an abundant amount of information related to the extent, quantity, quality, location and cost of surface and groundwater. However, the information is still considered inadequate with regard to the interaction of the quantity and quality of how the aquifers behave within the El Paso/Juarez region (Michelsen, 2004). Moreover, jurisdictional and legal issues applicable to groundwater have only been addressed marginally. Efforts, to date, have solely focused on surface water. Researchers and elected officials on both sides of the border discuss, in different political scenarios, have urged for the consideration of a formal groundwater management agreement. They concluded that effective regional water planning requires that bi-national systems and institutions promote joint projects and policy recommendations (EPdNWTF, 2004). On the other hand, and contradictory to which has been considered as a necessity, the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) and other federal or state agencies have not actively promoted the move to authorize conjunctive water planning and management (Schmandt, 2002). The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and Mexico’s National Water Commission (CNA) agencies charged with planning in Texas and Mexico, respectively, have not recognized the necessity for a bi-national groundwater management agreement (TWDB, 2002 and CNA, 2004).
The importance and complexity of the plan’s implementation cannot be understated. The institutionalization, programmatic administration and the strategies required for the numerous phases of this effort will change the unilateral water policy paradigm used by sister cities to manage their systems along the United States and Mexico border. In addition, a water management agreement will require across the board cooperation and far-reaching coordination between the El Paso Water Utilities and the City of Juarez Water Utility (Junta Municipal de Agua y Saneamiento, JMAS) and the authorities that regulate and monitor water utilities in both the U.S. and Mexico. The bi-national water management model and plan can be used to address the foreseeable crisis caused by the lack of coordinated planning effort in a region growing a faster rate than comparable metropolitan areas in the world.
The Hueco and Mesilla Bolsons are the two aquifers within this region. The Hueco Bolson is the primary water source for municipal and industrial uses for both the City and County of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. The Mesilla Bolson is used substantially by El Paso and neighboring towns in New Mexico but not by Ciudad Juarez. Since Ciudad Juarez relies almost entirely on the Hueco Bolson groundwater for its water needs, the issues related to the Mesilla Bolson are not discussed in depth. The City of El Paso provides water to most of the county, except for the Horizon Municipal Utility District and two small water authorities in the unincorporated areas of Fabens and Tornillo. All of the water providers in the County of El Paso rely on groundwater. El Paso Water Utilities has the ability to treat surface water from the Rio Grande. During a normal irrigation season, one not affected by drought restriction, the EPWU draws approximately sixty percent (60%) of its water for municipal and residential applications.
Since there is no bi-national consensus on groundwater characterization, groundwater alternatives for municipal water supply are controversial. The definition of groundwater characterization is a difficult task and the most difficult to estimate accurately. The complexity of factors involved in the accumulation of groundwater, such as recharge rates, transient effects and transport phenomena, affect the amount of groundwater almost on a daily basis (Haitjema, 1995). Each country also uses a different standard to define potable water and quality.
Historically, bi-national water management treaties between the United States/Mexico have focused on surface water and not on shared groundwater sources. Current regional planning efforts lack an officially adopted, comprehensive, coordinated water management approach between the regional water and wastewater utility service providers and irrigation districts. The role of the irrigation districts affects groundwater, due to surface water allocation that directly affect the region’s aquifers, which are affected by periodic droughts and climatic conditions and cause the use of more groundwater for agricultural purposes. Over the next decade, the increased use of recycled/reclaimed water from irrigation overflow and treated wastewater for municipal and industrial purposes will certainly impact the sustainability and conservation of groundwater. Included in this discussion, the effect of obtaining additional potable water from desalination and the disposal of brine concentrate through deep well injection. The effects of proposed water importation by EPWU and JMAS are not included in this discussion. Surface water from the irrigation districts are included.
Current planning efforts are dominated by growth/development. The importance of the social, political, economic, regulatory and administrative importance of water planning and management is marginalized and addressed by think-tank and in quasiformal water related organizations for discussion of strategic issues and purposes. However, these organizations and associations, comprised of representatives from the business, community and educational institutions, will become increasingly important due to water demand and supply issues. As the organizations become more recognized, their participation will be crucial to the successful development of a sustainable plan and implementation policy. Their members have the technical capacity, ethics, experience, willingness to participate and knowledge of the situation. Their immediate participation is strongly recommended for the development of a timely, utilitarian, sustainable ground water strategy and the methodology for its implementation.
Today, the City of El Paso counts on budgetary resources and a stable staff to conduct its operations. On the Mexican side, the City of Juarez has limited resources and a relatively unstable staff. Table 1 summarizes some of the El Paso/Juarez asymmetries.
The City of El Paso’s total population is 563,662 and, according to the Census Bureau and not necessarily City planners, a population growth of 1.86 percent over the next ten years. Recent military base re-alignment that included Fort Bliss will cause El Paso’s population to grow significantly within the next ten years (30,000+ new inhabitants within five years (Ft. Bliss, Metropolitan Planning Office, City Planning and Research Department.) The per capita income is $19,186, which places El Paso among the lowest in the country. Unemployment rates are approximately 10% and considered among the highest in the country. The employment is mostly dedicated to the service sector, which accounts for 65.5% of the total local employment (U S Census Bureau, 2004). The City of El Paso still relies heavily on its groundwater during winter months when surface water is very limited (EPWU, TWDB, IBWC, 2004).
Population | Pop. Growth. Percent | Per Capita Income U.S. Dollars | Unemployment Percentage | Employment Sector | Percentage of Groundwater supplies for M & I uses | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
El Paso | 563,662 | 1.86 | 19,186 Among the lowest in US | 10% Among the highest in the US | Service sector 65.56% | 60 |
Ciudad Juarez | 1,309,462 | 4.4 - 8* | 2,295 ** It is the highest in Mexico | 0 - 1.8 *** It is the lowest in Mexico | Maquilador a Industry 64% | 100 |
*Data varies from various sources: INEGI, CANACO, IMIP, City of Juarez, Strategic Plan for the City of Juarez, CONAPO. ** The minimum wage, including benefits, paid to maquiladora employees is approximately 63 cents per hour according to Mexican law in 1996. These wages amount to approximately U.S. $1,325 per year. Source: Desarolllo Economico: *** Data varies from various sources: INEGI, CANACO, IMIP, City of Juarez, Strategic Plan for the City of Juarez, CONAPO.
On the Mexican side, the City of Juarez is characterized by high polarization and social and economic duality between wealth and poverty, as well as, between economic development and the lack of social and political support for the city’s development. The social and urban polarization has resulted in a city of contrasts. At one extreme there are several wealthy enclaves and, at the other, very poor rundown areas. The total population within the City of Juarez is 1,309,462, with a population growth from 4.4 to 8 percent over the next ten years. It corresponds to 40% of the total population of the state (INEGI, CANACO, IMIP, City of Juarez, Strategic Plan for the City of Juarez, CONAPO, 2004). The City’s per capita income is $2,995 (Mexico’s National Chamber of Commerce, 2004), which is the highest per capita income in all of México. There is an excessive dependence on the maquiladora industry, because this industry accounts for more than 64% of the total local employment. Unemployment rates within the City of Juarez are the lowest in the country. The City of Juarez relies one hundred percent on groundwater to meet their potable water demands (City of Juarez, 2004 and BECC, 2002).
Figure 1. Rio Bravo/Rio Grande area Ciudad Juarez, September 2006, Chew, Mariana
Even though, groundwater is the most important source for municipal and industrial uses for the region, the focus on bi-national water management along the US – Mexico border is surface water. Little consideration is given by either country to groundwater management. There are formal, local, national and international agreements related to how surface water is managed along the US/Mexico border. Similar agreements do not exist with regard to how groundwater should be managed. As of January, 2005, the most important episode related to water issues in the border is the United States-Mexico Trans-boundary Aquifer Assessment Act (Senate Bill. 1957), which is a bi-national scientific program aimed to comprehensively evaluate trans-boundary aquifers and to expand existing agreements to conduct joint scientific investigations (US Senate, 2005). This bill was approved by the US Senate that sent it to the House of Representatives in December of 2004. Senator Bingaman created legislation and stated that “Water is quite simply the most important issue to the border area and ….that there was no agreement on how much useable water the aquifers serving the region contain, and how long current and future projected uses could be sustained.” (Bingaman, 2005) There are no formal agreements between academic, and/or governmental institutions in the Border that help projects like this to ensure its success. It was only in December of 1999, that an informal agreement was signed by the local water utility managers of both the City of Juarez and the City of El Paso. The information shared by both Utilities has enhanced the El Paso Water Utilities’ projections about its groundwater quantity (EPWU, 2004). In November of 2004, the University of Juarez presented the most current initiative for bi-national cooperation named: “Sharing information and data: A bi-national Proposal for the Water-bearing Study of Transboundary Aquifers” (CIG-UACJ, 2004).
While there are groundwater management, trans-boundary management, and regional management models, the necessity for a customized bi-national, regional groundwater management model for the El Paso is due. Ggroundwater is not affected by political boundaries. The development of an international agreement does not provide a solution to ensuring its management. It is the basis for ensuring that a sustainable supply is available for the entire region if it is implemented. The creation of a bi-national groundwater management model in the El Paso/Juarez region must address uncertaintities to ensure that a trully regional (U.S./Mexico) sustainable water supply exists regardless of antidipated changes in political, economic and social scenarios.
Among the challenges to central to defining sustainability are: 1) recognizing cultural differences/perspectives; 2) setting water quality standards and water reserves; 3) determining parity within the economic inequity that exists between the two countries; and 4) instilling a respect for coordinated resource management and the sharing of resources among the different governmental units. In summary, the vision and purpose is finding common ground on the meaning of the mission, setting shared goals, establishing parity, responsibility for the management and funding improvements are among the major challenges facing the management of a resource by two nations and three states.
This work forms the core of the Ph.D. dissertation of Mariana Chew who is a student the Environmental Science and Engineering program. The intent is to publish the results in a major journal and that the data gathered and results will be used by a variety of undergraduates and graduates in our environmental Science and Engineering programs as a case history. Our university colleagues in Mexico will share the findings and add to the investigation in a similar manner.
The purpose of the proposed study is to develop a bi-national groundwater management model within the El Paso/ Ciudad Juarez region that will consider existing hydro-geological, legal, economic and political studies, agreements, describe limitations and strive to recommend new initiatives, and provide tools for evaluating the strategies. This study proposes to find methods of establishing common ground for sustainable development, policy implementation and decision-making and analysis, environmental assets for Northern Chihuahua and EPA Region 6. The study can be used for urban planning and as a decision support tool, to measure cumulative effects/impacts, to integrate assessments and to identify the challenges faced by border cities that share a common public water supply. Ultimately, groundwater management can be improved by providing specific recommendations towards a bi-national template that addresses regional, sustainable resource factors on the supply side and social, political, economic, and cultural on the demand side. If a practical groundwater management model can be developed for the El Paso/Juarez region, it could provide for the development of sustainable water supply for the region and set the foundation for similar agreements along the US – Mexico border. Other bi-national environmental issues, such as air, could be impacted by the policy development modeled after the proposed groundwater management model.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
Specific aims of the proposed study include:
- Identify to how groundwater is currently managed in the El Paso/Juarez region
- Assess why a regional bi-national groundwater agreement has not been developed,
- Describe the benefits and implications in the development of such an agreement,
- Provide a methodology and specific policy recommendations on how a binational groundwater management model would work and its contents.
The study will identify issues related to the elaboration of controversies and the perceptions of existing stakeholders about the selection of groundwater policies by:
- Identifying methods to reduce the effect of such uncertainty
- Assessing the risk presented by a risk management plan with several incremental options previous to its (plan) application and, finally,
- Proposing a methodology to evaluate evironmental policy that will help expand alternatives or solutions to other environmental issues in the region.
Conclusions:
Generate a bi-national groundwater management model that enables El Paso/Juarez region to determine the best strategic planning that include and accommodate the different social, political, economic, cultural and environmental scenarios.
The expected benefits of the Project:
- Encourage sustainable development along the El Paso/Juarez border region by ensuring the best water management.
- Promote joint, coordinated bi-national requests for funding for measures and project that are considered the most feasible and adequate in addressing binational water issues.
- Increase environmental benefits as a result of a better strategic planning.
- Assure that the costs associated with scope of work and economy of scale are reduced by working together on common and diverse issues involving, but not limited to planning, construction, implementation and legal issues.
- Identification of regional impacts if no bi-national groundwater management plan is developed.
Supplemental Keywords:
RFA, Scientific Discipline, Sustainable Industry/Business, Sustainable Environment, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Ecology and Ecosystems, Environmental Engineering, Urban and Regional Planning, sustainable water use, urban planning, US Mexico Border, environmental sustainability, recovery, drinking water, conservation, cost benefit, sustainable urban environment, resource recovery, water conservation, rainfall harvesting, environmental cost analysis, environmental education, renewable resourceThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.