Abstract
United States-Mexican transboundary water resources management is presently experiencing significant reform resulting from long-term demographic processes in the border region and greater economic integration. The recently concluded North American Free Trade Agreement and supplementary environmental accord modify existing agreements and provide old institution with new mandates. Particularly affected is the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), long the lead agency in binational water management. This essay reviews the development of the new water management regime against the two preceding phases of management reform and considers its implications for improved water management in the border region.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Agreement on cooperation for the protection and improvement of the environment in the border area. 14 August 1983. United States and Mexico. T.I.A.S. No. 10827.
Agreement between the United States of America and the government of the United Mexican States concerning the establishment of a border environment cooperation commission and a border environment finance facility. 22 October 1993. Office of the President, Ad Referendum Text, Washington, DC.
Bernal R., F., and J. Calleros. 1993. Conflictos internacionales por la calidad de la aguas del Rio Colorado. Paper given at conference on water quality and provision in the Tijuana/San Diego and Mexicali/Imperial Valley regions. San Diego State University, 7–9 July.
Casa Grande Dispatch. 1993. “Auditors to scrutinize CAP plans. 11 December, p. A1.
Christensen, B. 1993. Long-term water supply for Tijuana with use of reclaimed water in the Mexicali Valley. Paper given at conference on water quality and provision in the Tijuana/San Diego and Mexicali/Imperial Valley regions. San Diego State University, 7–9 July.
Colby, B. 1989. Estimating the value of water in alternative uses.Natural Resources Journal 9:511–528.
Defenders of Wildlife. 1993. Press release: Mexico to dedicate northern Gulf of California as biosphere reserve June 10, to protect porpoise. Washington DC, June 8.
Eaton, D., and J. Anderson. 1987. The state of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Eaton, D., and D. Hurlbut. 1992. Challenges in the binational management of water resources in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. US Mexican Policy Studies Program, Policy Report No. 2. University of Texas, Austin.
Enriquez C., E. 1977. El Tratado entre Mexico y los Estados Unidos de America sobre rios internacionales, 2 vol. Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, DF.
Fradkin, P. 1981. A river no more: The Colorado and the West. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Gilbreath R., J. 1992. Planning the border's future: The Mexican-U.S. integrated border environmental plan. Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs Occasional Paper No. 1, March. University of Texas, Austin.
Goslin, I. 1978. Colorado River development. Pages 18–60in D. F. Peterson and A. B. Crawford (eds.), Values and choice in the development of the Colorado River. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Hundley, N. 1966. Water and the West. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Ingram, H. 1990. Water politics: Continuity and change. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
Ingram, H. 1993. Transnational water resources management: Learning from the U.S.-Mexico experience. Fourth annual Abel Wolman distinguished lecture, November 8. The Water and Science Technology Board of the National Research Council, Washington, DC.
Ingram, H., L. Milich, and R. Varady. 1994. Managing transboundary resources: Lessons from Ambos Nogales.Environment 36:2–38.
Kelly, M. 1994. Fulfilling promises: Implementation of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC) and the North American Development Bank (NADBANK). February. Texas Center for Policy Studies, Austin.
Lorey, D. 1993. United States-Mexico border statistics since 1900: An update. University of California, Los Angeles, Latin American Center Publications, Los Angeles.
Miller, T., G. Weatherford, and J. Thompson. 1986. The salty Colorado. The Conservation Foundation and the John Muir Institute, Washington, DC.
Mumme, S. P. 1980. The background and significance of Minute 261 of the International Boundary and Water Commission.California Western International Law Journal 11:223–235.
Mumme, S. P. 1984. Regional influence in national diplomacy: The case of the International Boundary and Water Commission.Publius 14:115–135.
Mumme, S. P. 1993. Innovation and reform in transboundary resources management: A critical look at the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico.Natural Resources Journal 33:93–120.
Mumme, S. P., and S. T. Moore, 1990. Agency autonomy in transboundary resources management: The United States' section of the International Boundary and Water Commission.Natural Resources Journal 30:663–684.
North American agreement on environmental cooperation between the government of the United States of America, the government of Canada, and the government of the United Mexican States. 1993. Final draft, 13 September. Office of the President, Washington, DC.
Pendleton, S. 1993. NAFTA boom is threatening border ecology.The Christian Science Monitor 14 July, pp. 9–11.
Phoenix Gazette. 1993. Not a half-bad deal to assure CAP water. 15 October, p. B16.
Seligman, D. A. 1994. NAFTA and the green trade.Environment 36:3–5.
Sepulveda, C., and A. Utton. 1982. The U.S.-Mexico border region: Anticipating resource needs and issues to the year 2000. Texas Western Press, El Paso.
Timm, C. 1941. The International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Treaty regarding utilization of waters of Colorado and Tijuana rivers and of the Rio Grande, 3 February 1944. United States and Mexico. 59 Stat. 1219.
US Environmental Protection Agency and Mexican Secretaria de Desarrollo Urbano y Ecologia. 1992. Integrated environmental plan for the Mexican-U.S. border area, first stage, 1992–1994. February. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.
US Council of the Mexico-US Business Committee. 1993. Analysis of environmental infrastructure requirements and financing gaps on the US-Mexico border. 14 July. US Council, Washington, DC.
Van der Werf, M. 1994. Draining the budget to desalt the Colorado.The High Country News, 21 February, pp. 1–13.
Wahl, R. 1989. Markets for federal water. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mumme, S.P. The new regime for managing US—Mexican water resources. Environmental Management 19, 827–835 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02471935
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02471935