Transcript International Boundary and Water Commission (Harlow, Spener)

International Boundary and Water Commission
United States and Mexico
Presentation to USGS Study Tour
April 18, 2007
El Paso, TX
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
U.S.-MEXICO BORDER
Land Boundary – 674 miles
 Colorado River – 24 miles
 Rio Grande – 1,254 miles
 Over 12 million residents

INTERNATIONAL RIVER
BASINS
Tijuana River Basin
Colorado River Basin
Rio Grande Basin
Pacific
Ocean
Gulf of
Mexico
MISSION OF THE COMMISSION
The International Boundary and Water
Commission is responsible for applying the
boundary and water treaties between the
United States and Mexico and settling
differences that arise in their application.
STRUCTURE PER 1944 TREATY
INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY
AND WATER COMMISSION
(IBWC)
MEXICAN
US
SECTION
SECTION
•Mexican Commissioner
•US Commissioner
•Secretary
•Secretary
•Two Principal
Engineers
•Two Principal
Engineers
•Legal Adviser
•Legal Adviser
IBWC OFFICES ON THE BORDER
IBWC STRUCTURE

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Each Commissioner is appointed by his
respective president
When the two Sections meet as a Commission,
they have the status of an International
Organization
Each Section employs its own staff
IBWC staff operate projects, including joint
operation of dams
IBWC STRUCTURE
Decisions of the Commission shall be
recorded in the form of Minutes
 Minutes are subject to approval by the
Governments (State, SRE) and are
binding
 131 Minutes entered into since treaty
ratification

IBWC STRUCTURE
Joint Reports or Joint Memoranda of the
Principal Engineers include technical
recommendations to the Commissioners
 Commissioners, Principal Engineers,
Secretaries, and Legal Advisers are
diplomatic officers
 Significant day-to-day contact between the
two Sections

CONVENTION OF 1906
Distribution between Mexico and the U.S.
of the waters of the Rio Grande in the El
Paso-Juarez region
 U.S. to deliver 60,000 acre-feet per year
 Proportional reduction in deliveries in case
of extraordinary drought
 Water stored in Elephant Butte Dam, NM

American Dam (El Paso-Juarez)
OTHER BOUNDARY
TREATIES
 Convention
of 1933/Rio Grande
Rectification Project – Stabilize the
international boundary in the El PasoJuarez Valley
 Chamizal
Convention (1963) –
Relocate the Rio Grande in a new channel
in El Paso-Juarez
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OTHER BOUNDARY
TREATIES
 Treaty
of 1970 – Maintain the Rio
Grande and Colorado River as the
international boundary
 Boundary
is middle of the channel of greatest
average width
 Structures crossing the rivers may not deflect
or obstruct river flows
1944 WATER TREATY
Established current structure of the
Commission.
 Expanded Commission role in boundary
water issues.
 Provided general authority to conduct
studies and investigations, construct
dams, address sanitation problems.

1944 WATER TREATY
Colorado River
U.S. to deliver to Mexico a volume of 1.5
million acre-feet per year
 When there are surplus waters, U.S. to
deliver to Mexico a total volume of up to
1.7 million acre-feet per year

MORELOS DAM
1944 WATER TREATY
(Rio Grande, Ft. Quitman to the Gulf)

Mexico to deliver minimum annual average of
350,000 acre-feet to the United States
 Water
delivered to the Rio Grande from six Mexican
tributaries
 U.S. receives 1/3 of the flow arriving in the Rio
Grande from the six Mexican tributaries

Each county allotted 50% of flows from the
unmeasured tributaries
CURRENT PROJECTS
UPPER RIO GRANDE PROJECTS

Canalization Project – USIBWC water delivery and
flood control project located in Southern New Mexico
and West Texas

American Dam – Diverts
Rio Grande water into U.S.
irrigation canal at El Paso
International Dam –
Diverts Rio Grande water
into Mexican irrigation
canal/Acequia Madre at Cd.
Juarez

Canalization Project, El Paso
UPPER RIO GRANDE PROJECTS

Rectification Project –
Stabilizes the boundary
and provides flood control
in the El Paso-Juarez
Valley

Chamizal Project –
Stabilizes the international
boundary thru El Paso-Cd.
Juarez by means of a
concrete channel
Chamizal Project maintenance
RIO GRANDE INTERNATIONAL
STORAGE RESERVOIRS

Amistad Dam
Capacity, including flood storage – 6025
million cubic meters
 Total

Falcon Dam
 Total
Capacity, including flood storage - 3897
million cubic meters

Both generate hydroelectric power
AMISTAD DAM
WATER ACCOUNTING
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More than 50 gaging stations in the Rio Grande
basin in the United States and Mexico
11 gaging stations on the Colorado River
Data reviewed weekly by the U.S. and Mexican
Sections
Determination of the national ownership of
waters of the Rio Grande
Publication of flow data, rainfall, reservoir
storage, evaporation, and water quality data in
annual water bulletins
WATER ACCOUNTING
Telemetry system at North
Floodway, Lower Rio Grande
Rio Grande gaging station at
Presidio-Ojinaga
LOWER RIO GRANDE
FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT
340 miles of levee
 Anzalduas Diversion Dam
 Retamal Diversion Dam
 Floodways
 Flood protection for hundreds of
thousands of people in the U.S. and
Mexico
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Anzalduas
Diversion
Dam
1966 Flood at
Brownsville-Matamoros
INTERNATIONAL WASTEWATER
TREATMENT PLANTS

San Diego, California
 Treats

Nogales, AZ
 Treats

wastewater from Tijuana, BC
wastewater from both countries
Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
 Treats
wastewater from Nuevo Laredo,
Tamps.
SOUTH BAY INTERNATIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT
WATER QUALITY MONITORING
3 Rio Grande binational toxic substances
studies
 Binational toxic substances study of the
New and Colorado Rivers
 Texas Clean Rivers Program for the Rio
Grande

GROUNDWATER
General authority to conduct groundwater
studies granted by Congress in 1935
 General authority under Article 24 of the
1944 Water Treaty

GROUNDWATER

Minute 242 (1973)
 To
address salinity of Colorado River
deliveries to Mexico
 Pending the conclusion of a comprehensive
agreement on groundwater in the border
areas, each country shall limit pumping of
groundwaters within its territory within 8 km of
the Arizona-Sonora boundary
 Consultation prior to undertaking substantial
modification or new development of surface or
ground water resources that might adversely
affect the other country
GROUNDWATER

Hueco Bolson – El Paso-Juarez Aquifer
 Binational
Technical Group established
 Report published in 1998
 Binational Ground-Water Data Base validated
by both governments

Upper Santa Cruz River Transboundary
Aquifer (AZ-Son.)
 Data

exchanged (1997-1998)
Nogales Wash water quality
 Binational
Nogales Wash United States /
Mexico Groundwater Monitoring Program –
Final Report (2001)
GROUNDWATER

Mexican Management
 Mostly
centralized in the National Water
Commission, a federal agency

U.S. Management
 State
responsibility
 Decentralized in the four U.S. border states
TRANSBOUNDARY AQUIFER
ASSESSMENT BILL
Passed by U.S. Congress in 2006 (Public
Law 109-448)
 Purpose is to characterize, map, and
model groundwater resources in U.S.Mexico border region
 Activities to encompass field studies,
development of GIS database, flow
models, data exchange
 Identifies priority aquifers for assessment
based on technical and political criteria
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TRANSBOUNDARY AQUIFER
ASSESSMENT BILL
Lead federal agency is U.S. Geological
Survey
 Requires consultation with U.S. border
states and authorizes grants to state water
resource research institutes
 Authorizes $50 million over ten years,
including some funding to Mexico

International Boundary and Water Commission
United States and Mexico
U.S. Section
www.ibwc.state.gov
(915) 832-4100