TRACK No.1                                                 

WATER FOR ECOSYSTEMS, WATER FOR PEOPLE

Overview

     Meeting the future water needs of the growing border population while ensuring that ecosystems retain an adequate supply of water for functioning will be extremely challenging. This reality was brought to the forefront during the past decade, when drought in the Rio Grande rivaled or by some accounts was worse than the drought of the 50's, severely limiting irrigated agriculture, depleting reservoir storage, even straining diplomatic relations between the two countries as Mexico fell behind in its water deliveries to the U.S. Innovative solutions are available, and the concept of watershed planning is taking hold, but the array of state, tribal and federal water laws further complicate sustainable water planning. Water privatization has also emerged, particularly in Latin America, as a controversial practice that nevertheless appears to be on the rise. In U.S. Border States, private individuals and small corporations scheme to lock up water supplies of their own, eyeing the immense profits to be made as communities search to feed their own growth. Ensuring adequate water supplies and equitable distribution of water for both people and wildlife is an on-going challenge for border NGOs.

Situation on the Border

     Many border residents still lack access to potable water supplies, especially in Mexico. An estimated 10-15% of Mexican border citizens are not yet supplied with drinking water. As of 2002, the EPA reported that incidences of waterborne diseases are still much higher in Mexican border populations, and somewhat higher in U.S. border populations, than in the U.S. overall. While much has been done to address wastewater infrastructure needs through Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC) and North American Development Bank (NADBank) funding, the EPA states that there remain short-term water and wastewater infrastructure needs totaling some $700 million, and $3.8 billion over the long term as border communities grow.

      Ecosystems suffered as well. In 2003 the Rio Bravo dried up in its main stem through Big Bend National Park for the first time in recorded history, and in 2001 the mouth of the Rio Bravo filled in with a sandbar and remained closed for the better part of a year. There are a host of factors to be examined after-the-fact in assessing what happened, what needs to change, and how we can better prepare for the next drought, which could be even worse. One initiative emerging in recent years is the investment in irrigation infrastructure that has been made, with the idea that the water saved would be made available for other uses – primarily municipal.

     Specifically, as of September 2004, the North American Development Bank (NAD Bank) has invested over $23 million in irrigation infrastructure improvements in U.S. Rio Grande basin irrigation districts, and $40 million in one irrigation district in the Mexican Rio Grande basin – the Delicias Irrigation District near Chihuahua. These investments are projected to result in water savings of 82,072 acre-feet (over 107 Mm3) in the U.S. While no projected savings have been given for the Delicias district, and it is expected that the Comision Nacional de Agua will provide oversight and monitoring, and that the International Boundary and Water Commission will continue to push for dedicated deliveries to repay the water deficit.

     Likely, environmental needs for water will continue to be pushed behind human needs, so innovative models for retaining water for the environment within a system that does not explicitly recognize such uses are needed.

    The Colorado Delta offers such a case study. Fish, wildlife and the Native Cucupá Indians of the Delta region all depend on a water supply that could disappear at any moment. Even in its diminished state, the delta continues to provide the most important wetland habitat in the southwestern desert of North America and more native riparian habitat than on the rest of the lower Colorado River. Small flows of Colorado River water have returned in recent decades, restoring habitat necessary to support endangered species with no where else to go. Also, brackish wastewater, unfit for human consumption and rerouted away from the main stem of the Colorado, is creating valuable wetlands.

      Because the much sought-after water from the Colorado is already over-allocated, its continued flow into the delta is far from certain. The positive effects this water has had on an otherwise beleaguered and forgotten, but highly capable ecosystem suggest the water should be committed to the region, where it is invaluable to a host of plants and wildlife and to the continued way of life of the native peoples.

      Finally, while it is unclear how much the topic of water privatization figures in border water issues, it is of growing concern, particularly in Mexico. Unscrupulous practices by private foreign water corporations, including drastically hiking water prices while neglecting infrastructure upgrades, are causing citizens in many communities to protest and demand fair and equal access to water as a basic human right. In Texas, the issue has centered more around the actions of a few individuals who are operating within the letter of the law but not always with the blessing of the local community, as they exploit weak groundwater regulations to snap up supplies and sell them to the highest bidder.

      In this panel we will discuss the practices and policies shaping water supply planning in the Rio Grande, and factors affecting ecosystem needs in the Colorado Delta.

Internet resources:

The Polaris Institute, for water privatization discussion.