Climate Vulnerability and Adaptive Strategies Along the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Border of Mexico and the United States

Abstract

Climate change and growing populations are dual stresses that are particularly challenging to communities along the US/Mexican border where adaptive capacity is limited, infrastructure is lacking, and economic resources are scarce. Although regional precipitation projections vary significantly in both timing and amount, projections of temperature changes produce a more robust signal of raised temperatures. A summary look is provided that highlights the climatic changes that are projected, identifies key systems and sectors that are vulnerable to climate change, describes and summarizes the role of adaptation and the development of adaptation strategies. A promising look at binational co‐adaptation is highlighted and illustrates the potential for building regional adaptive capacity.

A Comprehensive Process for Stakeholder Identification and Engagement in Addressing Wicked Water Resources Problems

“…Participatory modeling is particularly useful for evaluating long-term projections into the future, where direct observations are not possible and there is no experimental alternative to simulation models. The recent literature from the arid region of the southwestern U.S. advocates changing the timeframe of water management from immediate and isolated supply/demand variables to longer-term trajectories [18,19]. Participatory modeling could be particularly useful to evaluating uncertain water futures driven by climate change and urbanization, and to "adaptive change" approaches to water resources management that requires processes of continuous learning and modification [20], facilitated by dialogues around multi-participant, multi-objective models [21].…”

World Water Supply and Use: Challenges for the Future

“…However, the particularity of this case relies in the fact that despite power asymmetry between the two riparian countries, Mexico and the United States have cooperated intensively and reasonably since the beginning of the 1900s to efficiently and equitably share the waters of the Colorado and the Rio Grande basins (Mumme, 2003;Sanchez-Munguia, 2011). The treaty (as most treaties around the world) does not contain provisions on water allocation considering climate variability scenarios (Hurd, 2012) and the treaty provision in which timing of water deliveries (5-year cycles) from Mexican tributaries to the United States (Texas) facing a rather constant drought period, do not seem enough to satisfy current water demands (Castro-Ruiz and Gonzalez-Avila, 2012). Industrialization and immigration to the region incentivized by the North America Free Trade Agreement of 1994 have accelerated population growth (quadrupled since 1945) and overallocation of water rights in the region has reached its limits (Biswas, 2011b).…”

A Water Balancing Act: Water Balances Highlight the Benefits of Community-Based Adaptive Management in Northern New Mexico, USA

“…For example, the Rio Grande and its tributaries are increasingly becoming water stressed due to the warming climate and the increasing demand from users in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico [5]. Rio Grande streamflow is vulnerable as it largely depends on snowpack conditions which are projected to decrease and melt earlier in the future [6][7][8][9].…”