Evolving together: transboundary water governance in the Colorado River Basin

Abstract

Transboundary collaboration between the United States (US) and Mexico in the Colorado River Basin has heightened in recent years, as climate change, population growth, and overallocation threaten the long-term stability of the region. Through a combination of document analysis and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, we examine patterns of change in the governance of the Colorado River, as the US and Mexico navigate socioeconomic, cultural, and political asymmetries to jointly share water over the past two decades. We ask: What key events and environmental agreements have influenced transboundary water governance in the Colorado River over the past 20 years? We draw on the rich scholarship on transboundary water governance, especially around international river basin organizations, to uncover patterns of engagement and collaboration over time. We focus on the binational scale with an eye to study governance at multiple scales including interactions and impacts at the national and subnational scales. Our findings illustrate how Mexico's role has evolved from a narrow one following a strict interpretation of the 1944 Treaty toward a more creative partnership between the US and Mexico demonstrated in binational negotiations and the creation of joint solutions to emerging challenges around water conservation and ecological restoration. We find transboundary water governance in the basin is influenced by both long-term and short-term contextual changes that can inform strategies key actors employ to bolster institutional resilience and take advantage of opportunities for transformative change. Further, we find that the evolution of the binational relationship is reflected in changes in the negotiation process and structure, which highlights the importance of trust and relationship building, transparency, joint fact-finding, and information sharing to foster collaboration. However, we also find uneven institutionalization of stakeholder participation and transparency in engagement patterns that may ultimately, serve to hinder governance and cooperation in the basin.

Beyond engagement: Enhancing equity in collaborative water governance

“…The work group meetings, as well as at the informal dinners and social events that often followed, also provided actors with opportunities to get to know one another and build trust and relationships through iterative interactions (King et al, 2014; Koebele, 2020). However, there is a lack of transparency about the details of work group membership and meetings (Rivera‐Torres & Gerlak, 2021), making it difficult to understand the degree to which they promoted equitable representation of interests and procedural equity among those who did participate.…”

Transboundary Fisheries Management in Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA): Prospects and Dilemmas

“…The achievement of the recently coordinated regulations in that fishery was a prerequisite to a successful implementation of a transboundary fisheries management in the lake [31]. While the idea of transboundary fisheries management has been widely recognized since the 1980s, it has recently grown in prominence through institutional reforms and collaborative initiatives [77]. For instance, a more creative partnership between the United States of America (US) and Mexico illustrates the creation of joint solutions to environmental challenges of a shared Colorado River basin [77].…”

“…While the idea of transboundary fisheries management has been widely recognized since the 1980s, it has recently grown in prominence through institutional reforms and collaborative initiatives [77]. For instance, a more creative partnership between the United States of America (US) and Mexico illustrates the creation of joint solutions to environmental challenges of a shared Colorado River basin [77]. In the Laurentian Lakes, where the United States of America and Canada have set up management structures to address policy and environmental issues, a harmonization of policies played a key role in establishing management structures [78].…”

Drought Diagnosis: What the Medical Sciences Can Teach Us

“…These measures and the increasing frequency of droughts directly led to the death of Colorado River Delta ecosystems in Mexico (Owen et al., 2017). Although California aims to ensure minimum environmental flows locally, ecosystem impacts downstream and out of state have been largely overlooked (Rivera‐Torres & Gerlak, 2021).…”