Identifying and characterizing transboundary aquifers along the Mexico–US border: An initial assessment

Aquifers Shared Between Mexico and the United States: Management Perspectives and Their Transboundary Nature

“…Likewise, although there is reasonable data to confirm the transboundary nature of aquifers 15, 19, and 33 (Sanchez et al ), the three cases have complete different stories, scenarios, institutional engagements, and magnitude of hydrological challenges. Aquifer 33 is not recognized officially as transboundary by the state of Texas, even though data from the Mexican side and joint technical studies have verified its transboundary linkages.…”

“…One other factor worth noting is that Texas utilizes geological boundaries to delineate aquifer limits, whereas Mexico and the rest of the states in the United States use either a true (saturated zone) or basin boundary (catchment area) methodology, or a combination of both. Therefore, the attempt to reveal the transboundary aquifer puzzle is even more challenging on Texas's border with Mexico (Sanchez et al ).…”

“…border. Globally, while nearly 600 transboundary aquifers and aquifer bodies have been identified, only four have formal, binational, or multinational mechanisms for cooperation: the Genevese Aquifer, managed collaboratively between France and Switzerland; the Al‐Sag/Al‐Disi Aquifer between Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which implemented extraction and pollution controls; and the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer and Northwestern Sahara Aquifer, both in northern Africa and both of which employed data sharing regimes (IGRAC ; Sanchez et al ).…”

“…Confidence level of the transboundary nature of aquifers/basins between Mexico and the United States (Sanchez et al ).…”

“…Characterizing and identifying transboundary aquifers along the Mexico-U.S. border constitutes a major research challenge considering the limited and contrasting available data, as well as the discrepancies in methods used by the corresponding state and federal agencies within the various jurisdictions along the border. Recently, 36 aquifers were identified along the Mexico-U.S. border (Sanchez et al 2016). However, the available data confirmed with a reasonable confidence level that only 16 of these aquifers are demonstrably transboundary; the evidence for the transboundary nature Aquifer, both in northern Africa and both of which employed data sharing regimes (IGRAC 2014;Sanchez et al 2016).…”