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Shared groundwater resources between Mexico and the United States are facing unprecedented stressors. We reflect on how to improve water security for groundwater systems in the border region. Our reflection begins with the state of groundwater knowledge, and the challenges groundwater resources face from a physical, societal and institutional perspective. We conclude that the extent of ongoing cooperation frameworks, joint and remaining research efforts, from which alternative strategies can emerge, still need to be developed. The way forward offers a variety of cooperation models as the future offers rather complex, shared and multidisciplinary water challenges to the Mexico–US borderlands.

Transboundary waters are characterized by diverse and complex socio-politico-economic obstacles to effective water management. We examine five distinct cases in the arid Americas–in locations from the US–Mexico border to the Andes mountains–employing water security as a conceptual prism to unravel the multiple and varied attributes of transboundary water challenges. We describe how borders complicate water security in arid regions and explore how institutional arrangements and practices–within and across jurisdictions–respond to these challenges. We find that institutional capacity is needed on multiple levels for effective water management, and institutions must be responsive and flexible to change. Fil: Albrecht, Tamee R.. University of Arizona; Estados Unidos Fil: Varady, Robert G.. University of Arizona; Estados Unidos Fil: Zuniga Teran, Adriana A.. University of Arizona; Estados Unidos Fil: Gerlak, Andrea K.. University of Arizona; Estados Unidos Fil: Routson De Grenade, Rafael. University of Arizona; Estados Unidos Fil: Lutz Ley, América. El Colegio de Sonora; México Fil: Martin, Facundo Damian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Megdal, Sharon B.. University of Arizona; Estados Unidos Fil: Meza, Francisco. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile Fil: Ocampo Melgar, Diego. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile Fil: Pineda, Nicolás. Colegio de Sonora; México Fil: Rojas, Juan Facundo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Taboada Hermoza, Rossi. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Willems, Bram. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú

In the western US–Mexico border region, both countries’ authorities look to desalination as a means to meet increased demands for dwindling supplies. In addition to several existing or planned desalination plants, plans exist to develop projects along Mexico’s coasts to convert seawater into freshwater primarily for conveyance and consumption in the United States. Even though desalination systems have the potential to increase water supply in the region, there are associated consequences, costs and constraints. To understand the impacts of such binational desalination systems, this paper assesses, through a water-security framework, the case of a proposed desalination plant on the Upper Gulf of California. The analysis suggests that for binational desalination systems, there are several key areas of impact against which the benefits of increased water supply must be weighed.

Sustainable water management is a critical concern in the semi-arid portions of the American Southwest. This paper explains the decentralized approach to water supply management in this region, including the traditional roles of the public and private sectors. With Arizona as a focus, it explores how the water supply challenges of the twenty-first century require new approaches and partnerships for funding infrastructure, obtaining new water supplies, water banking, and water treatment.