Rural Water Quality on the U.S. - Mexico Border: An Assessment of Columbus, NM and Palomas, Chi.

by Janet Tanski, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, New Mexico State University

Over the last 30 years the U.S.-Mexico border region has experienced a dramatic surge in population and industrialization. Unfortunately, this growth has placed an enormous strain on the region’s natural resources, principally water. While some border cities, including El Paso/Cd Juarez and to the east have access to both surface and ground water, to the west of El Paso, this is not the case. The region surrounding the communities of Columbus, New Mexico and Puerto Palomas, Chihuahua, for example, has no available surface water. Because of the region’s population and economic growth, the groundwater levels appear to be declining rapidly. The two cities lie directly along the border and have a joint population of 7,765, of whom 765¹ are U.S. residents and an estimated 7,000² live in Mexico. The communities of Columbus and Puerto Palomas are growing in population. On the U.S. side, Luna County with an estimated population of 18,100³ has recorded a 55% increase in population size since 1990. Puerto Palomas, directly south of the border, reported an official population of 3,700 in 1990 and counted an estimated 7,000 residents in 1995, a 45% increase.⁴

The economies of Columbus and Puerto Palomas are based largely upon agriculture and livestock production. Recently, economic activity in the two communities has increased⁵ with an expansion of agriculture and ranching activities in both the United States and Mexico and the introduction of several maquiladora operations in Puerto Palomas. This increase in activity, which occurred in concert with the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has prompted an extremely rapid growth in population (an estimated 45% increase in population since 1990 in Puerto Palomas) and has placed severe strains upon the existing utility infrastructure. In particular, the two communities shared water source, the Mimbres Aquifer, one of only 12 cross-border aquifers known to exist along the U.S.-Mexico border,⁶ is threatened, in terms of both quantity and quality. However, these communities and their leaders have practically no knowledge of the rates at which the water table is declining, nor of the quality of their drinking (and irrigation) water. What is more, the communities have little knowledge of how to assess their water resources.

This lack of information about the aquifer makes it difficult for residents to make decisions between proposed uses of water, such as between agricultural and manufacturing activities. It also makes it difficult for government agencies to predict what level of demographic and economic growth can be sustained by the aquifer; hence, given these information limitations, adopting appropriate policies (i.e. policies which would lead to a more efficient and sustainable use of the resources) is problematic. Growth in communities along the U.S.-Mexico border has placed enormous pressures on public infrastructure, public services and the remaining natural resources. In some larger border communities these pressures have resulted in degradation of the environment and a worsening of human sanitation. In relation to groundwater, this intensifies the need for resource planning and conservation. Many professional planners believe that the “window of opportunity” to avoid such problems lies chiefly in development and implementation of water resource plans in smaller communities targeted for growth.

In arid regions, water quality is viewed as an indicator of the overall health of the environment. Water is not only a basic need for survival, but poses a limiting factor to economic prosperity. Thus, the availability and quality of water in U.S.-Mexico border communities is a crucial element for public health and may well serve as a bellwether for a border community's economic prospects. Both Columbus and Puerto Palomas depend almost entirely upon groundwater pumped directly from the Mimbres Aquifer. No treaty exists between the United States and Mexico regarding groundwater⁷, and water usage seems limited only by the ability of either side to pump water to the surface. Generally, there is no mechanism to assess withdrawal from the aquifer, determine water quality, disseminate water resource and testing information to both communities in a consistent format, or to plan for future usage and/or conservation.

In an attempt to serve the communities by addressing these issues, investigators and students from New Mexico State University s (NMSU’s) Department of Civil, Agriculture, and Geological Engineering, NMSU s Department of Economics, the Departamento de Ingeniería Ambiental y Ecosistemas at the Universidad Autónoma de Cd. Juárez (UACJ), and the University of New Mexico s (UNM) School of Architecture and Planning, have joined forces to study the aquifer and economic patterns.

THE PROJECT

The goal of the 12-month Water Quality Assessment project is to:

a) develop systematic baseline data on the Mimbres aquifer for both sides of the border in the region immediately surrounding Columbus and Palomas;
b) develop a water quality assessment plan in coordination with ongoing activities of the New Mexico Border Health Office, the state s Water Resources Research Institute, and the Village of Columbus and Mexican community of Puerto Palomas.
c) assess the differential impact on the aquifer of economic activities in the region through the use of cost/benefit analyses.

Planning and design work for this project has been conducted in cooperation with the collaborating institutes and the communities of Columbus and Puerto Palomas. NMSU s Department of Civil, Agriculture, and Geological Engineering and the Departmento de Ingeniería Ambiental y Ecosistemas (UACJ) have performed the engineering design work. An important aspect of the project is active participation on the part of community residents in conducting and making public the project and its results. UNM's Community and Regional Planning Program has undertaken responsibility for community participation and integration of the project with local and regional units of government. This activity has been coordinated with the Departmento de Ingeniería Ambiental y Ecosistemas at UACJ. Members from NMSU's Department of Economics will conduct an extensive cost-benefit analysis in a manner that offers replication at other border sites. This information will be incorporated into the assessment itself as a realistic examination of the economic strengths and capabilities of Columbus/Puerto Palomas. This information should provide an understanding of the joint communities abilities to invest in future water- system improvements. This project complements the work of the Border Health Authority by seeking to provide information from the Mexican side of the border that can be used in conjunction with U.S. data. The objective will be to build a common framework of analysis, offer a variety of formats of data presentation and incorporate the information into GIS networks at UNM and NMSU (Border Atlas).

The project builds upon previous work undertaken by the NMSU College of Engineering and the NM Water Resources Research Institute, which have engaged jointly in hydrological analysis of ground water along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border. The project also builds upon applied research since 1992 conducted by the Community and Regional Planning Program at UNM, including work performed for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resulting in the construction of a natural resources baseline inventory for the hydrographic region surrounding Columbus and Puerto Palomas. This project was rooted in the local communities and local officials and public citizens have been involved in the research effort itself.

Without a commitment to involve citizens from both sides of the border in the planning and development of a cross-boundary water quality plan, such a plan is not likely to be incorporated into community planning efforts. This project involves a strong element of community participation by investigators and students familiar with the two border communities who have developed the trust and goodwill of community leaders in both the United States and Mexico. State agency participation is vital as well. Thus, the participation on the part of the New Mexico Border Health Office and its counterpart agency in Mexico. In keeping with this approach, local participation has been sought both by way of public meetings and by way of involving teachers and students from both sides of the border. In this manner, understanding of the project as well as information about the resource and the results will be shared. Puerto Palomas and Columbus, being somewhat isolated, have developed many ties. This project will enable them to discover and share data, involve citizens in the decision-making process and enhance their knowledge, in short, nurturing a transborder dialogue. It is proposed that in the future such experience could be useful to a binational group addressing a joint resource.

The deliverables for this project include a detailed plan that recommends what needs to be done to interpret the data compiled and collected. Investigators will evaluate the effort required to place available information onto a single, consistent electronic format (i.e., CD-ROM database format) and, if possible, provide this as well. A list of available resources along with the type of data within each resource or database will be provided. In addition, missing data will be highlighted. The information provided by this plan will provide state and federal agencies, private citizens, and municipal and regional elected officials information that can be used for planning and decision- making. In addition, the cost-benefit analysis will assist community leaders and others as to the best possible use of funds for improving or maintaining water quality.

Footnotes

¹ U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC. CD- ROM 1994 U.S. census data. 1995 release.
² Estimate of the municipal government of Village of Columbus, NM. February 1996.
³ U.S. Bureau of the Census, Commerce. CD-ROM 1994 Census data. 1995 release.
⁴ Estimate of municipal government of Village of Columbus, NM. February 1996.
^5. Queen, Bob. Address to the Southwest Export/Import Association, February 7, 1996. Trade Office, New Mexico Department of Economic Development.
⁶ Integrated Environmental Plan for the Mexican-U.S. Border Area, U.S. EPA/SEDUE, First Stage 1992-1994, p. V-12.
⁷ Integrated Environmental Plan for the Mexican-US Border Area, U.S. EPA/SEDUE, First Stage 1992-1994, p. V-12.