Panel: Transboundary IWRM -Indicators, Institutions,

Constraints, and InnovationsAWRA 2009

Annual ConferenceMichael E. Campana

Professor of Geosciences Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

(http://aquadoc.typepad.com/WaterWired)Universities Partnership for Transboundary Waters

(waterpartners.geo.orst.edu)International Center for Integrated Water Resources

Management (ICIWaRM)(http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/iciwarm/)

Outline• Tribute• Definitions• International Laws and Institutions – IJC,

IBWC, NAFTA• Case Studies of Transboundary Groundwater

– Abbotsford-Sumas Aquifer– Santa Cruz River Basin– Hermosillo Basin

• Observations• Nonrenewable Groundwater • Transboundary Nonrenewable Groundwater

and IWRM• My Take

Albert E. Utton, 1931-1998“One hand washes the other, and both

wash the face.” – Spanish proverb

Some DefinitionsUseful in Discussing Transboundary

Water• Hydrovulnerability is a gage of the risk

of conflict if a change occurs in a surface water or groundwater basin, which can be measured using the institutional capacity of the basin coupled with whether historical events in the basin indicate resilience

• Resilience is a characteristic that is based on a positive response to change—the institutional capability of a basin to absorb the disturbance

U.S.-Canada Border

8,000 kilometers

The International Joint Commission (IJC)

• Created by Article IV of the Boundary Waters Treaty (BWT) of 1909 between the United States and Canada

• Key Points– Administrative, quasi-judicial, arbitral, and

investigative aspects of conflicts– Both governments must agree to use the IJC– Groundwater not specifically addressed; cannot

investigate groundwater isolated from surface water unless both countries agree

International Laws and Institutions

USA - Mexico Border

3,110 kilometers; rivers comprise 66% of border

International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC)

• Created in 1889 by USA and Mexico• Water quality issues addressed

through the passage of “Minutes”• Key Points

– Active participant in the apportionment and utilization of the transboundary water resources

– Both governments must agree to use the IBWC

International Laws and Institutions

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

• Adopted by Canada, USA, and Mexico in 1994

• Key Points– Can resolve disputes on a more local level– Is an agreed-upon method or basis for

dispute resolution– Groundwater has the potential to be treated

as an economic good and traded across borders

– Places economic considerations above environmental considerations

International Laws and Institutions

Abbotsford-Sumas Aquifer• Fraser River Basin, underlies British Columbia (Canada)

and Washington State (USA)• Abbotsford-Sumas Aquifer International Task Force from

1992 Agreement• Example: Aldergrove Lake Regional Park

– Stakeholders worried about the effects that biosolids would have on the aquifer’s water quality

• Resilient

Case Studies

Santa CruzRiver Basin

• Local, state, and federal water agencies developed a plan to mitigate wastewater runoff originating in Mexico and flowing into the USA – Binational groundwater quality monitoring project– Fix leaky wastewater pipes on Mexico side

Case Studies

• Nogales, Arizona (USA) and Nogales, Sonora (Mexico)—groundwater flows from Mexico to USA

Hermosillo Basin

– Sea-water intrusion threatening many wellfields• Aquifer is vulnerable to over-exploitation due to

the economic growth in the Hermosillo Valley• The government knows the scientific and potential

societal impacts of its decisions and must determine how to manage the aquifer in a “sustainable” manner so that the entire region does not suffer

• Demonstrates the “hydrovulnerability” associated with using NAFTA

Case Studies

• Sonora, Mexico (not transboundary)

• Used for non-traditional agricultural production as a result of NAFTA

Observations• In North America there is no predetermined

process that clearly defines the role of government, science, and society in transboundary groundwater management

• The IJC and IBWC generally function properly whenever groundwater is an issue, thus effecting transboundary groundwater management, if on an ad hoc basis. Both organizations are “resilience-builders”.

• NAFTA’s “economic good” focus can inject hydrovulnerability into the basin

• More attention needs to be paid to groundwater and its unique characteristics and not try to “fit”groundwater into existing surface water compacts and agreements

Focus: IWRM and Transboundary

Nonrenewable Groundwater

• NRGW is here to stay (India, North China Plain; High Plains aquifer; Umatilla Basin)

• Will likely be more heavily utilized in the future, as countries use it to supplement or replace climate change-impacted surface water

• Conflict is likely to result

•Limited replenishment (recharge)•Limited replenishment, large

storage•Replenished, but over long time

scales•Water is being mined (abstraction >

recharge)•‘Decoupled’ from hydrological

cycle

What Is Nonrenewable Groundwater?

“Nonrenewable groundwater is like pornography. I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” -

--M. Campana(apologies to former US Supreme Court

Justice Potter Stewart)

Nonrenewable Groundwater: A Proposed Working ‘Definition’

NGWA-OSU-UNESCO-World BankFirst International Conference on

Nonrenewable GroundwaterPortland, Oregon, USA

13-14 October 2008Summary available at:

http://aquadoc.typepad.com/waterwired/files/nonrenewable_gw_conference_report_oct2008.pdf

Very successful!Plans for 2nd Conference in 2010 or 2011

Nonrenewable Transboundary Groundwater

Nonrenewable Nonrenewable TransboundaryTransboundary GroundwaterGroundwater

Diagram courtesy of Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian RDiagram courtesy of Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservationeservation

More of My Observations

• Implementation of IWRM works for TB surface water

• How about groundwater, especially NR GW?

• IWRM: catchment basis and sustainability

263 Transboundary River Basins

Transboundary Aquifers(275 as of Spring 2009)

Available at http://www.igrac.net

•Nonrenewable groundwater is no more inconsistent with IWRM than is renewable groundwater.•Use of the catchment scale and sustainability requirement could preclude inclusion of nonrenewable groundwater in IWRM.•However, as water resources become further stressed by climate change, population growth, etc., nonrenewable groundwater will become more important as a water source, if only as a buffer or temporary supply.•We need to devise ways to manage nonrenewable groundwater, perhaps in conjunction with Aquifer Storage & Recovery and Artificial Recharge (ASR & AR).Or…..

My Take

“…government-mandated unitization of groundwater … is a solution to excessive access and drawdown … a single “unit operator” extracts from and develops the reservoir. All other parties share in the net returns as share holders.” – Gary Libecap (2005)http://www.u.arizona.edu/~libecapg/downloads/TheProblemOfWater.pdf

Management of Nonrenewable Management of Nonrenewable Groundwater: New Paradigm? Groundwater: New Paradigm?

Unitization Unitization

More InformationCampana, M.E., Alyssa M. Neir and Geoffrey T. Klise, 2007. Dynamics of

transboundary ground water management: lessons from North America. In A.R. Turton, J. Hattingh, G.A. Maree, D.J. Roux, M. Claassen, and W.F. Strydom, (eds.), Governance as a Trialogue: Government-Society-Science in Transition. Water Resources Development and Management Series, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, pp. 167-196.

Neir, Alyssa M. and Michael E. Campana, 2007. The Peaceful Resolution of US-Mexico Transboundary Water Disputes, Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 2(2):35-41 [www.epsjournal.org.uk]

Klise, Geoffrey T., Alyssa M. Neir, Michael E. Campana, Amy Ewing, BerrinBasak Vener, and Alistair Rieu-Clarke, 2009. HydropoliticalVulnerability of West Asia. Chapter 3 [pp. 57-87] in A.T. Wolf, and M. Macomber (eds.), Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience alongInternational Waters: Asia. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Prog., 184p. [www.unep.org/pdf/hydropolitical_AS.pdf]

Neir, Alyssa M., Geoffrey T. Klise, and Michael E. Campana, 2009.Hydropolitical Vulnerability of North America. Chapters 2 through 5 [pp. 17-56] in A.T. Wolf and M. Macomber (eds.), HydropoliticalVulnerability and Resilience along International Waters: North America. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Programme, 114p. [http://www.unep.org/pdf/hydropolitical_NA.pdf]

Map References• U.S.-Mexico border:

http://international.usgs.gov/images/projects/prjusmexborderpic2.gif\

• Abbotsford-Sumas Aquifer:Mitchell, et al., 2005. Water Quality: Abbotsford-Sumas Final Report. http://kula.geol.wwu.edu/rjmitch/Report_2005.pdf

• Santa Cruz River Basin:http://www.scerp.org/projects/WQ93_12.html#fig1

• Nuclear Waste Sites:http://www.groundworknews.org/nuke/waste/nuke-waste-sites.gif

• Hermosillo Basin:Steinich, Birgit, Oscar Escolero, and Luis E. Marín, 1998. Salt-water intrusion and nitrate contamination in the Valley of Hermosillo and El Sahuaral coastal aquifers, Sonora, Mexico, Hydrogeology Journal 6(4):518-526

Water: Different World Water: Different World ViewpointsViewpoints

““A fool and water will go the way they are diverted.A fool and water will go the way they are diverted.””(South Africa)(South Africa)

““DonDon’’t insult the crocodile until yout insult the crocodile until you’’ve crossed the ve crossed the river.river.”” (Sudan)(Sudan)

““OneOne hand washes the other, and both wash the hand washes the other, and both wash the face.face.”” (Spain)(Spain)

““Upstream doesnUpstream doesn’’t suffer.t suffer.”” (China)(China)““WhiskyWhisky’’s for s for drinkindrinkin’’; water; water’’s for s for fightinfightin’’ over.over.”” (USA)(USA)““The meek shall inherit the earth, but not its water The meek shall inherit the earth, but not its water

rights.rights.”” (USA)(USA)

Thank You!IJC-sanctioned Canada-USA discussion on groundwater

Thanks to Geoff Klise and Alyssa Neir(picture courtesy: www.duckboy.com)