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<br />no 14 8 0 <br /> <br />c"'"":'), <br />.I <br /> <br /> <br />Fifth Report of IIJe Good Neighbor Elllinllimenlal Board <br /> <br />2:::.:.. <br />"-=] <br /> <br />these gro"!'dwatee supplies are sustainable. .' <br />. Groundwatet pumping takes place for agriculrural irrigation in <br />the Colorado Rivee ~rrion in Mexito. Withdrawals fur drinking <br />. and irrigacon water occur in both 'the Arizona-Sonora basins, in <br />~ch th~r imerminent str,eams also supply wa~ to the ~vcrse'Bo- <br />ra and fauna in this SonoIan cIIy desen ecology. The Santa Cruz <br />Rivee Valley provides groundwater fur drinking watec supply fur <br />Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, fur approximarely 150,000 <br />'.' ...' ,. <br />inhabitants, which is expeecc:d to mole thoin double in 2020. The. <br />&.st'growing community.of Siecra Vista, Arizona and the mining <br />comm~ry of Cananea, Sonora, withdraw .wac= &olll the San . <br />Pedro ~r basin. The cities ofEl Paso and Juarez with a combined <br />two million inbabiranrs depend in large pan on the non-replenish- <br />able waters of the Hueco groundwa((:r ~asin. - Growth areas to their <br />wc:st c:.n be expected 00 withdraw groundwater.; &om th~ nearby <br />Mesilla, basin in New Mexico-Chihuahua. The Juarez agriculrural <br />valley draws water.; &om this basin fur ittig.clon. <br />.Some: information on groundwater basins In e.3.ch countiy has <br />been shared by the CWO governmen~. ~ut there is a critical need ro <br />intensify ~ effort and devdop binational'dfo~'to gain ,irisight <br />about the availabiliry, abiliry to sustain, and qualiry of groundWatec; <br />. the int~ctio~ of gro~dwate~ and surface-water; che imPortance of <br />groundwater as the source of water for streams to maintain' aitical <br />habitats; and the suK.epribility of grotmd\Vater to conrainination. <br />Unlike bordee-region somce. waters, the United Srates and <br />Mocico have: not allocated the goo'undwaters th~[ lie in basinS suad~ <br />dlirig the international boundarY. The need for a comprehensive <br />multi-year joint federal and state effort. to ~temati~ assess prior. <br />iry crans-boundasy aquifers within the US-Mexico Bordee region: <br />'muSt remain a top border priority. ~uch a program will. over ~e, <br />prov.ide. a scic:ntific foundation for further coo~ration to add~ <br />many of the pressing narural reso~. ch~enges in the region.. As . <br />data and understanding of this resource evolves, .th~. will also. be an <br />. evolution toward bina~onal data sharing, cooperation, and fosteririg <br />. a long-term perspective on the ~anagement of the border ground- <br />water resources. <br /> <br />POLICY ISSUES <br /> <br />.' Reduced flows: Colorado Rivee flows arriving at the ~r- <br />. der region "end points" Can be. expected ro be fillchee rc:duec:d as uses. <br />. increase in the U.S. upper basin.: The r~uced flow, ~ turn. . will <br />affect efforts to protect. th~ riparian and estuarine ecology of the <br />Colorado River ddta in both the United States and Mexico. The <br />United States and Mexico (IBWC Minute No. 306) established a <br /> <br />u <br />