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<br />OOH'79,
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<br />the U~ted. States, and storage st~ ~t in. both the United
<br />'Srates and MexiCo. The watets of th~ Rio Grande, in its 1,254-mile
<br />.~ "'. "
<br />jmert:l3-tio~al_~~un~, are'~loCa:ted be~een thc.uni(ed.S.cares~~d .
<br />MexicO, by the Convention of 1906 for the upper 90 miles, and by
<br />the, 1944 ~ater T~tY fro~ that Poin~. known as Fore Quiun3.11. [~
<br />'the GulfofMexicO.
<br />. Below fun Quianan, d,e 1944 Waree Treary allOts to the
<br />United StaU:s aU warers "from ttibuwies in the United ~tates and
<br />allOts [0 ,Mexico all waters from tributaries in M,ex.ico. except for .
<br />fl~ ar~iving in ~e ~o Grande from s~ Mexican treatY tributaries.
<br />Mexico' is allott~d two-mirds o~ the flows from these six.ttibutaries
<br />and the Uoicc:d Srates is allotted one <hied of those cributary flows as
<br />long as .they ase not less than 350,000 acre feet pee year, averaged
<br />. over five ~.' In ad~diti~n. the treaty a~tho~ die 'constru~on.
<br />opc:~tion: and ~ntenance of international Water u'rilizari~n ~d
<br />co~crOl works on th~ Rio Grande, including the Amistad and FalcOn .
<br />. inrernational dams.
<br />",
<br />Fo; the uppee part of the Rio Gtande in the United States, ,the
<br />Rio Gtande Comp";' of 1938 adminisrers th~ Water.; am~ng .the
<br />states of Colorado. N~ Mexico and TeXas. !he soumem' New
<br />Mexico and Texas all~don, in~uding d~very of an annual volume.
<br />'of60,OOO acre feet ofwatet fo;Mexicoundee the 1906 ConvcOtion,
<br />is inanagc:d mn;llgh. storage ar the. Elephant Butte . and Cai,allo
<br />Darns, opetatCd by 'the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in southecn
<br />New Mexico. For the Rio Grande bdow Fort Quianan, the United
<br />'States Section of the lntemacional Boundary' Water Commission
<br />(lBWC) adminisser.; United States water.; based on internatiomil
<br />reservoir storage and water demands established by the Srare of
<br />Texas.
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<br />The Rio Grande sustains some 10 million people, 8 million of .
<br />whom live in Mexico. Of rh~ 8 million Wubitam:s, some 7 mil-
<br />lion are concentrated in 20 bor<lec cities. About 1.3 'million of the
<br />approximately 2 million U.S. bocdet residents depeod on the riv<i
<br />fo~ drinking watee. Some communiries in the. Uppee Rio Grande
<br />, and along the Tularosa basin use created Rio Grande watet fur their
<br />drinking warer: In addition, ~onal planning is undecway for othee.
<br />comrilUoities, including Juarez, whieh depend solely on groundwa-. .
<br />ter. to also .uSe river ~tU. . .Wat.er:st<:>~e ~t FJephant Butte and
<br />Caballo Dains supplies primarily irrigation warer ro the southecn
<br />NewMexicoau'dElPaso-J~area. .' ...
<br />Below El Paso - JuarCz, bordee communities along the Rio
<br />Grande in Texas, and the .adjoining Mexiean states of Chihuahua,
<br />Coahuila, Nuevo l<on and T:u:naulipas - with' few exeepriofis _ rely .
<br />. .
<br />heavily on the Rio Grande fur their Water: Somc: 1.5 million acres
<br />, along the Rio Grande depe~d on its water.; for irrigarion. Waree
<br />from the Rio Grande is o~ hydra.rlically connected to groundwa-.
<br />ter in adjacent alluvial floOd-plain aquif.,;s in many reaches of the
<br />. riyer. This means ~at pumping ~rer from wells adjacent ro th~ riv~
<br />. ~ can n:<!uce the quantitYofwaier in the riverchannd,"
<br />As. the "river winc!s ~ugh irs:l.?S4-mile long jn~rna~on~.
<br />boundary segment, it alsO supplies water to the diverse flora and fau- .
<br />. . na throughout its riparian reaches in the.Unitc:d State> and Mexi~
<br />befu;" .ecnptying into the Gulf of Mexico. In its lowec reaches, the
<br />Rio Grande is the antetpiece of the Lower Rio. Grande Valley
<br />National,Wildlife Refuge sysrecn in sOutheastetn Texas; ";'nsidecc:d
<br />to be o~e ~f the most biologically diverse areas in the continental
<br />Uoited States.
<br />
<br />GROUNDWATER SUPPLIES
<br />
<br />A number C?f major an~ minor binational groundwater basins .
<br />, straddle the border: th;"" in the 1ijuaria Rivee, at California-Baja
<br />Califomia, the Colorado River at Arizona-California and Baja
<br />California-Sonora, the Sonoiia. Sant~ Cruz, San Pedro' and
<br />Whitewatet Draw at Arizona~. Sonora, the Animas, San Luis, Playas,
<br />Haehita, Mimbres and Mesilla basins in New Mexico-Chihuahua.
<br />and the Hueto basin :u El Paso- Juarci, along with those along the
<br />Rio Grande in Texas-Chihuahua, Coahuila andTarnaulip'as.
<br />Designation of these aquifer syStems is based on surface geolo-
<br />gy, topography, and dara available from exisring welk In many of
<br />thecn, the valley alluvial material is thin, the groundwater yidds are .
<br />poor, the quality is poor, and licrle is known about the geomecry and
<br />othee physical variables whieh concrol the movecnent andquantiry of
<br />water available. Based on this information, it is very doubtful that
<br />
<br />II
<br />
<br />Fifth Report or IIJe Good Ncighbor EnYirofilD!JJlaI Board
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