Show Concepts Territory Flow Understand Conflicts Water Mexico US Border Region

¶ … territory flow understand conflicts water mexico-U.S. border region

Across the borders throughout the world there have been numerous cases of disputes for different reasons, which vary from illegal immigrants to the use of natural resources that cross the borderlines. A situation is also at the American border with Mexico concerning the water resources available and their use.

The issues between the two countries are not necessarily a matter of conflict but rather one that needs constant monitoring and international regulations. The problem revolves around the sites that are shared by the two countries that are the aquifer region of the Colorado River and the Rio Grande. In 1944 a Treaty was signed between the two countries that share the water potential available on the shared border and initially it was believed that such international law would solve the matter. Moreover, "The 1944 Treaty also provides each country one-half of all other flows (e.g., unmeasured storm water runoff entering from creeks) not identified in the Treaty, commonly known as "50/50 water" (Vina, 2005)

However, eventually, when the usage of the Colorado River became more intense and the U.S. started to use the saline groundwater from its side of the border, on the other side, there were massive damages in the sense that the saline water was reduced on the Mexican side. A resolution to this matter was found in 1973, which reduced and limited the groundwater withdrawals (Wolf and Newton, n.d.) Even so, the matter is yet to be solved.

Aside from this issue however, there is also the aspect of the territory and the flow of water to Mexico. More precisely, in the mid '40s the decision to ensure the supply of water to Mexican territories at the border with the United States resulted in a plan initially considered to be feasible. However, by the time the U.S. south part of the country started to increase its development and be in more need of water to ensure the resources for such a development, the quantity of the water being provided to Mexico reduced largely because the flow of water was reduced as a result of redirecting the flows in such a manner as to assist the regional development on the U.S. territory.

The disputes further continued to the extent in which by 1992, Mexico was even informally accused of diverting the flows of the rivers providing water into Rio Grande (Vina, 2005). In this sense, "among other things, the potential plaintiffs claim that beginning in 1992, Mexico manipulated the flows of the six Mexican tributaries to the Rio Grande so as to divert their natural flows, one-third of which is allotted to the United States under the 1944 Treaty" (Vina, 2005). Such accusations came as results of improved crops in the Mexican part as opposed to reduced water supplies on the American side.