The future of water in a desert river basin facing climate change and competing demands: A holistic approach to water sustainability in arid and semi-arid regions
Study region: The Middle Rio Grande (MRG), defined by the portion of the basin from Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico to the confluence with the Rio Conchos in Far West Texas, U.S.A. and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico. Study focus: The future of water for the MRG and many other arid and semi-...
Saved in:
| Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Artículo |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
2023
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2023.101336 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221458182300023X?via%3Dihub |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Study region: The Middle Rio Grande (MRG), defined by the portion of the basin from Elephant
Butte Reservoir in New Mexico to the confluence with the Rio Conchos in Far West Texas, U.S.A.
and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico.
Study focus: The future of water for the MRG and many other arid and semi-arid regions of the
world is challenged by a changing climate, agricultural intensification, growing urban pop ulations, and a segmented governance system in a transboundary setting. The core question for
such settings is: how can water be managed so that competing agricultural, urban, and envi ronmental sectors can realize a sustainable future? We synthesize results from interdisciplinary
research aimed at “water futures”, considering possible, probable, and preferable outcomes from
the known drivers of change in the MRG in a stakeholder participatory mode. We accomplished
this by developing and evaluating scenarios using a suite of scientifically rigorous computer
models, melded with the input from diverse stakeholders.
New hydrological insights for the region: Under likely scenarios without significant interventions,
relatively cheap and easy to access water will be depleted in about 40 years. Interventions to
mitigate this outcome will be very costly. A new approach is called for based on “adaptive
cooperation” among sectors and across jurisdictions along four important themes: information
sharing, water conservation, greater development and use of alternative water sources, and new
limits to water allocation/withdrawals coupled with more flexibility in uses. |
|---|