Sustainability of the Rio Grande
The sustainable use of the Rio Grande and its transboundary resources is an elusive goal with significant economic and ecosystem implications for both the United States and Mexico. Human activities have impacts that identify water use as a major consideration and the potential for conflict over allocations has long been a starting point for debate. Flood and drought cycles in the Rio Grande Basin that have been altered by intentional engineered means affect watershed ecology in dimensions that are incompletely understood. Ultimately, a total water management scheme for the Basin is crucial to sustaining agricultural, social, economic, environmental and urban uses of the Rio Grande. Unfortunately, comparatively little information exists that can be applied to devising a basin-wide water conservation and resource management plan satisfactory to all concerned.  

Maquiladoras are commonly thought to drive the concentration of population from southern to northern Mexico, and from rural to urban Mexico.  One of the first locations of maquiladora plants was Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, just across the border from El Paso, Texas.  This project examines the population and environmental consequences of growth in the maquiladora industry.  Much emphasis is placed on rural-urban dynamics and the distant land-cover changes associated with population concentration in Ciudad Juarez.  Contact: Nate Currit (currit@txstate.edu).