WRRC and Universidad de Sonora: Present and Future Cooperation on Transboundary Matters

On May 16, the WRRC organized a meeting in Nogales, Arizona to discuss current and future opportunities for collaboration on the federally funded Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP). Meeting participants included representatives from the WRRC, the Geology Department of Universidad de Sonora (UNISON), and the United States Geological Survey. At the meeting, WRRC Director Sharon B. Megdal, UNISON Professor Elia M. Tapia, and WRRC Post-doctoral Researcher Mary Belle Cruz Ayala presented results from current projects and activities, including a review of climate change impacts on the Santa Cruz River Basin and the socioeconomic characterization of selected border municipalities. UNISON researchers and faculty provided updates on recent participation in technical working meetings, seminars, and projects such as the “Hydro-geomorphologic mapping of the San Pedro Aquifer.” Over the last five years, the Arizona-Sonora TAAP team has collaborated on articles and reports, presentations at regional, national, and international conferences, and have organized forums and seminars to improve knowledge about their shared groundwater resources. Opportunities for further collaboration include a climate change assessment and water balance modeling of the San Pedro aquifer, aquifer prioritization efforts, maintaining data-sharing efforts, and studies on groundwater governance.