Peer Reviewed Articles
1077 The United States-Mexico Border Region: An Overview
Paul Ganster
Abstract
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An overview of the U.S.-Mexican border region is presented.
First, the historical development of the region is discussed,
including establishment of the boundary through war between
Mexico and the United States, emergence of border urban
settlements, and border city development related to the
expanding economy of the Southwest of the United States.
Then, economic, population, and political features of the
region are detailed, emphasizing the extremely dynamic
growth of the region as well as significant economic and political
asymmetries between U.S. and Mexican parts of the
border region. Next, the major issues of the region are described.
Finally, the recent trend in interdependence and
transborder cooperation is noted.
1085 United States-Mexico Transboundary Aerial Photography and Mapping
Initiative
Kenneth J. Osborn
Abstract
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Mexico and the United States share a wealth of natural and cultural resources along their 3,250-kilometre international boundary. The border region overlies a vast area of diverse landscapes and cultures, contrasting some of North America's most pristine and untouched ecosystems with some of its fastest growing urban areas. This region encompasses a wide array of physical settings and habitats, including freshwater and marine wetlands, deserts, rangelands, mountains, and forests, that are unique in terms of the of their water, mineral, and biological resources.
Politically, the border area includes four states in the United States [California, Arizona; New Mexico, and Texas) and six States in Mexico (Baja California Norte, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nueve Leon, and Tamaulipas). There are14 major sister-city pairs along the border, and the 200-kilometre-wide border region is home to more than 10 million people, a ten fold increase during the past 60 years. The sociopolitical culture that has developed in the region is truly unique, and the natural resource and environmental issues freely affect the entire area.
A wide map of federal, state, local, and tribal entities in both countries are responsible for the management of the border's natural and cultural transboundary resources. Among these valued resources are (1) numerous national monuments, forests, and wildlife refuges; (2) biosphere reserves: (3) several state and national parks; (4) a national seashore; and (5) a designated wild and scenic river.
Within the U.S. part of the border region, the U.S. Federal Government owns or administers approximately 45 percent of the land, most of which is managed by the Department of the Interior (DOI), A large proportion of the remainder is owned or managed by state, local, and tribal authorities. In Mexico, large areas are being designated for Federa1 protection and management. Even as the governments are setting aside lands for protection, the existing parks and refuges continue to face a variety of issues, such as (1) limited water supply and altered water flow patterns: (2) point source pollution discharges (municipal and industrial); (3) nonpoint source pollution (mining, urban and agricultural runoff, irrigation return flows, untreated human waste, septic systems, and atmospheric deposition of contaminants from industrial, power-generation, and urban sources); and (4) overgrazing by trespassing livestock.
In response to these problems, DOT agencies have identified relevant crosscutting natural resource and land management issues. DOI Bureau representatives are addressing these issues by working together with Mexico as the DOI United States-Mexico Field Coordinating Committee (FCC). The FCC was established in 1994, and its charter was signed by a coalition of nine DOI Bureaus. The primary goals for the FCC are to work with its counterparts in Mexico and to facilitate the development of consistent and coordinated DOI policies, strategies, plans, and program priorities, while addressing the natural resource, environmental, and cultural concerns of the border region.
Despite the historical and present-day importance of the border region, there are gaps in scientific information regarding the extent and abundance of its natural resources and the delineation of its physical setting. Scientists and land managers representing both countries need current, accurate, and bi-nationally compatible geospatial information to deal with such issues as water pollution, water availability, air pollution, biological resources, and human health. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS], as the DOI science bureau, is working in a variety of forums to set in place the mechanisms to provide basic geographic information system foundations for natural resource, environmental, and land-management studies. Specifically, the USGS National Mapping Division (NMD) is actively responding to the governmental and public need for geospatial data to facilitate the management of the numerous issues in the border region. Current and consistent bi-national geospatial data required to develop effective and appropriate strategies for addressing these issues are just now becoming available as a result of the USGS leadership role in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region, Transboundary Aerial Photography and Mapping Initiative.
1089 Using a GIS to Overcome Data Adversity: Industrial Air
Pollution Risk Modeling in Tijuana, Mexico
Anne J. Obee, Ernst C. Griffin, and Richard D. Wright
Abstract
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Dramatic population growth and urban expansion, rapid industrialization,
and inadequate infrastructure in Mexican
border cities have resulted in a myriad of environmental
problems, including increased air pollution. Despite their importance,
data are not extensively gathered on air quality or
pollutants being measured from industrial sources. The primary
goals of this research are to explore the distribution of
Tijuana's industrial air pollutant generation, to examine how
the city's morphology affects the types of residential areas
which are most susceptible to air pollution from industrial
sources, and to demonstrate the possibilities of spatially disaggregating these effects within urban environments. These
goals were accomplished through the use of an industrial air
pollution risk model (IAPRM) that integrated spatial data on
industrial location, estimated air pollution, and housing
quality within a GIS environment. It was found that a small
percentage of Tijuana's industries produce the majority of air
pollutants and this disproportionately puts middle-class residents
at risk.
1097 Modeling Agricultural Nonpoint Source Sediment Yield in Imperial
Valley, California
Mark V. Finco and George F. Hepner
Abstract
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Intensive irrigation makes the Imperial and Mexicali Valleys,
located on the U.S./Mexico border, a thriving, year-around
agricultural region. One by-product of the irrigated agriculture,
however, is the nonpoint introduction of sediment, pesticides,
and nutrients to the surface water. A parcel-scale
erosion model is linked to drainage-scale agricultural information
in a GIS and is used to quantitatively estimate sediment
yield from a 13,000-hectare study area. Model results
provide insight into the causes and patterns of sediment
yielded to the drain system. Intensive row crops (e.g., sugar
beets and onions) are identified as the major contributors to
the sediment problem. Analysis shows that 25 percent of the
parcels contribute 87 percent of the sediment to the drain
system, and that the northern half of the study area is responsible
for over 70 percent of all sediment generated. Several
ways in which these patterns could be used to develop
mitigation strategies are discussed.
1107 Mapping and Monitoring Agricultural Crops and Other Land Cover
in the Lower Colorado River Basin
Russell G. Congalton, Mary Balogh, Cindy Bell, Kass Green, Jeff A. Milliken,
and Robert Ottman
Abstract
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A process for integrating remote sensing and spatial data
analysis to accurately map and monitor agricultural crops
and other land cover in the Lower Colorado River Basin is
described. These maps were then used as input into a model
that accounts for consumptive use throughout the basin. Water
is an important and incredibly valuable resource in this
area. International treaties and court decrees dictate water
allocation to the states of Arizona, Nevada, and California,
and to Mexico. Maps of the agricultural crops with a required
overall accuracy of 93 percent for use in the water
model were generated from Landsat Thematic Mapper data
four times per year. An automated signature extraction process
and data exploration techniques were developed to aid
in achieving these required accuracies. All maps were subjected
to quantitative accuracy assessment, and error matrices
were produced to evaluate overall and per-class accuracies.
1115 Transnational Gap Analysis of the Rio Bravo/Rio Grande Region
Carlos Gonzalez-Rebeles, Vincent J. Burke, Michael D. Jennings, Gerardo
Ceballos, and Nick C. Parker
Abstract
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Gap analysis is a GIS approach to biodiversity currently employed
throughout the continental United States to determine
how well native biodiversity is represented in the network of
conservation lands. Here, we describe an effort to apply gap
analysis to the Rio Bravo/Lower Rio Grande region of Mexico
and the United States. Implementation of the study was preceded
by establishment of an agreement between the Mexican
National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of
Biodiversity (CONABIO) and the U.S. Geological Survey. The
study will generate land-cover habitat and vertebrate distribution
maps for an area that straddles the Rio Bravo/Lower
Rio Grande basin extending from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua /
El Paso, Texas to the Gulf of Mexico, Vertebrate modeling,
based on habitat associations, will identify habitats potentially
important to vertebrate life cycles and areas of high
biodiversity. A map of land management practices relevant
to biodiversity conservation will precede a "gap analysis,"
which will identify potential areas for the region's reserve
network. We also describe the project's use of a novel software
program (Spectrum) to analyze Landsat Thematic Mapper
imagery. Conducting the gap analysis in Mexico and
relating it to the gap analysis for Texas will reveal how well
biodiversity of the Rio Grande Border region is actually protected
by the current reserve network.
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