INTRODUCTION
Recent rapid population and industrial growth along the Arizona/Sonora boundary has increased competition for the region's limited water and has created waste disposal problems that threaten future growth, surface and groundwater quality, land use, public health and the general habitability of the area. Current government, business and industrial efforts focus on continued economic development, and, therefore, population growth of the region which will add to the existing water resource problems. Solutions to the current water supply and waste disposal problems in the border region are complex and complicated by the presence of two sovereign nations with significantly different cultures, interests and capabilities. Given this reality, it should be readily apparent that each state and nation brings its own unique set of economic concerns, social needs and interests, and legal rules to bear on the water management process. Although an integrated regional water management policy is needed to solve the problems, no active program currently exists for the management of the water supply or the disposal of wastes in the region. Solutions to water management problems are, at best, diverse and intricate. In a case such as Arizona/Sonora where water resources on both sides of the boundary are physically linked, and actions in either country will ultimately impact the other country, water 8 management encounters formidable barriers. However, failure to respond to mutual water resource problems will not only alter the region's immediate future, but could also impact water management efforts far into the next century.
Source: Excerpt taken from the introduction of Man, water and the Arizona/Sonora border: The current situation and the growing need for management.
Reports and other documents about Sonoran Desert ecology, management, and conservation. Curated by the not-for-profit Altar Valley Conservation Alliance (AVCA) located outside Tucson, AZ.