Robert Merideth

The U.S.-Mexican Border Environment Cooperation Commission: Collected Perspectives on the First Two Years

Abstract This article assesses the first two years’ activities of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC), and synthesizes the invited commentary from several BECC observers along both sides of the border. As a framework for assessment, the paper delineates several key elements of BECCs design—namely, its binationality, openness to the public, and the existence of criteria for project certification—that give the institution the potential to promote innovative and sustainable solutions to border environmental degradation. The article then evaluates the commissions effectiveness in implementing these design components, concluding that, although BECC has stumbled occasionally in its first two years, it has made significant progress, demonstrating that it is capable of defining its agenda, implementing rules and procedures, devising certification criteria, and moving ahead to approve proposals.

Public - private partnerships as catalysts for community-based water infrastructure development: the Border WaterWorks program in Texas and New Mexico colonias

Increased awareness of shortcomings in both provision and maintenance of public services is triggering new approaches to policymaking and service delivery. Conventional debates over public versus private service provision obscure the multiple configurations possible. We consider the effectiveness and desirability of an alternative approach to public-service provision of water and wastewater services, specifically the Border Waterworks program, which has helped deliver water-related services to economically disadvantaged communities (colonias) along the US – Mexico border. We explore some issues that emerge when nonprofit organizations take on functions of governments and service providers, and examine the conditions under which the provision of water and wastewater infrastructure can be advanced by nonprofit organizations. We conclude that the general effectiveness of Border Waterworks was thanks to its ability to adapt to local circumstances and respond to situations as they arose in the context of the numerous problems in colonias. We also conclude that nonprofit providers are most effective when they serve as catalysts that assist the public sector rather than when they provide public-service infrastructure on their own.

Desalination and water security in the US–Mexico border region: assessing the social, environmental and political impacts

ABSTRACT In the western US–Mexico border region, both countries’ authorities look to desalination as a means to meet increased demands for dwindling supplies. In addition to several existing or planned desalination plants, plans exist to develop projects along Mexico’s coasts to convert seawater into freshwater primarily for conveyance and consumption in the United States. Even though desalination systems have the potential to increase water supply in the region, there are associated consequences, costs and constraints. To understand the impacts of such binational desalination systems, this paper assesses, through a water-security framework, the case of a proposed desalination plant on the Upper Gulf of California. The analysis suggests that for binational desalination systems, there are several key areas of impact against which the benefits of increased water supply must be weighed.

Do economic values and expenditures for viewing waterfowl in the U.S. differ among species

ABSTRACT Many economic studies value birdwatching in general and often do not account for potential differences in viewers’ benefits from observing different species. But, how different are economic values of viewing various bird species? To answer that question, we surveyed Ducks Unlimited (DU) members using an online questionnaire to estimate trip expenditures and consumer surplus per trip for viewing pintail ducks, waterfowl in general, and other species of waterfowl. Expenditures per trip were USD

Willingness to Pay for Conservation of Transborder Migratory Species: A Case Study of the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat in the United States and Mexico

231,

Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States: A Report Prepared for the National Climate Assessment

199, and

Climate and society in the US Southwest: the context for a regional assessment

182, respectively. Consumer surpluses per trip, estimated using the contingent valuation method, were

…to the Sea of Cortés: nature, water, culture, and livelihood in the Lower Colorado River basin and delta—an overview of issues, policies, and approaches to environmental restoration

28,

Water Management Options for the Upper San Pedro Basin: Assessing the Social and Institutional Landscape

32, and

Ecosystem Services from Transborder Migratory Species: Implications for Conservation Governance

29, respectively. Neither expenditures nor consumer surplus were statistically different among species for DU members who are adept at species differentiation. Our results suggest that it may be reasonable to use a general economic value for waterfowl viewing when formulating management alternatives for a variety of waterfowl.