Water for life: The Rio Conchos(Mexico) lessons for climate change adaptation from better management of rivers for people/nature
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Title:
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Water for life: The Rio Conchos(Mexico) lessons for climate change adaptation from better management of rivers for people/nature |
Author:
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Barrios, E.; Rodríguez, A.; De la Maza, M. & Trueba, V.
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Abstract:
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At the Rio Conchos basin, located in the arid northern Mexico, the 1994-2006 drought associated with
deficient water management threatened farmers and endemic fish species alike, and placed Mexico in arrears
in its treaty obligations to deliver water to the Rio Bravo/Grande. Extended and recurrent drought periods
are a likely consequence of climate change in this region. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) intervened to
promote integrated river basin management and more efficient water use, towards the improvement of
ecosystems and livelihoods in the Rio Grande basin. This research is one of six diverse and consistently
designed freshwater - climate change autonomous adaptation case studies from around the world, based on
projects of the conservation organization WWF. This study was undertaken to draw lessons from empirical
case experiences on best practices in adaptation. A Mexican government and NADBANK investment in
surface water efficiency for more sustainable, conjunctive management of ground and surface waters is
conserving water, cutting demand at the Delicias Irrigation District, from 943 Hm3 per year by 200 Hm3.
This initial work has bought time and established partnerships needed to more precisely determine the
environmental flows needed to sustain the health of the Rio Conchos’s ecosystems. Nonetheless, a lack of
full understanding of the hydrologic system as a consequence of monitoring deficiency, previous to WWF
intervention, demonstrated that the design of such program missed to consider ground-surface water
interactions as a critical component of the basin’s hydrological cycle, likely reducing aquifer recharge. This,
coupled with the lack of adequate measures to manage river regimes and groundwater, could produce a
decline in water availability if adequate environmental flows are not implemented. Using the Building Block
Methodology, WWF and partners defined that the required environmental water volume, ranges from 74 to
112 hm3/y, which is less than needs to be delivered under the treaty with the USA (431.7 Hm3/y), so there
is a good prospect of implementing these flows. Besides, the establishment of the multi-stakeholder Interinstitutional
Working Group is now facilitating these types of adaptive management measures in the basin.
The essential need for integrated river management, including surface and ground waters, is an important
adaptation lesson from the Rio Conchos. The project also highlights how it is possible to reduce demand for
water and vulnerability to water scarcity. Acting now to attenuate the most obvious impacts while
developing more sophisticated and precise measures, as shown with environmental flows, is a key feature of
adaptation in this example. The Rio Conchos project also demonstrates the value of multi-stakeholder
institutions and international agreements in facilitating and driving adaptive management. |
URI:
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http://bva.colech.edu.mx/xmlui/handle/1/979
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Date:
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2009 |
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