Urbanization and hydroclimatic challenges in the Sonoran Desert Border Region

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511635694.014

14 - Urbanization and hydroclimatic challenges in the Sonoran Desert Border Region

from Part V

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 January 2010

Cynthia Sorrensen and

Edited by

Colin Polsky and

Brent Yarnal: Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Colin Polsky: Affiliation:
Clark University, Massachusetts
James O'Brien: Affiliation:
Kingston University, London

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Introduction

The Sonoran Desert Border Region HERO consists of two watersheds, the Santa Cruz River and the San Pedro River, as well as the counties and municipalities predominantly situated in these watersheds. Both watersheds straddle the United States–Mexico border with their rivers flowing north from Sonora, Mexico into Arizona, United States. On the Arizona side, Santa Cruz and Cochise Counties reside mainly in these basins and rely on the groundwater sources within the basins. On the Sonoran side, there are five municipalities: Nogales and Santa Cruz in the Santa Cruz Basin, and Cananea, Naco, and Agua Prieta in the San Pedro Basin. Most of the population in this border region lives in two urban transborder communities: Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, situated on the western side of the study area and together referred to as Ambos Nogales; and Douglas, Arizona and Agua Prieta, Sonora situated on the eastern side. A third transborder community, Naco, Arizona and Naco, Sonora, located just west of Douglas/Agua Prieta, is very small. Other settlements of significant size dot the region, including Sierra Vista, Rio Rico, Douglas, and Benson on the Arizona side, and Santa Cruz and Cananea on the Sonoran side (Figure 14.1).

The Sonoran Desert Border Region is semi-arid to arid, with summer temperatures frequently reaching over 104°F (40°C). The region experiences bimodal winter/summer precipitation patterns resulting from midlatitude frontal systems in winter and from thunderstorms within the regional North American monsoon circulation in summer (Adams and Comrie 1997; Sheppard et al. 2002).

Type: Chapter
Information: Sustainable Communities on a Sustainable Planet
The Human-Environment Regional Observatory Project
, pp. 292 - 316

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511635694.014 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, D., and Comrie, A., 1997. The North American monsoon. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 78(10): 2197–2213.2.0.CO;2>CrossRef Google Scholar

,Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), 2005. Plan of Action for Improving Air Quality in Ambos Nogales, Developed by the Border 2012 Ambos Nogales Air Quality Task Force and the Border Liaison Mechanism Economic and Social Development Subgroup, adopted by ADEQ and the State of Sonora's Secretariat for Urban Infrastructure and Ecology. Phoenix, AZ: ADEQ. Accessed at www.azdeq.gov.

,Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC), 1996a. Water Supply and Wastewater Collection and Treatment System Project for the City of Naco, Sonora. Ciudad Juárez, Mexico: BECC.Google Scholar

,Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC), 1996b. Water Supply and Distribution Project, Nogales, Sonora. Ciudad Juárez, Mexico: BECC.Google Scholar

,Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC), 1996c. Comprehensive Municipal Solid Waste Collection and Final Disposal Project for Agua Prieta, Sonora. Ciudad Juárez, Mexico: BECC.Google Scholar

,Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC), 2001. Water and Wastewater System Improvements in Douglas, Arizona. Ciudad Juárez, Mexico: BECC.Google Scholar

,Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC), 2004. Air Quality Improvement for Nogales, Sonora. Ciudad Juárez, Mexico: BECC.Google Scholar

Brown, D. B., and Comrie, A. C., 2004. A winter precipitation ‘dipole’ in the western United States associated with multidecadal ENSO variability. Geophysical Research Letters31: doi:10.1029/2005GL022911.CrossRef

,General Accounting Office (GAO), 2001. INS Southwest Strategy Resources and Impact Issues Remain after Seven Years, GAO 01–842: Report for Congressional Committee. Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar

Ingram, H., Laney, M., and Gillilan, D., 1995. Divided Waters: Bridging the U. S.– Mexico Border. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar

,Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática (INEGI), 1990. Censo General de Poblacion y Vivienda. Accessed at www.inegi.org.mex/.

,Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía y Informática (INEGI), 2000. Censo General de Población y Vivienda 2000, Municipal data. Accessed at www.inegi.org.mex/.

,Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía y Informática (INEGI), 2005. Industria Maquiladora de Exportación. Aguascalientes, Mexico: INEGI.Google Scholar

,International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), 1967. Minute 227: Enlargement of the International Facilities for the Treatment of Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora Sewage. El Paso, TX: International Boundary and Water Commission.Google Scholar

,International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), 2001. Binational Nogales Wash United States/Mexico Groundwater Monitoring Program, Final Report. El Paso, TX: International Boundary and Water Commission.Google Scholar

Kopinak, K., 1996. Desert Capitalism: Maquiladoras in North America's Western Industrial Corridor. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar

,Maestros Group, 2004. Ambos Nogales Generating Station. Accessed at www.maestrosgroup.com/.

Sadalla, E., Swanson, T., and Velasco, J., 1999. Residential Behavior and Environmental Hazards in Arizona–Sonora Colonias. San Diego, CA: Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy. Accessed at www.scerp.org/projects/sadalla98.pdf.Google Scholar

Sheppard, P. R., Comrie, A. C., Packin, G. D., Angersbach, K., and Hughes, M. K., 2002. The climate of the US Southwest. Climate Research 21: 219–238.CrossRef Google Scholar

Sorrensen, C., 2005. Adapting to drought and floods in the semi arid landscape of Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The Geographical Bulletin 47: 101–118.Google Scholar

Sprouse, T., 2005. Water Issues on the Arizona–Mexico Border: the Santa Cruz, San Pedro, and Colorado Rivers. Tucson, AZ: Water Resource Center.Google Scholar

Taj, M., 2006. Possible shutdown of NADBank worries some U. S. lawmakers. Tucson Citizen, March 16.

,United States Census Bureau, 2000. The US Census 2000. Accessed at http://factfinder.census.gov.

,United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 1998. Climate Change and Arizona, EPA 236-F-98–007c. Washington, D.C.: Climate and Policy Assessment Division, USEPA.Google Scholar

,United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2001. Douglas, Arizona Wastewater Collection and Potable Water Distribution Improvement Project: Environmental Assessment. San Francisco, CA: USEPA.Google Scholar

Vanderpool, T., 2006. NADBank blues. Tucson Weekly, April 13.

Watson, R., Zinyowera, M., and Moss, R., 1998. The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability, 1997, A Special Report of the IPCC Working Group II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar

Book contents

14 - Urbanization and hydroclimatic challenges in the Sonoran Desert Border Region

Summary

Access options

References

Save book to Kindle

Save book to Dropbox

Save book to Google Drive