Public Lectures
Water Wars? Water and the Future of the U.S.-Mexico Border Region
A Public Lecture by
SCOTT WHITEFORD and WILLIAM DEBUYS
October 10, 2002
Dr. Scott Whiteford, professor of anthropology at Michigan State University, and William deBuys, a Santa Fe-based historian and conservationist, presented their views on water issues between the U.S. and Mexico at an invitational discussion evening held in the SAR Board Room and facilitated by Dr. Richard M. Leventhal. Dr. Whiteford was at the School to participate in a Contemporary Issues Exploration Seminar on "Globalization, Water, and Health: Resource Management in Times of Scarcity."
The questions of whether water is a right or a commodity, a corporate product or a public trust, are being debated all over the world, Dr. Whiteford said, noting that five million people die from waterborne diseases each year. The forces of globalization have clashed with issues of local control in many places, including the U.S.-Mexico border region, which is unique in the juxtaposition of a "first world" nation against an "under-developed" nation sharing aquifers and watersheds along two thousand miles of porous boundary.
Dr. Whiteford explained the dubious history of the Colorado River Compact that defines use of the Colorado River water, as well as the profound influence of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on population growth on the Mexican side of the border. Because of the enormous power differential, Mexico has had no leverage in negotiations with the U.S. on water issues, contributing to a growing water-shortage crisis.
Mr. deBuys shared a tree-ring and precipitation graph that covered centuries of rainfall-and-drought cycles in the northern New Mexico region, noting that while variability is the primary characteristic of the Southwest
climate, formal drought conditions have been present 41 percent of the time. The recent "Sunbelt Boom" of 1970-95 took place during a period that was very wet, and thus not normal for the area. A sustained economic contraction is inevitable, Mr. deBuys suggested, when the region experiences the next sustained multi-year drought.
The Hispanic acequia system represents a different kind of approach to water rights, challenging the "he who uses the water first has first rights" concept of English and eastern American water law. In an acequia system, "everyone shares the pain," Mr. deBuys explained, as all members must reduce their water usage in a shortage or crisis.
Mr. deBuys made an interesting point about conservation, which he asserted was useless without putting it into a larger context so the community understands the long-term situation. "In a sense, the best thing to do here is to open the tap," he said, to prevent over-development and over-population that might be encouraged by a falsely inflated sense of water supply that conservation practices would create.
Images: [Above] Scott
Whiteford and William deBuys discuss views on water issues.
[Below] Richard Leventhal participates in the discussion.
