Doctoral Dissertation Research: Water Use and Recharge in Arizona and Sonora

跨界水资源管理是一个重大关切问题，因为跨越国际边界的河流流域超过263个，含水层数目不详。 学术界和国际机构的专家都主张将“利益分享”作为促进国际共有沃茨合作的一个关键机制。 分享跨界沃茨带来的惠益，而不是分享水本身，有可能加强合作，因为它允许一种正和游戏，而分享水则必然是一种零和游戏。 然而，利益分享的具体例子很少。 此外，关于跨界水的文献往往几乎完全侧重于经济利益，而忽视了边界两侧存在的许多利益攸关方和非经济利益。 本博士论文研究项目旨在通过调查位于美国沿着上圣克鲁斯河流域的诺加莱斯国际污水处理厂的污水分配谈判，推进利益共享的概念。亚利桑那州和索诺拉之间的墨西哥边界。 博士生的目标是确定通过使用污水可以获得的好处，同时考虑到境内外多个参与者的多重利益。 在景观保护、濒危物种保护、改善供水服务和经济增长方面，其效益可能是显而易见的。 为了实现这一目标，将建立一个流域水的两国数学模型，以确定效益的范围以及这些效益如何根据水的使用方式而变化。 由于并非所有的文化和政治因素都可以在一个模型中得到反映，因此将使用定性访谈和机构制图来确定边界两侧负责水资源管理的利益攸关方和机构如何影响跨境合作。 将邀请边界两侧的水管理人员参加一个讲习班，在讲习班期间将介绍初步的模型结果。 将请与会者就模型的具体说明以及管理目标的优先选择和排序提供反馈意见，这一项目应有助于对跨界水管理的基本了解，办法是考虑到跨界和境内的多方以及水的非经济和非市场价值。 通过提出一种机制来确定通过用水可以获得的多重利益和管理目标之间存在的权衡，项目成果应有助于扩大谈判空间，从而增加未来合作的可能性。 这项研究还将导致建立一个两国水文模型，这将有助于评估未来的水管理备选方案。 作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立的研究生涯。

Transboundary water management is of critical concern, as more than 263 river basins and an unknown number of aquifers span an international border. Experts from both academia and international institutions advocate "benefit sharing" as a key mechanism for promoting cooperation over internationally shared waters. Sharing the benefits that can be derived from transboundary waters, rather sharing than the water itself, has the potential to increase cooperation because it allows for a positive-sum game, whereas sharing water is necessarily a zero-sum game. Concrete examples of benefit sharing are few, however. Moreover, the literature on transboundary water tends to focus almost exclusively on economic benefits and overlooks the many stakeholders and non-economic interests that exist on each side of the border. This doctoral dissertation research project aims to advance the concept of benefit sharing by investigating negotiations over the allocation of the effluent from the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Upper Santa Cruz River Basin located along the U.S.-Mexico border between Arizona and Sonora. The doctoral candidate's goal is to determine the benefits that can be derived through the use of the effluent while accounting for the multiple interests of the multiple players within and across the border. Benefits may be manifest in terms of landscape preservation, endangered species protection, improved provision of water service, and economic growth. To accomplish this goal, a bi-national mathematical model of water in the basin will be developed to determine both the range of benefits and how those benefits vary depending on how the water is used. Because not all cultural and political considerations can be captured in a model, qualitative interviews and institutional mapping will be used to determine how the stakeholders and agencies responsible for water management on each side of the border impact cross-border cooperation. Water managers from both sides of the border will be invited to a workshop during which preliminary model results will be presented. Participants will be asked for feedback on model specification and about preferences and ranking of management goals.This project should contribute to basic understanding of transboundary water management by accounting for the multiple parties within as well as across the border as well as the non-economic and non-market values of water. By presenting a mechanism for determining the multiple benefits that can be derived through the use of water and the tradeoffs that exist between management goals, project results should be useful in enlarging the size of the bargaining space and thus increase the possibilities for future cooperation. The research also will result in the creation of a bi-national hydrologic model, which will be useful for evaluating future water management alternatives. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.