Law Commons^™

Water Diplomacy And Shared Resources Along The United States-Mexico Border, Maria Elena Giner, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

The United States and Mexico are geographic neighbors with high economic asymmetry, but also a shared history and intense social, cultural, economic, and security relations. Over 15 million people reside along the U.S.-Mexico border and share an environment that includes many watersheds and air basins transcending political boundaries. Pollution impacts on both sides of the border have required a coordinated response at the local, state, and federal level.

At the federal level, a joint institution was created in in 1889 as the International Boundary Commission and later renamed the International Boundary and Water Commission to provide binational solutions to issues …

Taking Back The Beach, Lora Naismith

Student Scholarship

The numerous effects of anthropogenic climate change, including sea-level rise, continue to make global changes to our environment. With greenhouse gas emissions come warmer temperatures, melting glaciers, and a higher sealevel. In an attempt to address the rising sea, communities have the option to protect the shoreline, alter structures to be able to remain in the area, or abandon the area as the sea rises. The Texas coast alone is home to roughly 6.5 million people and provides jobs to nearly 2.5 million of those people. As the sea continues to rise, the Texas coast is subject to more severe …

Part 2: Water Recycling Technical Report For Direct Non-Potable Use, Seth J. Boettcher, Courtney Gately, Alexandra L. Lizano, Alexis Long, Alexis Yelvington

EENRS Program Reports & Publications

This Water Recycling Technical Report examines the legal frameworks that affect water recycling in Texas. The goal of this report is to provide insight into the legal and regulatory barriers, challenges, and opportunities for these technologies to go online. Each water recycling implementation site has to find ways of complying with various laws and regulations. The information in this Report comes from the study of water recycling facilities currently operating in Texas, as well as extensive research into available literature and documents from various agencies. While there is no updated “one-stop-shop” resource that provides detailed information on all the necessary …

Part 1: Brackish Groundwater Desalination Technical Report, Seth J. Boettcher, Courtney Gately, Alexandra L. Lizano, Alexis Long, Alexis Yelvington

EENRS Program Reports & Publications

This Brackish Groundwater Desalination Technical Report examines the legal frameworks that affect desalination in Texas. The goal of this report is to provide insight into the legal and regulatory barriers, challenges, and opportunities for these technologies to go online. Each desalination implementation site has to find ways of complying with various laws and regulations. The information in this Report comes from the study of brackish groundwater desalination facilities currently operating in Texas, as well as extensive research into available literature and documents from various agencies. While there is no updated “one-stop-shop” resource that provides detailed information on all the necessary …

Part 3: Case Study Appendices To The Technical Reports, Seth J. Boettcher, Courtney Gately, Alexandra L. Lizano, Alexis Long, Alexis Yelvington

EENRS Program Reports & Publications

This Case Study Appendix to the Technical Reports expands on regulations in San Antonio and El Paso where these water alternatives are in place. The goal of this report is to provide insight into the legal and regulatory barriers, challenges, and opportunities for these technologies to go online. Each desalination and water recycling faciality implementation site must comply with various laws and regulations. The information in these Case Studies comes from the study of brackish groundwater desalination and water recycling facilities currently operating in Texas. While there is no updated “one-stop-shop” resource where a municipal leader can find a list …

Groundwater Management In The Borderlands Of Mexico And Texas: The Beauty Of The Unknown, The Negligence Of The Present, And The Way Forward, Rosario Sanchez, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Over the last decade, transboundary aquifers traversing the Mexico‐Texas border have generated growing interest of federal institutions on the Mexico side and state and federal institutions on the Texas side. Notwithstanding this, binational efforts to understand, assess, and manage shared groundwater resources remain limited and politically sensitive. On the Mexico side, long‐standing centralized groundwater governance structures have created institutional barriers at the local level to the expansion of knowledge and cooperation over these transboundary resources. On the Texas side, property rights related to groundwater resources limit the scope of options available for cooperative management of cross‐border aquifers. This paper examines …