II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1957

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate with the States 

on the border with Mexico and other appropriate entities in conducting 

a hydrogeologic characterization, mapping, and modeling program for 

priority transboundary aquifers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 25, 2003

Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate with 

the States on the border with Mexico and other appropriate entities in conducting a hydrogeologic characterization, mapping, and modeling program for priority 

transboundary aquifers, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Mexico 

5 Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) rapid population growth in the United 

2 States-Mexico border region over the last decade has 

3 placed major strains on limited water supplies in the 

4 region; 

5 (2) water quantity and quality issues are likely 

6 to be the determining and limiting factors affecting 

7 future economic development, population growth, 

8 and human health in the border region; 

9 (3) increasing use of groundwater resources in 

10 the border region by municipal and other water 

11 users has raised serious questions concerning the 

12 long-term availability of the water supply; 

13 (4) cooperation between the United States and 

14 Mexico in assessing and understanding 

15 transboundary aquifers is necessary for the success16 ful management of shared groundwater resources by 

17 State and local authorities in the United States and 

18 appropriate authorities in Mexico, including manage19 ment that avoids conflict between the United States 

20 and Mexico; 

21 (5) while there have been some studies of bina22 tional groundwater resources along the United 

23 States-Mexico border, additional data and analyses 

24 are needed to develop an accurate understanding of 
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1 the long-term availability of useable water supplies 

2 from transboundary aquifers; and 

3 (6) the Border States—

4 (A) are primarily responsible for the man5 agement and allocation of groundwater re6 sources within the respective boundaries of the 

7 Border States; and 

8 (B) should have a cooperative role in the 

9 analysis and characterization of transboundary 

10 aquifers. 

11 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to direct 

12 the Secretary of the Interior to establish a United States13 Mexico transboundary aquifer assessment program to—

14 (1) systematically assess priority transboundary 

15 aquifers; and 

16 (2) provide the scientific foundation necessary 

17 for State and local officials to address pressing 

18 water resource challenges in the United States-Mex19 ico border region. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) AQUIFER.—The term ‘‘aquifer’’ means a 

23 subsurface water-bearing geologic formation from 

24 which significant quantities of water may be ex25 tracted. 
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1 (2) BORDER STATE.—The term ‘‘Border State’’ 

2 means each of the States of Arizona, California, 

3 New Mexico, and Texas. 

4 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

5 means an Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga6 nized group or community—

7 (A) that is recognized as eligible for the 

8 special programs and services provided by the 

9 United States to Indians because of their status 

10 as Indians; and 

11 (B) the reservation of which includes a 

12 transboundary aquifer within the exterior 

13 boundaries of the reservation. 

14 (4) PRIORITY TRANSBOUNDARY AQUIFER.—The 

15 term ‘‘priority transboundary aquifer’’ means a 

16 transboundary aquifer that has been designated for 

17 study and analysis under the program. 

18 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

19 the United States-Mexico transboundary aquifer as20 sessment program established under section 4(a). 

21 (6) RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘reservation’’ 

22 means land that has been set aside or that has been 

23 acknowledged as having been set aside by the United 

24 States for the use of an Indian tribe, the exterior 

25 boundaries of which are more particularly defined in 
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1 a final tribal treaty, agreement, executive order, 

2 Federal statute, secretarial order, or judicial deter3 mination. 

4 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di6 rector of the United States Geological Survey. 

7 (8) TRANSBOUNDARY AQUIFER.—The term 

8 ‘‘transboundary aquifer’’ means an aquifer that 

9 underlies the boundary between the United States 

10 and Mexico. 

11 (9) TRI-REGIONAL PLANNING GROUP.—The 

12 term ‘‘Tri-Regional Planning Group’’ means the bi13 national planning group comprised of—

14 (A) the Junta Municipal de Aqua y 

15 Saneamiento de Ciudad Juarez; 

16 (B) the El Paso Water Utilities Public 

17 Service Board; and 

18 (C) the Lower Rio Grande Water Users 

19 Organization. 

20 (10) WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTI21 TUTES.—The term ‘‘water resources research insti22 tutes’’ means the institutes within the Border States 

23 established under section 104 of the Water Re24 sources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303).
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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

3 and cooperation with the Border States, the Water Re4 sources Research Institutes, Sandia National Labora5 tories, and other appropriate entities in the United States 

6 and Mexico, shall carry out the United States-Mexico 

7 transboundary aquifer assessment program to charac8 terize, map, and model transboundary groundwater re9 sources along the United States-Mexico border at a level 

10 of detail determined to be appropriate for the particular 

11 aquifer. 

12 (b) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the program are 

13 to—

14 (1) develop and implement an integrated sci15 entific approach to assess transboundary ground16 water resources, including—

17 (A)(i) identifying fresh and saline 

18 transboundary aquifers; and 

19 (ii) prioritizing the transboundary aquifers 

20 for further analysis by assessing—

21 (I) the proximity of the transboundary 

22 aquifer to areas of high population density; 

23 (II) the extent to which the 

24 transboundary aquifer is used; and 

25 (III) the susceptibility of the 

26 transboundary aquifer to contamination; 
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1 (B) evaluating all available data and publi2 cations as part of the development of study 

3 plans for each priority transboundary aquifer; 

4 (C) creating a geographic information sys5 tem database to characterize the spatial and 

6 temporal aspects of each priority transboundary 

7 aquifer; and 

8 (D) using field studies, including support 

9 for and expansion of ongoing monitoring and 

10 metering efforts, to develop any additional data 

11 that are needed to define aquifer characteristics 

12 to the extent necessary to enable the develop13 ment of groundwater flow models to assess sus14 tainable water yields for each priority 

15 transboundary aquifer; 

16 (2) expand existing agreements, as appropriate, 

17 between the United States Geological Survey, the 

18 Border States, the Water Resources Research Insti19 tutes, and appropriate authorities in the United 

20 States and Mexico, to—

21 (A) conduct joint scientific investigations; 

22 (B) archive and share relevant data; and 

23 (C) carry out any other activities con24 sistent with the program; and 
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1 (3) produce scientific products for each priority 

2 transboundary aquifer to provide the scientific infor3 mation needed by water managers and natural re4 source agencies on both sides of the United States5 Mexico border to effectively accomplish the missions 

6 of the managers and agencies. 

7 (c) DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN AQUIFERS.—For pur8 poses of the program, the Secretary shall designate the 

9 Hueco Bolson and Mesilla aquifers underlying parts of 

10 Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico as priority transboundary 

11 aquifers. 

12 (d) COOPERATION WITH MEXICO.—To ensure a com13 prehensive assessment of transboundary aquifers, the Sec14 retary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, work with 

15 appropriate Federal agencies and other organizations to 

16 develop partnerships with, and receive input from, relevant 

17 organizations in Mexico to carry out the program. 

18 (e) GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The 

19 Secretary may provide grants or enter into cooperative 

20 agreements and other agreements with the Water Re21 source Research Institutes and other Border State entities 

22 to carry out the program. 

23 SEC. 5. STATE AND TRIBAL ROLE. 

24 (a) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

25 the activities carried out under the program with—
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1 (1) the appropriate water resource agencies in 

2 the Border States; and 

3 (2) any affected Indian tribes. 

4 (b) NEW ACTIVITY.—After the date of enactment of 

5 this Act, the Secretary shall not initiate any field studies 

6 to develop data or develop any groundwater flow models 

7 for a priority transboundary aquifer under the program 

8 before consulting with, and coordinating the activity with, 

9 the Border State water resource agency that has jurisdic10 tion over the aquifer. 

11 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro13 priated to carry out this Act $50,000,000 for the period 

14 of fiscal years 2005 through 2014. 

15 (b) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Of the amounts 

16 made available under subsection (a), 50 percent shall be 

17 made available to the Water Resource Research Institutes 

18 to provide funding to appropriate entities in the Border 

19 States (including Sandia National Laboratories, State 

20 agencies, universities, the Tri-Regional Planning Group, 

21 and other relevant organizations) and Mexico to conduct 

22 activities under the program, including the binational col23 lection and exchange of scientific data. 
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1 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

2 Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, and on completion of the program in fiscal 

4 year 2014, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 

5 water resource agency in the Border States, an interim 

6 and final report, respectively, that describes—

7 (1) any activities carried out under the pro8 gram; 

9 (2) any conclusions of the Secretary relating to 

10 the status of transboundary aquifers; and 

11 (3) the level of participation in the program of 

12 entities in Mexico.

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