Many communities along the U.S.-Mexico border have limited surface water supply and rely on transboundary aquifers for industry, agriculture, and drinking water; however, information on water needs, water quality, and the extent and functioning of these aquifers is incomplete.
The Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP), established through a binational agreement between the United States and Mexico, provides a framework under which the two countries jointly study shared aquifers to improve our understanding of these critical groundwater resources.
► Learn more at the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) Website
Major population centers within the project study area include:
- El Paso, Texas,
- Las Cruces, New Mexico,
- Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua,
- Nogales, Arizona, and
- Nogales, Sonora.
Recognizing the need to systematically assess priority transboundary aquifers along the U.S.-Mexico border, the 109th Congress of the United States enacted the “United States-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act” in 2006 as Public Law 109-448. This law was followed by binational negotiations that led to the 2009 signing of the “Joint Report of the Principal Engineers Regarding the Joint Cooperative Process United States-Mexico for the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program.“ This document, which was signed by US and Mexican Principal Engineers serving on the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), established the authority and framework under which personnel in the United States and Mexico could jointly study shared aquifers.
Objectives of the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) include:
- Develop binational information and shared databases on groundwater quantity and quality;
- Identify and delineate transboundary aquifers of importance;
- Develop binational criteria for determination of priority transboundary aquifers;
- Assess the extent, availability, and movement of water in transboundary aquifers and the interaction with surface water;
- Develop and improve groundwater-flow information for binational aquifers to facilitate water-resource assessment and planning;
- Analyze trends in groundwater quality, including salinity and nutrients;
- Apply new data, models, and information to evaluate strategies to protect water quality and enhance supplies; and
- Provide useful information to decision makers, including assessments of groundwater management institutions and policies.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP)
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Groundwater withdrawals from the Hueco Bolson, Mesilla Basin, and the Rio Grande alluvium in El Paso and Hudspeth Counties, Texas, 1980-2018
Time-Domain Electromagnetic Data Used in the Assessment of the Freshwater/Saline-Water Transition Zone within the Hueco Bolson, Fort Bliss Area, El Paso, Texas 2017-2019
Geochemical Analysis Results of Hueco Bolson Production Well Groundwater Samples - Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program
Borehole temperature profiles measured in the Mesilla Basin, New Mexico during the period 1972 through 2018
Digital 3-D Geologic Framework data for the Rio Grande Transboundary region of New Mexico, Texas, USA and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico
Time-Domain Electromagnetic Data Used in the Assessment of the U.S. Part of the Mesilla Basin/Conejos-Mdanos Aquifer System in Doa Ana County, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas
Below is a list of USGS publications related to the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program. Visit the TAAP website for a complete list of publications at the state, federal, and binational level.
Additional compiled publications and data relating to surface water and groundwater resources between Mexico and the United States can be found within the Transboundary Water Portal.
Geochemical assessment of the Hueco Bolson, New Mexico and Texas, 2016–17
Rio Grande transboundary integrated hydrologic model and water-availability analysis, New Mexico and Texas, United States, and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico
Errata**September 28, 2018: The purpose of a USGS Open-file report (OFR) is dissemination of information that must be released immediately to fill a public need or information that is not sufficiently refined to warrant publication in one of the other USGS series. As part of that refinement process, an error was discovered in one of the input data sets of the Rio Grande Transboundary Integrated Hy
Three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework model of the Rio Grande transboundary region of New Mexico and Texas, USA, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico
Geophysics- and geochemistry-based assessment of the geochemical characteristics and groundwater-flow system of the U.S. part of the Mesilla Basin/Conejos-Médanos aquifer system in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas, 2010–12
Ongoing projects under TAAP represent a collaboration among the U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Centers and the Water Resources Research Institutes of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Furthermore, IBWC facilitates bilateral projects and collaboration with universities and federal agencies in Mexico such as the Comisión Nacional del Agua and Universidad de Sonora.
- Overview
Many communities along the U.S.-Mexico border have limited surface water supply and rely on transboundary aquifers for industry, agriculture, and drinking water; however, information on water needs, water quality, and the extent and functioning of these aquifers is incomplete.
The Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP), established through a binational agreement between the United States and Mexico, provides a framework under which the two countries jointly study shared aquifers to improve our understanding of these critical groundwater resources.
► Learn more at the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) Website
IBWC Principal Engineers Antonio Rascón (right) and John Merino (left), sign the “Joint Report of the Principal Engineers Regarding the Joint Cooperative Process United States-Mexico for the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program”, August 19, 2009. Major population centers within the project study area include:
- El Paso, Texas,
- Las Cruces, New Mexico,
- Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua,
- Nogales, Arizona, and
- Nogales, Sonora.
Recognizing the need to systematically assess priority transboundary aquifers along the U.S.-Mexico border, the 109th Congress of the United States enacted the “United States-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act” in 2006 as Public Law 109-448. This law was followed by binational negotiations that led to the 2009 signing of the “Joint Report of the Principal Engineers Regarding the Joint Cooperative Process United States-Mexico for the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program.“ This document, which was signed by US and Mexican Principal Engineers serving on the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), established the authority and framework under which personnel in the United States and Mexico could jointly study shared aquifers.
Objectives of the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP) include:
- Develop binational information and shared databases on groundwater quantity and quality;
- Identify and delineate transboundary aquifers of importance;
- Develop binational criteria for determination of priority transboundary aquifers;
- Assess the extent, availability, and movement of water in transboundary aquifers and the interaction with surface water;
- Develop and improve groundwater-flow information for binational aquifers to facilitate water-resource assessment and planning;
- Analyze trends in groundwater quality, including salinity and nutrients;
- Apply new data, models, and information to evaluate strategies to protect water quality and enhance supplies; and
- Provide useful information to decision makers, including assessments of groundwater management institutions and policies.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP)
Transboundary aquifers are an essential source of water for United States – Mexico border communities. Declining water levels, deteriorating water quality, and increasing use of groundwater resources on both sides of the border raise concerns about the long-term availability of this supply.The U.S. – Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act (Public Law 109-448) of 2006 was enacted to conduct... - Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Groundwater withdrawals from the Hueco Bolson, Mesilla Basin, and the Rio Grande alluvium in El Paso and Hudspeth Counties, Texas, 1980-2018
This data release contains compiled groundwater withdrawal data from 1980 to 2018 for the Hueco Bolson, Mesilla Basin, and the Rio Grande alluvium in El Paso and Hudspeth Counties, Texas. Most groundwater withdrawal volumes were distributed to wells and separated into water-use categories. The data were compiled, distributed, and categorized as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s involvement in tTime-Domain Electromagnetic Data Used in the Assessment of the Freshwater/Saline-Water Transition Zone within the Hueco Bolson, Fort Bliss Area, El Paso, Texas 2017-2019
Declining groundwater levels in the Hueco Bolson have raised concerns about the amount of available groundwater and the potential for water-quality changes. Fresh groundwater stored in the aquifer is bordered by regions of brackish-to-saline groundwater, and as the water levels in the Hueco Bolson have declined the local and regional hydraulic gradients have been altered such that the brackish-to-Geochemical Analysis Results of Hueco Bolson Production Well Groundwater Samples - Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program
The Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act was established to systematically assess priority aquifers along the U.S.-Mexico international boundary. The priority aquifers that were specified include the Hueco-Mesilla Bolsons aquifer in Texas and New Mexico and its counterpart in Mexico, the Conejos-Medanos Aquifer system, and the Santa Cruz and San Pedro aquifers in Arizona (Texas Water Development BBorehole temperature profiles measured in the Mesilla Basin, New Mexico during the period 1972 through 2018
These data are a compilation of 379 borehole temperature profiles collected during the period 1972 through 2018 for the Mesilla Basin, New Mexico. This dataset includes a comma-separated values file (Temperature Profile Index.csv) that serves as an index for the 379 text data files (.txt; with the file name corresponding to the "Well Name" in the index) that are included as a compressed (.zip) folDigital 3-D Geologic Framework data for the Rio Grande Transboundary region of New Mexico, Texas, USA and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico
This digital dataset of a three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework for the Rio Grande Transboundary region of New Mexico, Texas, USA and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico defines the geometry, extent, and character of aquifers of the region and is intended as the digital hydrogeologic input data for numerical simulation of the groundwater system. The data consist of a single GeoDatabase (RGTIHM_3DHFMTime-Domain Electromagnetic Data Used in the Assessment of the U.S. Part of the Mesilla Basin/Conejos-Mdanos Aquifer System in Doa Ana County, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas
The transboundary Mesilla Basin/Conejos-Mdanos aquifer system was identified as one of the priority transboundary aquifer systems for additional study by the United States and Mexico U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act of 2006. One of the largest rechargeable groundwater systems by total available volume in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte Basin region of the United States and Mexic - Publications
Below is a list of USGS publications related to the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program. Visit the TAAP website for a complete list of publications at the state, federal, and binational level.
Additional compiled publications and data relating to surface water and groundwater resources between Mexico and the United States can be found within the Transboundary Water Portal.
Geochemical assessment of the Hueco Bolson, New Mexico and Texas, 2016–17
Understanding groundwater quality in transboundary aquifers like the Hueco Bolson is important for the 2.7 million people along the United States and Mexico border living in and near the combined metropolitan areas of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, who rely on groundwater for water supply. To better understand water-quality conditions in the Mexico–New Mexico–Texas transboundary area,Rio Grande transboundary integrated hydrologic model and water-availability analysis, New Mexico and Texas, United States, and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico
Errata**September 28, 2018: The purpose of a USGS Open-file report (OFR) is dissemination of information that must be released immediately to fill a public need or information that is not sufficiently refined to warrant publication in one of the other USGS series. As part of that refinement process, an error was discovered in one of the input data sets of the Rio Grande Transboundary Integrated Hy
Three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework model of the Rio Grande transboundary region of New Mexico and Texas, USA, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico
As part of a U.S. Geological Survey study in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, a digital three-dimensional hydrogeologic framework model was constructed for the Rio Grande transboundary region of New Mexico and Texas, USA, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico. This model was constructed to define the aquifer system geometry and subsurface lithologic characteristics and distribution for use inGeophysics- and geochemistry-based assessment of the geochemical characteristics and groundwater-flow system of the U.S. part of the Mesilla Basin/Conejos-Médanos aquifer system in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, and El Paso County, Texas, 2010–12
One of the largest rechargeable groundwater systems by total available volume in the Rio Grande/Río Bravo Basin (hereinafter referred to as the “Rio Grande”) region of the United States and Mexico, the Mesilla Basin/Conejos-Médanos aquifer system, supplies water for irrigation as well as for cities of El Paso, Texas; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The U.S. Geological - Partners
Ongoing projects under TAAP represent a collaboration among the U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Centers and the Water Resources Research Institutes of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Furthermore, IBWC facilitates bilateral projects and collaboration with universities and federal agencies in Mexico such as the Comisión Nacional del Agua and Universidad de Sonora.