Flooding in Ambos Nogales often exceeds the capacity of the channel and adjacent land areas, endangering people and property. Goals of rock detention structures (RDS) are to diminish impacts of flooding and sedimentation on wastewater infrastructure thereby reducing the incidence of sanitary sewer overflows. We are studying the Nogales Wash to prevent future flood disasters and RDS are being installed in tributaries. We applied the KINEROS2 model (https://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/kineros/) to understand the capacity of existing and potential detention features under various flood and urbanization scenarios.
Results depict a reduction in peak flow for the 10-year, 1-hour event based on current land use in tributaries with detention features (Fig. 1). However, model results also demonstrate that larger storm events and increasing urbanization will put a strain on the features and limit their effectiveness (Norman et al. 2010). Sediment loads are predicted to be trapped at dam locations, requiring regular maintenance to maintain capacity to detain water during flood events. Maintenance includes clearing debris, sediment buildup, and dead vegetation, structural maintenance of stone rip-rap, and vegetation regeneration on adjacent hillslopes.
This project has been a 20-year effort to identify and mitigate flood risk, by slowing and reducing stormwater runoff and protecting floodplains for disproportionately vulnerable communities. Working with the citizens, city, county, state, and federal managers, the USGS employs actionable science, geospatial analyses, and watershed models that address problems and inform decision-making on both sides of the border. The result is a growing binational ‘sponge city’ that uses nature-based solutions to reduce flooding, filter polluted stormwater, and create more green space that everyone can enjoy.
VIDEO
Norman, L. M. (Director). (2024, December 6). Can these rocks reduce flooding? [Video recording]. U.S. Geological Survey, Western Geographic Science Center. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWoSGOfxOQA&t=1s
PUBLICATIONS
Brady, L. M., Gray, F., Castaneda, M., Bultman, M., & Bolm, K. S. (2002). Preliminary United States—Mexico Border Watershed Analysis, Twin Cities Area Of Nogales, Arizona And Nogales, Sonora. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, OF 02-112. https://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of02-112/
Freimund, C. A., Garfin, G. M., Norman, L. M., Fisher, L. A., & Buizer, J. L. (2022). Flood resilience in paired US–Mexico border cities: A study of binational risk perceptions. Natural Hazards. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-022-05225-x
Lam, A., Norman, L. M., & Donelson, A. (2006). Accessible information technology for equitable community planning. Equity and Sustainable Development: Reflections from the US-Mexico Border. San Diego, CA, Center for US-Mexican Studies, 287–304. ISBN-10: 1878367552.
Lara-Valencia, F., Garcia, M., Norman, L. M., Anides Morales, A., & Castellanos-Rubio, E. E. (2022). Integrating Urban Planning and Water Management Through Green Infrastructure in the United States-Mexico Border. Frontiers in Water, 4, 782922. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2022.782922
Norman, L. M. (2005). Modeling land use change and associate water quality impacts in the Ambos Nogales watershed, United States-Mexico border [THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA]. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/194202
Norman, L. M. (2007). United States‐Mexican border watershed assessment: Modeling nonpoint source pollution in Ambos Nogales. Journal of Borderlands Studies, 22(1), 79–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2007.9695670
Norman, L. M. (2010). Urbanization and Environmental Health in Arizona Colonias. In In Donelson, A.J., and A.X. Esparza, (Ed.s). The Colonias Reader: Economy, Housing, and Public Health in US-Mexico Border Colonias (pp. 204–217). University of Arizona Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26166046
Norman, L. M. (2020). Ecosystem Services of Riparian Restoration: A Review of Rock Detention Structures in the Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion. Air, Soil and Water Research, 13, 117862212094633. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178622120946337
Norman, L. M. (2020). Servicios de ecosistemas de restauración ribereña: Revisión de estructuras de detención de rocas en la ecorregión del archipiélago Madrense. Air, Soil and Water Research, 13, 117862212094633. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178622120946337
Norman, L. M. (2022). Commentary: Dryland Watershed Restoration With Rock Detention Structures: A Nature-Based Solution to Mitigate Drought, Erosion, Flooding, and Atmospheric Carbon. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, 853684. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.853684
Norman, L. M., Caldeira, F., Callegary, J., Gray, F., O’ Rourke, M. K., Meranza, V., & Rijn, S. (2012). Socio-Environmental Health Analysis in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Water Quality, Exposure and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-012-0067-x
Norman, L. M., Callegary, J., van Riper, C., & Gray, F. (2010). The Border Environmental Health Initiative; investigating the transboundary Santa Cruz watershed. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet, 2010–3097, 2.
Norman, L. M., Donelson, A., Pfeifer, E., & Lam, A. H. (2006). Colonia Development and Land Use Change in Ambos Nogales, United States—Mexican Border. U.S. Geological Survey, Open-File Report 2006-1112, 121. https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1112/
Norman, L. M., Feller, M., & Phillip Guertin, D. (2009). Forecasting urban growth across the United States–Mexico border. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 33(2), 150–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2008.10.003
Norman, L. M., Gil Anaya, C., Marruffo, J., & López-Castrillo, I. E. (2024). Oso Wash Watershed and Ecohydrological Study of Restoration (p. 24) [USGS Cooperator publication]. Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
Norman, L. M., Guertin, D., & Feller, M. (2008a). A Coupled Model Approach to Reduce Nonpoint-Source Pollution Resulting from Predicted Urban Growth: A Case Study in the Ambos Nogales Watershed. Urban Geography, 29(5), 496–516. https://doi.org/10.2747/0272-3638.29.5.496
Norman, L. M., Guertin, D. P., & Feller, M. (2008b). An approach to prevent nonpoint-source pollutants and support sustainable development in the Ambos Nogales transboundary watershed. Proceedings of a USGS Workshop on Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges Along the U.S.-Mexico Border—Monitoring, Modeling, and Forecasting Change Within the Arizona-Sonora Transboundary Watersheds. Edited by Norman, L. M., Hirsch, D. D., & Ward, A. W.; Circular 1322; U.S. Geological Survey: Tucson, AZ, U.S.A., 2008. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1322
Norman, L. M., Guertin, D. P., Hernández, D. P., Barnett, A. S., & Ashton-Reis, K. (2004). Binational Digital Soils Map of the Ambos Nogales Watershed, Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora, Mexico. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2004–1335. https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1335/
Norman, L. M., Hirsch, D. D., & Ward, A. W. (2008). Proceedings of a USGS Workshop on Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges Along the U.S.-Mexico Border—Monitoring, Modeling, and Forecasting Change Within the Arizona-Sonora Transboundary Watersheds. U.S. Geological Survey. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1322/
Norman, L. M., Huth, H., Levick, L., Shea Burns, I., Phillip Guertin, D., Lara-Valencia, F., & Semmens, D. (2010). Flood hazard awareness and hydrologic modelling at Ambos Nogales, United States-Mexico border: Flood hazard awareness and hydrologic modelling at Ambos Nogales. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 3(2), 151–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-318X.2010.01066.x
Norman, L. M., Lal, R., Wohl, E., Fairfax, E., Gellis, A. C., & Pollock, M. M. (2022a). La Infraestructura Natural en Arroyos de Tierras Áridas (INATS) puede establecer sumideros de humedales regenerativos que reviertan la desertificación y fortalezcan la resiliencia climática. Science of The Total Environment, 849, 157738. https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969722048379-mmc2.pdf
Norman, L. M., Lal, R., Wohl, E., Fairfax, E., Gellis, A. C., & Pollock, M. M. (2022b). Natural infrastructure in dryland streams (NIDS) can establish regenerative wetland sinks that reverse desertification and strengthen climate resilience. Science of The Total Environment, 849, 157738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157738
Norman, L. M., Levick, L. R., Guertin, D. P., Callegary, J. B., Quintanar Guadarrama, J., Zulema Gil Anaya, C., Prichard, A., Gray, F., Castellanos, E., Tepezano, E., Huth, H., Vandervoet, P., Rodriguez, S., Nunez, J., Atwood, D., Patricio Olivero Granillo, G., & Octavio Gastelum Ceballos, F. (2010). Nogales flood detention study. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2010–1262, 112. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20101262
Norman, L. M., Parcher, J. W., & Lam, A. H. (2004). Monitoring Colonias Along the United States Mexico Border. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet, USGS FS 2004-3070 –Colonias. https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20043070
Norman, L. M., Villarreal, M. L., Lara-Valencia, F., Yuan, Y., Nie, W., Wilson, S., Amaya, G., & Sleeter, R. (2012). Mapping Socio-Environmentally Vulnerable Populations Access and Exposure to Ecosystem Services at the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. Applied Geography, 34, 413–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2012.01.006
Norman, L. M., Villarreal, M., Niraula, R., Meixner, T., Frisvold, G., & Labiosa, W. (2013). Framing Scenarios of Binational Water Policy with a Tool to Visualize, Quantify and Valuate Changes in Ecosystem Services. Water, 5(3), 852–874. https://doi.org/10.3390/w5030852
Norman, L. M., Villarreal, M. L., Wallace, C. S. A., Zulema Gil Anaya, C., Diaz Arcos, I., & Gray, F. (2010). A High-Resolution Land-Use Map: Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2010–1156, 28. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20101156
Norman, L. M., & Wallace, C. S. A. (2008). Mapping land use/land cover in the Ambos Nogales study area. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2008–1378, 42. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20081378
Flooding in Ambos Nogales often exceeds the capacity of the channel and adjacent land areas, endangering people and property. Goals of rock detention structures (RDS) are to diminish impacts of flooding and sedimentation on wastewater infrastructure thereby reducing the incidence of sanitary sewer overflows. We are studying the Nogales Wash to prevent future flood disasters and RDS are being installed in tributaries. We applied the KINEROS2 model (https://www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/kineros/) to understand the capacity of existing and potential detention features under various flood and urbanization scenarios.
Results depict a reduction in peak flow for the 10-year, 1-hour event based on current land use in tributaries with detention features (Fig. 1). However, model results also demonstrate that larger storm events and increasing urbanization will put a strain on the features and limit their effectiveness (Norman et al. 2010). Sediment loads are predicted to be trapped at dam locations, requiring regular maintenance to maintain capacity to detain water during flood events. Maintenance includes clearing debris, sediment buildup, and dead vegetation, structural maintenance of stone rip-rap, and vegetation regeneration on adjacent hillslopes.
This project has been a 20-year effort to identify and mitigate flood risk, by slowing and reducing stormwater runoff and protecting floodplains for disproportionately vulnerable communities. Working with the citizens, city, county, state, and federal managers, the USGS employs actionable science, geospatial analyses, and watershed models that address problems and inform decision-making on both sides of the border. The result is a growing binational ‘sponge city’ that uses nature-based solutions to reduce flooding, filter polluted stormwater, and create more green space that everyone can enjoy.
VIDEO
Norman, L. M. (Director). (2024, December 6). Can these rocks reduce flooding? [Video recording]. U.S. Geological Survey, Western Geographic Science Center. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWoSGOfxOQA&t=1s
PUBLICATIONS
Brady, L. M., Gray, F., Castaneda, M., Bultman, M., & Bolm, K. S. (2002). Preliminary United States—Mexico Border Watershed Analysis, Twin Cities Area Of Nogales, Arizona And Nogales, Sonora. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, OF 02-112. https://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of02-112/
Freimund, C. A., Garfin, G. M., Norman, L. M., Fisher, L. A., & Buizer, J. L. (2022). Flood resilience in paired US–Mexico border cities: A study of binational risk perceptions. Natural Hazards. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-022-05225-x
Lam, A., Norman, L. M., & Donelson, A. (2006). Accessible information technology for equitable community planning. Equity and Sustainable Development: Reflections from the US-Mexico Border. San Diego, CA, Center for US-Mexican Studies, 287–304. ISBN-10: 1878367552.
Lara-Valencia, F., Garcia, M., Norman, L. M., Anides Morales, A., & Castellanos-Rubio, E. E. (2022). Integrating Urban Planning and Water Management Through Green Infrastructure in the United States-Mexico Border. Frontiers in Water, 4, 782922. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2022.782922
Norman, L. M. (2005). Modeling land use change and associate water quality impacts in the Ambos Nogales watershed, United States-Mexico border [THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA]. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/194202
Norman, L. M. (2007). United States‐Mexican border watershed assessment: Modeling nonpoint source pollution in Ambos Nogales. Journal of Borderlands Studies, 22(1), 79–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2007.9695670
Norman, L. M. (2010). Urbanization and Environmental Health in Arizona Colonias. In In Donelson, A.J., and A.X. Esparza, (Ed.s). The Colonias Reader: Economy, Housing, and Public Health in US-Mexico Border Colonias (pp. 204–217). University of Arizona Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26166046
Norman, L. M. (2020). Ecosystem Services of Riparian Restoration: A Review of Rock Detention Structures in the Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion. Air, Soil and Water Research, 13, 117862212094633. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178622120946337
Norman, L. M. (2020). Servicios de ecosistemas de restauración ribereña: Revisión de estructuras de detención de rocas en la ecorregión del archipiélago Madrense. Air, Soil and Water Research, 13, 117862212094633. https://doi.org/10.1177/1178622120946337
Norman, L. M. (2022). Commentary: Dryland Watershed Restoration With Rock Detention Structures: A Nature-Based Solution to Mitigate Drought, Erosion, Flooding, and Atmospheric Carbon. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, 853684. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.853684
Norman, L. M., Caldeira, F., Callegary, J., Gray, F., O’ Rourke, M. K., Meranza, V., & Rijn, S. (2012). Socio-Environmental Health Analysis in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Water Quality, Exposure and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-012-0067-x
Norman, L. M., Callegary, J., van Riper, C., & Gray, F. (2010). The Border Environmental Health Initiative; investigating the transboundary Santa Cruz watershed. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet, 2010–3097, 2.
Norman, L. M., Donelson, A., Pfeifer, E., & Lam, A. H. (2006). Colonia Development and Land Use Change in Ambos Nogales, United States—Mexican Border. U.S. Geological Survey, Open-File Report 2006-1112, 121. https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1112/
Norman, L. M., Feller, M., & Phillip Guertin, D. (2009). Forecasting urban growth across the United States–Mexico border. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 33(2), 150–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2008.10.003
Norman, L. M., Gil Anaya, C., Marruffo, J., & López-Castrillo, I. E. (2024). Oso Wash Watershed and Ecohydrological Study of Restoration (p. 24) [USGS Cooperator publication]. Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
Norman, L. M., Guertin, D., & Feller, M. (2008a). A Coupled Model Approach to Reduce Nonpoint-Source Pollution Resulting from Predicted Urban Growth: A Case Study in the Ambos Nogales Watershed. Urban Geography, 29(5), 496–516. https://doi.org/10.2747/0272-3638.29.5.496
Norman, L. M., Guertin, D. P., & Feller, M. (2008b). An approach to prevent nonpoint-source pollutants and support sustainable development in the Ambos Nogales transboundary watershed. Proceedings of a USGS Workshop on Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges Along the U.S.-Mexico Border—Monitoring, Modeling, and Forecasting Change Within the Arizona-Sonora Transboundary Watersheds. Edited by Norman, L. M., Hirsch, D. D., & Ward, A. W.; Circular 1322; U.S. Geological Survey: Tucson, AZ, U.S.A., 2008. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1322
Norman, L. M., Guertin, D. P., Hernández, D. P., Barnett, A. S., & Ashton-Reis, K. (2004). Binational Digital Soils Map of the Ambos Nogales Watershed, Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora, Mexico. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2004–1335. https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1335/
Norman, L. M., Hirsch, D. D., & Ward, A. W. (2008). Proceedings of a USGS Workshop on Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges Along the U.S.-Mexico Border—Monitoring, Modeling, and Forecasting Change Within the Arizona-Sonora Transboundary Watersheds. U.S. Geological Survey. https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1322/
Norman, L. M., Huth, H., Levick, L., Shea Burns, I., Phillip Guertin, D., Lara-Valencia, F., & Semmens, D. (2010). Flood hazard awareness and hydrologic modelling at Ambos Nogales, United States-Mexico border: Flood hazard awareness and hydrologic modelling at Ambos Nogales. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 3(2), 151–165. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-318X.2010.01066.x
Norman, L. M., Lal, R., Wohl, E., Fairfax, E., Gellis, A. C., & Pollock, M. M. (2022a). La Infraestructura Natural en Arroyos de Tierras Áridas (INATS) puede establecer sumideros de humedales regenerativos que reviertan la desertificación y fortalezcan la resiliencia climática. Science of The Total Environment, 849, 157738. https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969722048379-mmc2.pdf
Norman, L. M., Lal, R., Wohl, E., Fairfax, E., Gellis, A. C., & Pollock, M. M. (2022b). Natural infrastructure in dryland streams (NIDS) can establish regenerative wetland sinks that reverse desertification and strengthen climate resilience. Science of The Total Environment, 849, 157738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157738
Norman, L. M., Levick, L. R., Guertin, D. P., Callegary, J. B., Quintanar Guadarrama, J., Zulema Gil Anaya, C., Prichard, A., Gray, F., Castellanos, E., Tepezano, E., Huth, H., Vandervoet, P., Rodriguez, S., Nunez, J., Atwood, D., Patricio Olivero Granillo, G., & Octavio Gastelum Ceballos, F. (2010). Nogales flood detention study. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2010–1262, 112. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20101262
Norman, L. M., Parcher, J. W., & Lam, A. H. (2004). Monitoring Colonias Along the United States Mexico Border. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet, USGS FS 2004-3070 –Colonias. https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20043070
Norman, L. M., Villarreal, M. L., Lara-Valencia, F., Yuan, Y., Nie, W., Wilson, S., Amaya, G., & Sleeter, R. (2012). Mapping Socio-Environmentally Vulnerable Populations Access and Exposure to Ecosystem Services at the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. Applied Geography, 34, 413–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2012.01.006
Norman, L. M., Villarreal, M., Niraula, R., Meixner, T., Frisvold, G., & Labiosa, W. (2013). Framing Scenarios of Binational Water Policy with a Tool to Visualize, Quantify and Valuate Changes in Ecosystem Services. Water, 5(3), 852–874. https://doi.org/10.3390/w5030852
Norman, L. M., Villarreal, M. L., Wallace, C. S. A., Zulema Gil Anaya, C., Diaz Arcos, I., & Gray, F. (2010). A High-Resolution Land-Use Map: Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2010–1156, 28. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20101156
Norman, L. M., & Wallace, C. S. A. (2008). Mapping land use/land cover in the Ambos Nogales study area. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report, 2008–1378, 42. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20081378