S214DEC8

S.214 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.

With the rapid increase of population along both sides of the US / Mexico border the need for, use of and quality of ground water has become a significant concern as surface water resources are committed or used and groundwater aquifers and the quality of the water in them are unknown but important if growth in the area can be sustained or increased.

This bill begins with establishing the need to study and map aquifers and other hydrogeologic attributes under the border between the US and Mexico.

The Secretary of Interior would team up with Mexico and southern border states to conduct a hydrogeologic characterization, mapping and modeling program for certain transboundary aquifers along the 2000 mile border. There are several aquifers and they have been assessed by the US geological Survey, but little information from what is under Mexico is available, the bill report noted, nor is any data on surface water-groundwater interactions.

Assessing what is there is the first step to planning future water use for both nations and avoiding conflicts. The quality of the water is also to be determined in light of what the report says has been a ‘lack of adequate wastewater treatment infrastructure that has led to contamination'.

The bill directs the Secretary to carry out the transboundary aquifer assessment for the purpose of an integrated scientific approach to assessing total resources and designates the Hueco Bolson and Mesilla aquifers, the Santa Cruz River Valley aquifer as priorities. An amendment added the San Pedro aquifer. The Secretary will consult with Mexico officials relevant to the task and may provide grants or enter into agreements with water resource research institutes in the border states. No new studies or analyses can be conducted before consultation with the research institutes.

Sponsor: Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)

Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent July 26, 2005. Passed House by voice vote December 6, 2006.

Cost to the taxpayers: $50 million 2006 though 2015. “CBO estimates that implementing S. 214 would cost $2 million in fiscal year 2006 and $21 million over the 2006-2010 period. We estimate that an additional $29 million would be spent after 2010, including $25 million appropriated between 2011 and 2015. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues.”

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