Covering Water Scarcity at the Border

The document outlines the drivers of water scarcity at the US-Mexico border, including climate change and mismanagement, and suggests specific areas for local reporting such as urban-agricultural competition and disparities in water access.

• Water scarcity in the US-Mexico border region is driven by climate change, overuse, and mismanagement, with rising temperatures increasing evaporation and erratic rainfall making resources unpredictable.
• The border region is warming faster than the global average, leading to crisis levels for shared groundwater reserves and major rivers, specifically the Rio Grande and the Colorado River.
• Extreme drought is a driver of migration, and persistent extreme weather conditions reduce the likelihood of migrants from Mexico returning to their home communities.
• Rapid population growth in Mexican border cities like Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, Nogales, Mexicali, Nuevo Laredo, and Matamoros—driven by NAFTA and maquiladora industrial development—has strained infrastructure.
• Water access disparities are significant, with over 134,000 residents in US colonias lacking safe running water and sewer services, while rural towns and Indigenous groups often experience shortages first and receive solutions last.

APA

CCNow (2025). Covering Water Scarcity at the Border. Covering Climate Now. https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/covering-water-scarcity-at-the-border/

Chicago

CCNow. Covering Water Scarcity at the Border. Covering Climate Now, 2025. https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/covering-water-scarcity-at-the-border/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=CCNow |title=Covering Water Scarcity at the Border |publisher=Covering Climate Now |date=12 March 2025 |url=https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/covering-water-scarcity-at-the-border/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ccnow2025covering, author = {CCNow}, title = {{Covering Water Scarcity at the Border}}, institution = {Covering Climate Now}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://coveringclimatenow.org/from-us-story/covering-water-scarcity-at-the-border/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }