United States‐Mexican border watershed assessment: Modeling nonpoint source pollution in Ambos Nogales

Journal of Borderlands Studies
By:

Links

Abstract

Ecological considerations need to be interwoven with economic policy and planning along the United States‐Mexican border. Non‐point source pollution can have significant implications for the availability of potable water and the continued health of borderland ecosystems in arid lands. However, environmental assessments in this region present a host of unique issues and problems. A common obstacle to the solution of these problems is the integration of data with different resolutions, naming conventions, and quality to create a consistent database across the binational study area. This report presents a simple modeling approach to predict nonpoint source pollution that can be used for border watersheds. The modeling approach links a hillslopescale erosion‐prediction model and a spatially derived sediment‐delivery model within a geographic information system to estimate erosion, sediment yield, and sediment deposition across the Ambos Nogales watershed in Sonora, Mexico, and Arizona. This paper discusses the procedures used for creating a watershed database to apply the models and presents an example of the modeling approach applied to a conservation‐planning problem.

Study Area

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title United States‐Mexican border watershed assessment: Modeling nonpoint source pollution in Ambos Nogales
Series title Journal of Borderlands Studies
DOI 10.1080/08865655.2007.9695670
Volume 22
Issue 1
Year Published 2007
Language English
Publisher Taylor & Francis
Contributing office(s) Western Geographic Science Center
Description 19 p.
First page 79
Last page 97
Country Mexico, United States
State Arizona, Sonoma
City Nogales, Nogales
Other Geospatial United States-Mexico border watershed
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details