Investigating Management of Transboundary Waters through Cooperation: A Serious Games Case Study of the Hueco Bolson Aquifer in Chihuahua, Mexico and Texas, United States

  • Alex Mayer
    Department of Civil Engineering, Center for Environmental Resource Management, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
  • Josiah Heyman
    Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Center for Inter-American and Border Studies, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
  • Alfredo Granados-Olivas
    Departamento de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Cd Juárez 32315, Mexico
  • William Hargrove
    Center for Environmental Resource Management, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
  • Mathew Sanderson
    Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
  • Erica Martinez
    Environmental Science and Engineering PhD Program, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
  • Adrian Vazquez-Galvez
    Departamento de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Cd Juárez 32315, Mexico
  • Luis Carlos Alatorre-Cejudo
    Departamento de Arquitectura, Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Cd Juárez 32315, Mexico

説明

<jats:p>Management of transboundary aquifers is a vexing water resources challenge, especially when the aquifers are overexploited. The Hueco Bolson aquifer, which is bisected by the United States–Mexico border and where pumping far exceeds recharge, is an apt example. We conducted a binational, multisector, serious games workshop to explore collaborative solutions for extending the life of the shared aquifer. The value of the serious game workshop was building knowledge, interest, understanding, and constituency among critical stakeholders from both sides of the border. Participants also learned about negotiations and group decision-making while building mutual respect and trust. We did not achieve consensus, but a number of major outcomes emerged, including: (1) participants agreed that action is called for and that completely depleting the freshwater in the shared aquifer could be catastrophic to the region; (2) addressing depletion and prolonging the life of the aquifer will require binational action, because actions on only one side of the border is not enough; and (3) informal binational cooperation will be required to be successful. Agreeing that binational action is called for, the serious games intervention was an important next step toward improving management of this crucial binational resource.</jats:p>

収録刊行物

  • Water

    Water 13 (15), 2001-, 2021-07-21

    MDPI AG

被引用文献 (1)*注記

もっと見る

詳細情報 詳細情報について

問題の指摘

ページトップへ