Integrated river basin management in the Conchos River basin, Mexico

case study

Integrated river basin management in the Conchos River basin, Mexico: A case study of freshwater climate change adaptation J. EUGENIO BARRIOS1, *, J. ALFREDO RODRI´GUEZ-PINEDA2 and MAURICIO DE LA MAZA BENIGNOS3 1

WWF-Mexico, River Basin Management Program, Avenue Mexico 51, Col Hipodromo-Condesa, Mexico DF, C.P. 06100, Mexico WWF-Mexico, River Basin Management Program, C. Coronado 1005, Col Centro, Chihuahua, Chih., C.P. 31000, Mexico

2 3

WWF-Chihuahuan Desert Program, C. Coronado 1005, Col Centro, Chihuahua, Chih., C.P. 31000, Mexico

In Mexico, due to reduced and unevenly distributed hydrological resources and incipient water management capabilities, climate change adaptation in the water sector is recognized as an urgent issue. To derive lessons for climate change adaptation, this paper evaluates the results gained after five years of an integrated river basin management (IRBM) programme in the Conchos River in northern Mexico. Autonomous adaptation measures assessed include: modernization of irrigation practices; pilot sustainable watershed management projects in the upper basin; development of an environmental flow assessment and a proposal to improve water allocation; and the creation of the Inter-institutional Working Group as a basin organization. These measures have improved river basin management, yet adverse outcomes were also observed, such as impacts of surface water efficiency measures that were not managed in conjunction with groundwater. Key adaptation lessons derived include: the importance of multi-stakeholder participation in designing and implementing adaptive management measures; the need for significant investment in transfer of expertise and capacity building; and the positive effect of linking local, national and international institutions. These results highlight the need for more investment in ‘soft’ adaptive management in place of infrastructure. In the Rio Conchos, if these ‘no regrets’ adaptation measures are consolidated in the following years, they will serve as a foundation to develop planned and more effective climate change adaptation programmes, and enhance institutional, environmental and societal resilience. Keywords: adaptation; basin; climate change; integrated river basin management; river; water

1. Introduction Beginning in 2004, the alliance between WWF and the Gonzalo Rio Arronte Foundation (WWF-FGRA) commenced an integrated river basin management (IRBM) strategy in three Mexican river basins: the Conchos River in the state of Chihuahua, the Copalita-ZimatańHuatulco Rivers in the state of Oaxaca, and the San Pedro-Mezquital River in the states of Durango and Nayarit. The programme aims to improve water management in order to maximize the economic and social benefits derived from

water resources in an equitable manner, while at the same time preserving and restoring freshwater ecosystems. Water scarcity already impacts on large portions of Mexico, especially in the arid north where annual water availability per person is only 1,750 m3 compared to the national mean of 4,416 m3/person/year (CONAGUA (Comisioń Nacional del Agua), 2007). This unbalanced hydrological distribution jeopardizes the social and economic development of approximately 60% of Mexican territory and 77% of the Mexican population.

B *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT 1 (2009) 249–260 doi:10.3763/cdev.2009.0024 # 2009 Earthscan ISSN: 1756-5529 (print), 1756-5537 (online) www.earthscanjournals.com

250 Barrios, Rodrı´guez-Pineda and De la Maza

Climate change forecasts predict that there will be further impacts on water resources in Mexico. For example, less runoff and more frequent droughts are expected in the arid north. Furthermore, as in other parts of the world, demand for consumptive water is expected to exceed supply, partly as a result of the impacts of global warming on water supplies up to 2025 (Vorosmarty et al., 2000). Consequently, Mexico needs to develop effective climate change adaptations, particularly to cope with the exacerbation of water scarcity. This paper assesses the water sector adaptation implemented in the Rio Conchos basin. The authors consider that this sort of autonomous adaptation in the water sector (Kundzewicz et al., 2007; Bates et al., 2008) holds lessons that can aid the design of more effective climate change adaptation programmes. This case study was prepared as part of a larger review of freshwater autonomous adaptation projects by WWF, which makes up this volume. The Conchos River basin is one of the most important basins in northern Mexico, draining an area of 67,000 km2. It comprises 14% of the binational (Mexico –USA) Rio Bravo/Rio Grande1 basin, which has a catchment area in Mexico of 226,280 km2 and annual runoff of 6,177 million m3/year; one-third of this volume (2,553 million m3/year) is provided by the Conchos River tributary. The Conchos River originates in the Sierra Madre Occidental, locally known as Sierra Tarahumara, at a mean altitude of 2,300 m above sea level, and makes a confluence with the Rio Grande/Bravo at the US– Mexican border (Figure 1). The river and its tributaries are regulated by seven main reservoirs with a total capacity of 3,654 million m3. Annual precipitation in the basin ranges from 700 mm in the upper portion to 250 mm in the lower portion. Precipitation predictions for the next 100 years indicate a slight increment in rainfall in the study area (Hadley Centre, 2005), although this increase will be insignificant due to the increase in air temperature and evaporation,

CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT

and soil water deficit increments (Raynalõr and Rodrı´guez-Pineda, 2008). In Villasen addition to the low precipitation values, the basin is prone to long periods of drought, such as the most recent, which extended from 1993 to 2005 õz et al., 2006; Reyes-Gomez et al., 2006). (Mun

2. Water availability and use Historical basin runoff is 2,244.7 million m3; 44% of this volume is produced in the upper basin (985.7 million m3) (DOF, 2008), the Sierra Tarahumara, and feeds the Boquilla dam – the main source of water for the Delicias Irrigation District õz, 2007). and the Conchos River basin (Mun Water scarcity is the main threat to life in the Chihuahua Desert. Since the 19th century, the construction of irrigation projects and dams for agriculture has reduced hydrological variability; however, these adaptations were challenged by the 1993 – 2005 drought, which reduced river inflows to 25% of the historical mean over the last 60 years. In 1999, the Rio Grande did not reach the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in recorded history. In 2004, when the longest measured drought broke (Reyes-Gomez et al., 2006), the Conchos River surface water availability reached a normal value of 1,679 million m3 allocated to consumptive uses that was distributed as follows: 1,648 million m3 (98%) for irrigated agriculture, 23 million m3 (1.4%) for domestic use, 3 million m3 (0.2%) for industry and 5 million m3 (0.4%) for other uses. For non-consumptive uses, a volume of 2,311 million m3 was used for hydroelectric facilities. These values can be compared to those of 1995, at the beginning of the drought, when agricultural water use decreased to only 315 million m3 (CONAGUA, 2007, 2008a), and also to the additional 432 million m3 that Mexico is obliged to deliver to the USA from the Rio Conchos under the 1944 water treaty (Water Treaty, 1944).

Integrated river basin management in the Conchos River basin, Mexico 251

FIGURE 1 The Conchos River basin area, Mexico



The basin consists of three irrigation districts. The DR-005 Delicias covers 81% of the total irrigated area (i.e. 88,000 ha and 12,000 farmers). Likewise, it is allocated 83% of the basin’s total water volume (1,132 million m3/yr) in surface water rights. It represents by far the greatest impact on water extraction in the Conchos River (CONAGUA, 1997). The Jimeńez –Camargo, Camargo – Delicias, Meoqui – Delicias and the Aldama – San Diego aquifers are the main groundwater sources for extensive agricultural areas and for urban uses. Of these, the Jimeńez – Camargo and Meoqui – Delicias are overexploited at respective rates of 1.50 and 1.56 times the estimated natural recharge (CONAGUA, 2007). These hydrogeological basins, located under the main arteries of the Conchos, Florido and San Pedro Rivers, need to be managed to guarantee base water flows and also as future underground water storage to avoid greater evaporative losses due to climate change. Based on the air temperature increments forecast by the Hadley Centre (2005) and the IPCC õr and Rodrı´guez-Pineda (2007), Raynal-Villasen (2008) developed evaporation and moisture deficit scenarios. Results show that potential evaporation will increase by 2.0% to 7.3%, while the moisture deficit will increase by 2.4% to 11.3% as air temperature increases by 1 8C to 3 8C over the next 30 and 100 years, respectively.

3. Methods WWF’s intervention in the Conchos River is part of the Chihuahuan Desert Conservation Plan and the WWF Mexico freshwater conservation strategy. It is focused on implementing an IRBM model to conserve freshwater ecosystems; working with governments, the private sector, local communities, and non-governmental organizations; and implementing demonstration projects for the sustainable use of water. The project is being implemented through four main strategies:


Recovering freshwater ecosystem functions through an environmental flow allocation, which is water that is needed for the environment. B Enhanced river basin governance through river basin councils and public participation. B Small-scale replicable projects to demonstrate rational water usage and natural resources management that can provide specific support to enhance living conditions in rural communities. B Public outreach and educational activities aimed at creating awareness of water scarcity, water values, and the role of water as a part of the environment, as well as communicating lessons learned from the project. B

After five years of implementation, this paper reviews the factors that aided or hindered the WWF-FGRA programme so that lessons from past and current water management experiences may serve as a foundation upon which to develop more reliable climate change adaptation policies and practices. As stated by several authors, water management involves adaptation, and there is a lot to be learned from autonomous adaptation (as undertaken in the Conchos River) for enhancing adaptation to climate change (Kundzewicz et al., 2007; Bates et al., 2008).

4. Results The outcomes from the four major WWF instigated interventions that form the IRBM model in the Rio Conchos from 2004 – 2009 are described below.

4.1. Environmental flows as an IRBM adaptive management tool The current water management paradigm in Mexico has promoted total extraction of water for consumptive uses. The proposal in the Rio Conchos to set up an environmental flow is focused on defining a new paradigm in which


water needed for the environment – both temporally and spatially – becomes a limit on water extraction in order to foster long-term sustainability. Furthermore, this type of ecosystem-based approach was anticipated to increase the resilience of the environment and the local society to the impacts of climate change. The integration of environmental flows under scarcity conditions in arid regions, such as the Rio Conchos basin, raises many scientific, administrative, engineering and ideological challenges. First, (a) a scientific-based analysis is required to determine the quantity and quality of water that the river needs, as well as when it is required, in order to maintain ecosystem functions; (b) water administration must be modified to reallocate the water rights of current users; (c) hydraulic infrastructure must be operated under new rules to resemble natural flows; and (d) water users must understand that a flowing river is not a waste of water but rather part of a healthy water basin. This is a new paradigm for water management that, although recognized in the Mexican National Water Law of 1992, has not yet been implemented. The Environmental Flow Assessment (EFA) for the Conchos River was a useful process to propose an ecosystem approach to water management for key stakeholders. It has also provided a mechanism to integrate previously fragmented and poorly accessible information. For instance, hydrological information was recovered from the Mexican National Water Agency’s (CONAGUA) archives to form a comprehensive hydrological database. WWF, along with partners including the University of Texas, used this database to develop the water demand and supply model for the Conchos River using the Water Evaluation ˜ o-Gomez and Planning System (WEAP) (Patin et al., 2007, 2008). This model is a key tool for developing water management scenarios based on the predicted inflow variations that occurred during the last drought, and for the prediction of further variations due to climate change. An unexpected benefit arising from this improved information system is its application

to flood management. Melchor Lo´pez (pers. commun., 2007), a specialist from CONAGUA in the Chihuahua Office, states that the EFA hydrological and climate database was an essential tool used to safely operate Las Virgenes dam when it was subject to an extreme precipitation event in 2007. As a part of the EFA process, ecological analyses were made based on habitat assessments and biological indicators (invertebrates, macroinvertebrates and riparian vegetation). The Historical Biological Index (HBI) and the Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) are now measured at 21 sites every two years, and are part of the monitoring system (Contreras-Balderas et al., 2005). All of this information was used by a group of experts to develop the EFA by applying the Building Block Methodology (BBM) (King et al., 2000). It is recognized as one of the most complete EFAs ever performed in Mexico, and it has been used as a model for other basins where WWF is working in Mexico and for the development of national standards and regulations. The EFA is being proposed as a strategy aimed at achieving the sustainable use of water in the basin by the year 2030. The strategy sets yearly goals to recover the currently overallocated 438 million m3 deficit of water, as recognized by CONAGUA (pers. commun., Lo´pez, 2008). This water volume will represent a sustainable extraction in the basin for the recovery and conservation of river ecosystems, and will assist compliance with the water deliveries under the Rio Bravo/Grande international treaty (International Boundary and Water Commission/Comisioń Internacional de Lı´mites y Aguas – IBWC/ CILA, 2009) – from which one-third of the total water volume goes to the USA and two-thirds goes to the Mexican states in the lower part of the basin (Trueba and Goicochea, 2008).

4.2. Agricultural modernization After the first year of drought in 1994, the absence of rainfall resulted in conflict between the farmers



and water authorities, who decided not to use the water stored in the main reservoirs since there was not enough water for all users. As a result, 8,000 ha of pecan trees were lost, as well as thousands of hectares of alfalfa and other perennial crops (Cha´vez, 2007). Thereafter, in the second and subsequent years, the Mexican farmers and water and agricultural authorities worked together in order to maintain or recover irrigated agriculture and to deliver the required amount of water to the Rio Bravo basin and the USA. Informed by a WWF assessment document (WWF, 2002), the government increased agricultural water efficiency from 44 to 66% through the implementation of more efficient irrigation techniques in the Delicias irrigation district (CONAGUA, 2006, 2008b). Water demand management works were undertaken with an investment of US$140 million from the North American Development Bank, to assist Mexico to meet the downstream water deliveries required to fulfil its treaty obligations with the USA. This investment was used to reduce irrigation water transmission losses by piping and lining earthen channels and by increasing the efficiency of water application in the fields. In addition, a number of water licences were bought back on a voluntary basis and retired, thereby reducing irrigation water demand and increasing the reliability of the remaining allocations and the viability of the farmers concerned. Changes from low- to high-efficiency irrigation practices and techniques have reduced the water volume per hectare for the main crops, as shown in Table 1. While good results were achieved, some problems arose, one of which was related to groundwater sources. Initially groundwater extraction was not capped and, as surface water allocations contracted, this resulted in the displacement of water extraction to the aquifers. Based on this experience, it has become clear to the farmers that both surface and groundwater must be jointly managed in order to reduce their vulnerability to water scarcity.


TABLE 1 Irrigation modernization Crop

efficiencies

before

Irrigation volume (m3/ha)

after

Volume reduction (%)

Before

After

modernization

modernization

Pecans

12.1

8

34

Alfalfa

12.9

9

30

Onions

10.6

7.5

29

Cotton

8.3

6.2

25

13.1

7.5

43

Peppers

and

Source: Chavez, 2007.

In 2008 it was said that the local farmers and authorities had achieved success, because Mexico had complied with the international water treaty with the USA by delivering the required water to the Rio Bravo (IBWC/CILA, 2009). During this process, farmers had to drastically change how they used water in order to produce the same – or an even greater – quantity of crops using less water. Thus the modernization process has resulted in huge changes in the way farmers think about water, the introduction of modern techniques and changes in water resources administration aimed at a more equitable distribution of water among all users. Furthermore, the drought conditions have made people think about the role that forest and soil conservation plays in river basin management. As a result, farmers and state institutions are recognizing the importance of the upper basin, where the most significant volume of water originates, and the key role of soil conservation and reforestation in the watershed.

4.3. River basin governance The Conchos River Commission was created in 1999 as a part of the Rio Bravo Basin Council under federal water law. However, it has not been active, and its membership is legally restricted to water rights owners having a water


concession, thereby limiting stakeholder participation. In 2004, WWF created an alternative organization called the Inter-institutional Working Group (GIT), which has become an independent forum for all stakeholders interested in the Rio Conchos, whether institutions, groups or individuals. The GIT was officially recognized by the Government of Chihuahua in 2005 when a collaborative inter-institutional agreement was signed with WWF. The GIT includes government representatives, water users, universities, indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and representatives of economic sectors. The group has developed a river basin management plan that has been allocated nearly USD8 million in investments from federal and state government programmes as a result of collaboration between public institutions of the three levels of government (local, state and federal) in the watershed. Since the start of the programme, the GIT has carried out 65 activities with an investment of close to USD3.2 million in 2005, and 60 activities with an expenditure estimated at USD4.4 million in 2006. Currently, CONAGUA (2008a) is taking advantage of this process to promote the reactivation of the Rio Conchos River Basin Commission among water users; however the GIT, as a multistakeholder organization rather than an exclusive water user organization, is challenging the current scope of the river basin commissions defined by the National Water Law. The creation of the GIT as an informal institution has been one of the major successes in the IRBM strategy. Some of the key elements of this success are: (a) the promotion of the basin concept as a geographical area that depends on the same water source, which is not familiar to the average person, as shown by a survey in which 80% of the people in the main Rio Conchos cities does not know they were part of the basin (WWF, 2004); (b) a forum not owned by any one organization, at which government agencies can present, refine and gain support for their programmes; and (c) participation of a

broad range of stakeholders in developing a common vision for the basin and implementing projects to achieve this vision.

4.4. Demonstration projects to support local communities Indigenous communities made up of Raramuris, Tepehuano, Pima and Guarijo groups live in the upper part of the basin, known as Sierra Tarahumara. The development of this region has been a challenge throughout Mexican history. WWF and its partners have focused on integrating the indigenous communities into the IRBM process and supporting them to improve their livelihoods through better water supply and sanitation, forest conservation and biodiversity conservation. Two examples of livelihood improvement illustrate the outcomes of this community-based work. The first is the implementation of a soil conservation project in the Choguita – Aguatos microbasin that has restored 1,273 ha of eroded terrain and has directly benefited 433 people by improving their lands, living conditions and access to water. The second pilot project was designed to complement the soil and forest conservation practices with livelihood modules to promote a sustainable rural water management programme in the Upper Conchos River basin. Modules include: (a) rain water capture, (b) vegetable or backyard gardens, (c) dry toilets based on ecosan technology,2 and (d) reuse of grey water and kitchen organic waste. In addition, actions to protect potable and spring water sources and to support community water committees are taking place. Currently, 26 backyard gardens, each of 100 m2, have been built to cover a total area of 2,600 m2, as a result of which around 200 people have benefited directly. During the summer 2007 harvesting season, each garden owner was able to produce between four and 12 species of vegetables and capture at least 10 m3 of water for the winter. Families have



decreased their vulnerability to water scarcity and low temperatures during the winter. Currently, this work is being strengthened by supporting community water committees. Furthermore, WWF and its partners are developing an ecological tourism project in Ejido Panalachi, and a pilot project on payment for environmental services in the Choguita – Aguatos basin, in order to further develop a proposal to improve the longterm living conditions of the indigenous communities in the Sierra Tarahumara, who are the main owners of the forest watersheds.

5. Discussion The severe drought in the Conchos River from 1993 to 2005 was an extraordinary opportunity to study different responses and actions taken by water users, authorities and NGOs. However, it should be taken into account that these responses and actions were not planned under a climate change vulnerability and adaptation framework, in which the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, equity and legitimacy, as proposed by Adger et al. (2004), were considered in measuring adaptation success. These actions were a conscious response to climate variability and water shortage. In this sense, they could become the foundation of further climate change adaptation measures (Kundzewicz et al., 2007; Bates et al., 2008). The IRBM programme for the Conchos River basin was planned with a number of aims in mind: as a process to promote a basin-wide view; to integrate actions to overcome water overextraction and conserve freshwater biodiversity; to develop better basin governance; and to improve livelihoods of indigenous communities in the headwaters. As a result of five years’ work, there are valuable implementation experiences – the ‘no regrets’ autonomous adaptation measures – from which to learn, in order to develop a more effective climate adaptation programme for the basin, as well as for the country.


The EFA’s implementation strategy in the Rio Conchos has strengthened the scientific understanding of the basin from fields such as hydrology, ecology and social sciences. It has allowed the proposal of freshwater ecosystem water requirements to CONAGUA, water stakeholders and the society for the sustainable management of the river ecosystem as a common vision for all. Thus the benefit of maintaining and restoring a socioecological river system that was not considered at the time of the 1993–2005 drought is now being contemplated. This vision promotes, in a practical way, the convergence of vulnerability and resilience understanding (Adger, 2006), and therefore a better framework to adapt to climate change. The North American Development Bank’s USD140 million investment to improve irrigation infrastructure is the most important adaptation action taken in recent years. It has resulted in savings of between 25 and 43% in crop water use, and an increase in irrigation efficiency from 44 to 66%. However, the success of such actions depends on spatial and temporal scales and should not be addressed simply in terms of the objectives of individual adaptors (Adger et al., 2004). Notably, this investment was driven in large part by the different but converging interests of local, state, national and US authorities (through the Mexico –USA water treaty) in managing water scarcity. To date, this action has achieved the objective of reducing agricultural water demand, but it has decreased the groundwater recharge that was taking place in the unlined irrigation channels before modernization and, consequently, it could be part of the increment in fluoride and arsenic concentrations of natural origin (Rodrı´guez-Pineda et al., 2005), that affects groundwater drinking supplies in the middle basin by reduction of fresh water infiltration and heavy groundwater withdrawal mainly for agricultural use (Mahklnecht et al., 2008). This illustrates the need for adaptation measures to be planned with a broad range of expertise and for stakeholders to avoid such adverse outcomes.


The water demand reductions that have been achieved could be a temporary solution, since they are insufficient to sustain irrigation farming if available water is reduced by more than 25%, as occurred during the last drought. The economic return from agricultural production in the region depends primarily on more than 60,000 ha of alfalfa as a cash crop (CONAGUA, 2008a, 2008b) and on high-value crops such as pecans, onions and peppers. According to farmers interviewed in the Delicias district, adaptations that would enable even less water use while maintaining or increasing economic returns are hindered by a lack of capacity to diversify their production and cultivate high-value crops in domestic, regional and international markets. As such, a sustainable adaptation appears to first require adjustments in policies, institutions and attitudes in order to establish enabling conditions, which then would facilitate technological and infrastructural changes (Schipper, 2007). As stated by Liverman (1999) in its adaptation studies on drought in Mexico, over the longer term, improvements in irrigation efficiency have reduced drought vulnerability in some irrigation districts, and new proposals for decentralized management and water pricing may allow more flexible adjustment to water supply variations. In this sense, it has become clear through the Rio Conchos experience that modernization of the agricultural sector in Mexico will not be enough to achieve an effective adaptation to reduce vulnerability. The GIT has played a key role as a river basin entity that promotes consideration of proposed measures from diverse perspectives, equity of outcomes and legitimacy of decision making. Until now, adaptation actions have been decided mainly by the authorities, with limited participation of stakeholders other than the farmers. It is clear that decisions and actions taken prior to the 2004 process would have been better in the post-2004 environment, since they would have been taken considering other water users and the river ecosystem. For example:

A USD140 million investment in the irrigation district compared with the USD1.4 million invested in water and sanitation services in the Sierra Tarahumara in 2004 (World Bank, 2007). B Water savings were not allocated to recover the river ecosystem, but were rather proposed to increase the irrigation surface area. Currently, there is a proposal to allocate these savings to the environment and restore river ecosystems. B There was no consideration of groundwater impacts due to the reduction of water infiltration from unlined channels and their impact on drinking water sources. Now it is clearer that surface and groundwater must be managed together. B The Conchos River Commission was not active at all in promoting participation or a river basin view. Currently, the GIT is playing the role of a river basin entity. B

Consequently the authors contend that GIT, as a multi-stakeholder, establishes a better basis for adaptation decisions than a single stakeholder view, which avoids adverse outcomes, increases the effectiveness of adopted measures and enhances resilience. However, the GIT is overly dependent on voluntary work, as funding for this basin-scale management institution remains uncertain. As in other places in Mexico, it is clear that infrastructure development has been preferred in the Conchos River basin over soft infrastructure actions, which are not yet considered a priority. As stated by Adger et al. (2004), the beneficial effects of soft engineering approaches are uncertain; however, in the Conchos River, these types of measures have shown good results on investment, such as the case of the GIT. A key barrier to soft infrastructure interventions is the limited financial support, if any, that they are receiving. This is especially important because the recently presented Mexico Special Program on Climate Change 2008 –2012 (PEF,



2009) is placing hydraulic infrastructure at the core of the adaptation strategy. It will be a significant programme, but its effectiveness depends upon the active and informed participation of stakeholders in its planning and implementation. The IPCC has also raised this concern in the discussion of demand-side vs. supply-side adaptation options, indicating that it is a matter of uncertainty vs. certainty in results, and proposing that although supply-side options have environmental consequences, they can be alleviated in many cases (Kundzewicz et al., 2007, pp. 197 – 198). Based on the Conchos River experience, demand-side adaptation must be considered as the first option, since it would not allow further environmental degradation; so the development of good water governance to support demandside options is a key issue. At the local level in the Sierra Tarahumara, concrete experiences illustrate how traditional projects to improve human well-being are the best way to reduce indigenous communities’ vulnerability to climate variability. At this time, these projects are covering a small amount of the population, since actions to support local indigenous communities must respect their customs and traditional decision-making processes. This is a good example of how legitimacy adds to project implementation. However, through this experience it has also become clear that if these projects are not complemented by local organization and community participation in the river basin governance, indigenous communities could be threatened by water management decisions. As stated by Adger (2006), equity within the decision-making process is as important as the equity of the outcome in reducing vulnerability. Since the Conchos River is part of a larger transboundary basin, the challenge ahead is not only to develop an evidence-based adaptation strategy but also to ultimately integrate this strategy with the entire Rio Bravo basin and into the Mexico– USA international water agreement. Integrating climate change adaptation across these geo-


political entities is a challenge, since it requires action from the local to the international level. While it provides one framework for action, the Mexico– USA water treaty (IBWC/CILA, 2009) has not been significantly revised since 1944, during which time climate change and shifting human demands have been constantly imposing new challenges. Consequently, amendments to the agreement to manage for climate change should be sought.

6. Conclusions In the process of implementing the IRBM programme in the Conchos River, the Alliance WWF-FGRA has developed an effective model for adaptation in water and river basin management that combines an ecosystem-based approach, public participation and support of indigenous communities to improve their livelihoods based on biodiversity conservation. Adaptive management in the Rio Conchos basin has proven more of a political than a technical challenge, as it has elsewhere in the water sector (Allan, 2003). Stimulating political support for adaptive water management in the Rio Conchos basin has required extensive investment in awareness raising, transfer of expertise and other capacity building to overcome lack of information, weak institutions and limited public participation. Most of the useful experiences from this process arise from comparing the decisions taken both before and after the 2004 process. Previously, most decisions were made by each sector or agency in isolation, and some decisions represented maladaptation. Since 2004, the IRBM approach provides a comprehensive framework for considering a broad range of expertise and interests, and for decision making on adaptation measures that is more likely to be effectively implemented without adverse outcomes. In this case, the IRBM in the Conchos River is the most important and clear adaptation strategy.


The Mexico Special Program on Climate Change 2008 –2012 (PEF, 2009) favours hydraulic infrastructure projects. However, based on the Conchos River experience, adaptive water management should instead favour public participation, soft engineering approaches, an ecosystem-based approach and demand-side adaptation options prior to any further physical alteration of water sources.

Acknowledgements This programme has been developed by the Alliance WWF Mexico and the Gonzalo Rio Arronte Foundation, with support from HSBC, USAID, WWF-UK and The Coca Cola Company. The main participants in this programme are the Government of the State of Chihuahua, the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR), the communities of the Ejido Panalachi and Choguita, and the NGOs Alcadeco and Profauna.

Notes 1. The Rio Bravo is known in the USA as the Rio Grande. 2. Ecological sanitation (ecosan) solves sanitation problems by recovering and reusing the resources contained in excreta and wastewater (www.ecosan.org).

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