Agua subterránea y soberanía interdependiente: el caso de los Sistemas Acuíferos Transfronterizos en la región binacional de Paso del Norte

Mexico and the United States have a historic relationship in the political distribution of their transborder water. Nevertheless, with the deepening and importance of the North American Free Trade Agreement (nafta), transborder aquifer systems emerge as strategic reservoirs in the process of building water security on the border shared by the two nations. This article examines the case of Paso del Norte and the details of the competition for access and appropriation of transborder groundwater in recent decades based on asymmetrical institutional processes and mechanisms that have led to local political tensions. It also analyzes the implications and challenges Mexico must take on regarding the legal and institutional vacuums regulating these systems and reflects on the importance of designing a sovereign, interdependent water policy to foster cooperation for equitable distribution of transborder groundwater.