The U.S.-Mexico border region, home to some of the worst environmental conditions in the country, is poised to see significant improvements under a new multi-year program announced by the federal government. But recent funding cuts to other border initiatives and the specter of rapid industrialization and population growth have some wondering if cleanup efforts can keep pace with the region's growing environmental challenges.

The U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program, also known as "Border 2020," aims to reduce air pollution, improve water supplies, clean up hazardous waste and protect public health in communities along the roughly 2,000-mile border.

It replaces a similar program called "Border 2012," which expires next year, but ups the ante with a new focus on climate change, a new "bottom-up" decisionmaking approach, and the use of action plans for specific geographic areas.

Environmental degradation has long been a problem along the U.S.-Mexico border, where growing urban density, insufficient or poorly enforced laws, and problems identifying pollution sources have contributed to significant public health problems. Photo courtesy of U.S. EPA.

Communities in the border region, which is home to 14 million people, "suffer from health problems that may be closely linked to the contamination of air, the inappropriate treatment of the water and wastewater, improper management of pesticides, and the illegal or inadequate disposal of solid and hazardous waste," according to the Border 2020 proposal.

The North American Free Trade Agreement and other binational accords have boosted economic activity along the border, but at a significant cost to the environment and public health, said Bill Luthans of U.S. EPA's Region 6 office in Dallas, which oversees the U.S.-Mexico Environmental Program for Texas and New Mexico.

"It's already one of the poorer regions, and we're going to increase the environmental strain as we bring more industry and more jobs and people to the border," he said.

"While economic growth has contributed to greater employment, the infrastructure of the region has not kept pace," the Border 2020 proposal notes. "As a result, natural resources are strained and the environment and public health are adversely affected on both sides of the border."

And with the border population expected to grow by about 4.6 million by 2020, those environmental pressures are only likely to increase, the proposal says.

Addressing the region's environmental problems requires officials on both sides of the border to work in tandem, Luthans added, noting that border communities and ecosystems are closely intertwined. For instance, El Paso, Texas; Sunland Park, N.M.; and Juarez, Mexico, all share the same basin, even though the international boundary divides it, he said.

The new eight-year, binational program was crafted by EPA, Mexico's secretary for the environment and natural resources, the 26 U.S. tribes along the border, indigenous communities in Mexico and state environmental agencies. EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed program through Nov. 30.

Previous efforts

Previous cleanup efforts, stemming from the 1983 La Paz Agreement signed by U.S. President Reagan and Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado, have made some headway in improving the border environment.

Those projects include establishing air quality monitoring networks, implementing an air quality flag system for schools, and building water and wastewater treatment projects that have improved water quality in the Rio Grande and other waterways, according to EPA. Border 2012 also resulted in the collection and disposal of more than 200 tons of obsolete or outdated pesticides. But much work remains to be done.

"There's still a lot of challenges that remain," said David Fege, an environmental specialist in EPA's San Diego office, which oversees the program's efforts along the California and Arizona portions of the border.

In recent years, the region has seen some significant changes, including the construction of 650 miles of new security fence along portions of the border in each of the four U.S. states that abut Mexico: Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. Environmental groups and others have charged that the new fence has cut off key wildlife migration corridors and created erosion problems near waterways, among other problems (Land Letter, Jan. 7, 2010).

While the Border 2020 program enjoys broad support from federal, state and local officials as well as environmental groups, EPA has received some criticism from some in Southern California who want the agency to include cleanup of the New River in the program's goals.

The New River carries sewage from Mexico, where it is joined on the U.S. side of the border by agricultural runoff as the river makes its way to the Salton Sea, where it terminates. The New River is considered one of the most polluted waterways in the United States, and the Department of Health and Human Services has banned both swimming and consumption of water from the river.

EPA officials note that the river is mentioned as a "priority" waterway in the Border 2020 plan, and the agency has proposed reducing bacteria levels, phosphates and trash.

But some local officials and residents worry that with recent cuts to border programs -- funding for binational border projects has been slashed from $100 million in 2004 to $10 million in 2010 -- it is unlikely that the river and other polluted waterways will receive the necessary level of cleanup.

Luthans of EPA's Dallas office said local and state funding can make up some of the difference.

The final Border 2020 plan is scheduled to be released in August 2012.

Click here to read the draft plan.

Reese writes from Santa Fe, N.M.