Scientific concepts and their political implications in the management of Mexico-U.S. Transboundary water courses: Transboundary Aquifer or Transboundary Groundwater?

The transboundary aquifer concept envisaged in the United Nations Resolution 63/124 has had a significant impact on the evaluation of transboundary aquifers. In the MexicoU.S. A. case, it has not been possible to officially determine the total number of shared aquifers, therefore, the evaluation of groundwater is to be settled; it represents a lack of conceptual clarity on the subject. This contribution from an interdisciplinary approach (political geography and hydrogeology) carries out an analysis based on scientific evidence and legal documents to determine the nature of the current conceptual discrepancies between the scientific definitions of transboundary aquifer and transboundary groundwater. Results suggest the need to incorporate a systemic vision on the transboundary groundwater management, as well as the scientific homologation of concepts and methodologies applied for both countries guarantee an integrated transboundary water management with societal participation.