The Borderline
  La Linea Fronteriza
Houston Institute for Culture 
SPECIAL FEATURE

The Borderline
Introduction
History
Colonias
Health Issues
Maquiladoras
Environment
The Future

An elderly gentlemen called the desert the devil's yard. "Do you know how many lives the desert has claimed?" he asked. "Most have been Mexicans trying to cross the border. They don't make it. You know what happens to you in the desert? You burn up inside. It's so hot that you burn up."

- Gloria Martinez Alcozer Looking west from Del Rio, Texas


REPORT TO BE POSTED




WEATHER

Brownsville, TX (Cameron Co.) 
July Highs Jan. Lows Annual Rainfall
93 / 106 50 / 16 26.6 inches
McAllen, TX (Hidalgo Co.) 
July Highs Jan. Lows Annual Rainfall
96 / 106 49 / 17 23.4 inches
Data: average temp./ record extreme
Source: Dallas Morning News Texas Almanac
 
Exposure to the elements is a major issue in poorly constructed dwellings in many colonias.









View Major Hurricanes and Floods


DROUGHT

Drought Frequency   LRGV S. TX
One Year 14 10
Two Years 2 3
Total Droughts 16 13
Total Years 18 16
Data collected over 30-year period.
Source: Dallas Morning News Texas Almanac
 
Drought continues to affect the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Cities on the Mexico side of the border face water rationing most of the year.

Tamaulipas farmers had to be compensated in 2003 for lost productivity due to the deficit of irrigation water, which was transferred to the United States to meet the requirements of a bi-national water treaty. Lower Rio Grande Irrigation District 025 paid 460 million pesos ($43 million U.S. dollars at that time).

Regional drought, which has severely affected the Mexican side of the border has left Mexico owing water to the United States. Three-fourths of the water flowing into the Rio Grande below El Paso comes from the Mexican side, but reduced rainfall has left the international Amistad and Falcon reservoirs low, and left Mexico with a water debt to the United States.

The Rio Grande drains more than 40,000 square miles of Texas. Along the Texas-Mexico border, the Amistad Reservoir impounds 3,383,900 acre feet of water (Texas' share is 56.2 percent) and the Falcon Reservoir impounds 2,667,600 acre feet of water (Texas' share is 58.6 percent). The lake levels are continuing to decline due to drought in northern Mexico and Texas along the Rio Grande, and declining snowfall in the San Juan Mountains, the origin of the Rio Grande.


POLLUTION

Coming soon.



Sources:

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Copyright © 2004 by Mark Lacy and Houston Institute for Culture.

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