Urbanization of irrigation districts in the Texas Rio Grande River Basin
Date
2011-04
Authors
Bonaiti, Gabriele, author
Fipps, Guy, author
U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Journal Title
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Abstract
The region of Texas along the Mexican border has been experiencing rapid urban growth. This has caused fragmentation of many irrigation districts who are struggling to address the challenges resulting from urbanization. This paper presents an analysis of the growth of urban area in five Texas border counties with irrigation districts. Over the ten year period, 1996 to 2006, urban area within these counties increased at a regional average of 21%. The urban area within districts increased an average of 44% based on total district service area. The paper also presents a density analysis of urbanized area and analysis of the impacts on water distribution networks. Urbanization issues related to the operation, management, and planning within districts are also discussed.
Description
Presented at Emerging challenges and opportunities for irrigation managers: energy, efficiency and infrastructure: a USCID water management conference held on April 26-29, 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.