A Century in Minutes: Hydroterritorial Futures of the U.S.–Mexico Border

Abstract

The U.S.-Mexico border is governed as a fixed line, yet the myriad water systems sustaining its cities and ecosystems are continuous, connected, and institutionally invisible. Despite or because of these conditions, in over a century of treaties governing the Rio Grande-Bravo, none address groundwater. This thesis asks how the border would transform if hydrological interdependence structured its organizing logic. Through critical cartography, volumetric analysis, and three regional case studies (El Paso/Ciudad Juárez, Del Rio/Ciudad Acuña, Brownsville/Matamoros), the project develops spatial and institutional tools for recharge, risk management, and stewardship. It reframes the border as a hydroterritorial system shaped by conjunctive flows, treating water as an agent in the production of territory. By designing from the subsurface, embedding it within policy mechanisms, and activating residual land in contested zones through existing infrastructure, the thesis demonstrates how urban design can reorganize borders around shared resources, advancing new territorial configurations, governance models, and binational cohabitation.