The Tijuana River watershed geographic information system

In 1994 San Diego State University (SDSU) and El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF) began the development of an integrated, binational geographic information system (GIS) for the Tijuana River Watershed with startup funding from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Tijuana River Watershed, covering an area of 1,725 square miles, two-thirds of which is in Mexico, lies astride the California-Baja California section of the U.S.-Mexico border. The watershed is a diverse geographical area with a wide range of topography, climates, biological resources, land uses, and social-political institutions. The watershed and contiguous area are a quagmire of differing agendas, cultures, economic classes, and political systems. Infrastructure planning has failed in the past and is likely to do so in the future as growth increases without the ability to proactively plan for it. It is for these reasons that the GIS has been developed