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Climate Change and U.S.-Mexico Border Communities 351Box 16.1 (Continued)Baja California firefighters crossed the borderto help with the San Diego County firestorm.Previously in June 2006, ten engines andcrews from the California Department of Forestryand Fire Protection had crossed into BajaCalifornia to support Mexican fire authoritiesfor six days with a fire that burned 5,200 acres.• Scientist-Stakeholder Research. The ClimateAssessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS)at the University of Arizona is a NOAA RegionalIntegrated Science Assessment program,focused on Arizona and New Mexico.The program brings together scientists andresearchers from many disciplines in the naturaland social sciences with citizen groupsand decision makers to develop a better fitbetween climate science products (such asforecasts and projections) and the resourcemanagers (such as water or forest managers)and decision makers who use the data. Since2005, CLIMAS has actively worked with partnersat the Colegio de Sonora, Universidadde Sonora, and other Mexican institutions ofhigher learning to build regional adaptive capacityin the border region via the bilingualBorder Climate Summary, workshops withstakeholders and researchers, webinars, andfieldwork focused on identifying commonunderstandings of regional vulnerability andappropriate adaptive strategies. Other fundingpartners who have collaborated in theseprojects include the Inter-American Institutefor Global Change Research and NOAA’s SectoralApplications Research Program.• Trans-border Data Sharing. The U.S.-MexicoTransboundary Aquifer Assessment Program(TAAP), authorized by U.S. federal law andsupported institutionally and financially byboth the U.S. and Mexico, is a successful binationalprogram focused on the assessmentof shared aquifers. Although the United Statesdid not appropriate funds for TAAP in fiscalyear 2011/2012, during this period the Mexicangovernment began funding assessmentactivities on its side of the border. TAAP is implementedby the U.S. Geological Survey andthe state water resources research institutes ofArizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with collaborationfrom Mexican federal, state, and localcounterparts, as well as IBWC and CILA. Twocentral aims of TAAP include the scientific assessmentof shared groundwater resources;and development of dual adaptive-managementstrategies through expanded binationalinformation flows and data exchange (Wilderet al. 2010; Megdal and Scott 2011). Mutuallydefined priorities for Arizona’s and Sonora’scommon Santa Cruz and San Pedro aquifers,for example, are meeting human and ecosystemwater requirements in the context ofgrowth and climate change (Scott et al. 2012).TAAP is a model of successful trans-bordercooperation in data sharing and assessmentthat supports water-management decisionmakingin both countries and enhances theadaptive capacity of the region in the face ofclimate change.Key drivers of border vulnerabilityGrowth trends, urban development patterns, socioeconomic factors, and institutionsand governance mechanisms can be drivers of border region vulnerability.Context-SHAPING VULNERABILITY. Today, rapid growth and uneven economicdevelopment are two major contributors to climate-related vulnerability. Institutional