Chapter 7: Implementation of UN SDG 6: A Case Study of Contamination in the Rio Grande in South Texas

Fecal coliform contamination of the Rio Grande is a concern along the section of the international border between Laredo, Texas in the United States and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas in Mexico. The presence of fecal coliforms is an indicator that other pathogens may be present, and some Texas towns found the pathogen E. coli in the water and sickened some residents. This chapter investigates the question if associations exist among temperature and river-flow-rate variables and the level of fecal coliform bacteria in this section of the river. Correlational analysis of 23 years of data failed to provide any relevant statistically significant result due to the extreme variability of river conditions. However, descriptive analysis of the data provided anecdotal conclusions. The first conclusion is that the number of fecal coliforms increases greatly as the river flows from above the Laredo/Nuevo Laredo boundary to below the boundary. The second conclusion is an anecdotal association apparent between the increasing population of Nuevo Laredo and the increase in fecal coliforms in the Rio Grande over the last five years of collected data. These issues associated with the Rio Grande, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 that focuses on the management of water and sanitation, provides an excellent site for monitoring progress toward the United Nations Education 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.