International Boundary and Water Commission

This article is about the US-Mexico border commission. For the commission that oversees the boundary between the United States and Canada, see International Boundary Commission. For the commission concerning with waters on U.S.–Canada boundary, see International Joint Commission.
International Boundary and Water Commission
Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas
Abbreviation
  • IBWC
  • CILA
FormationMarch 1, 1889; 135 years ago (March 1, 1889)
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersEl Paso, Texas, U.S.
Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Official languages
English and Spanish
Commissioner (US section)
Maria-Elena Giner [es]
Commissioner (Mexican section)
Adriana Reséndez Maldonado [es]
WebsiteOfficial website

The International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC, Spanish: Comisión Internacional de Límites y Aguas, CILA) is an international body created by the United States and Mexico in 1889 to apply the rules for determining the location of their international boundary when meandering rivers transferred tracts of land from one bank to the other, as established under the Convention of November 12, 1884.[1]

The organization was created as the International Boundary Commission by the Convention of 1889 between the United States and Mexico.[2] It was given its present name under the 1944 Treaty relating to the Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande.[1][2] Under these agreements, the IBWC has a U.S. section and a Mexican section, headquartered in the adjoining cities of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. The U.S. section is administered by the Department of State, and the Mexican part by the Secretariat of Foreign Relations.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ibwc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b United States Department of State – Office of the Legal Adviser (2014). Treaties in Force. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780160922930.