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“Water Wars: The Battle Over the Rio Grande Valley’s Water Supply”

In a recent meeting in El Paso, Maria-Elena Giner, a commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), faced a room full of farmers, irrigation managers, and residents of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas on April 2nd. The local agricultural community was distressed as the reservoirs of the Rio Grande were nearing their lowest recorded levels, and the state had already warned of necessary water cuts. The last sugar mill in the region closed in February due to the lack of water.

Despite the critical situation, Mexico had not been sending water to the U.S. from its tributaries of the Rio Grande, as required by the 1944 treaty that mandates the country to do so at five-year intervals. Giner expressed concern about the lack of rain and significant inflows, stating that the situation did not look promising.

The IBWC, based in El Paso, is responsible for enforcing the boundary and water treaties between the two countries. Giner’s team had been working throughout 2023 to reach an agreement with Mexico to ensure a more reliable water supply in the Rio Grande. In December, there was confidence that the U.S. and Mexico would sign a new agreement, known as a minute, but Mexico declined to sign at the last minute.

This deadlock left farmers and communities in the Rio Grande Valley facing another hot summer with limited water supplies. Texas state officials and members of Congress joined in urging Mexico to start sending the required water. However, with political opposition in Mexico calling for a renegotiation of the water treaty and presidential elections approaching in June, Mexican officials hesitated.

While immigration, trade, and drug trafficking have dominated much of the U.S.’s diplomatic agenda with Mexico, water has become an increasingly urgent issue in recent months, rising to the “highest levels of the State Department,” according to Giner. The 1944 treaty between the U.S. and Mexico regulates the distribution of waters in both the Rio Grande and the Colorado River. Drought, climate change, and politics are escalating tensions over treaty compliance.

By May 20th, the U.S. ownership of water in the Falcon and Amistad reservoirs was at 20.1% of its normal conservation capacity. Farmers and municipalities in South Texas are exploring how to manage with less water this summer.

Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, along with members of both parties in the House of Representatives, are pushing for the State Department to withhold funds for Mexico until it fulfills its obligations.

Giner, who grew up between the two countries in Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, remains convinced that the neighboring nations can resolve their differences over an 80-year-old treaty to manage the shared rivers.

The Rio Grande Valley farmers fear further losses as the water situation remains dire. The Rio Grande River, which starts its journey of over 3000 km to the Gulf of Mexico in the mountains of southwest Colorado, primarily receives water from its tributaries in Mexico. The most important of these is the Conchos River, which flows from the Sierra Tarahumara through the agricultural heart of Chihuahua before joining the Rio Grande in Presidio, Texas.

The 1944 water treaty commits the U.S. to send 1.5 million acre-feet annually of water from the Colorado River to Mexico. Mexico, in turn, is expected to send an average of 350,000 acre-feet annually from its Mexican tributaries each year over a five-year cycle for a total of 1.75 million acre-feet. This water flows from the Falcon and Amistad reservoirs, which store water for farms and communities in the Rio Grande Valley and for the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León downstream.

The current five-year cycle is set to end on October 25, 2025. Well into the fourth year, Mexico has sent less than 400,000 acre-feet of water at the current rate, making it unlikely for Mexico to meet its obligations. The main reservoirs on the Conchos River are at low levels, with the Boquilla at 28% of its capacity and Francisco I. Madero at 25.8% as of May 16. The entire state of Chihuahua is currently experiencing a drought.

With the irregular water supply hindering agricultural production, the last sugar mill in Texas, Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers, permanently closed in February. The situation has raised concerns about potential water shortages for towns and cities in the Rio Grande Valley that rely on the river for their water supply.

As the water crisis intensifies, negotiations between the U.S. and Mexico have advanced and then faltered in 2023. The two countries aimed to sign a new minute before December 2023 to increase the reliability and predictability of water deliveries from the Rio Grande. A working group was formed in 2022 with representatives from the IBWC, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the State Department, Mexico’s IBWC (CILA), and Mexico’s National Water Commission (CONAGUA).

In Mexico, water is federally owned. However, once that water is delivered to the U.S. in the international reservoirs, it falls under the jurisdiction of the state of Texas. The Rio Grande Water Administration of the TCEQ manages deliveries to irrigation districts and other users. While the IBWC handles direct negotiations with Mexico, the agency must closely collaborate with the TCEQ.

In January 2023, Giner wrote to TCEQ Commissioner Bobby Janecka, a member of the working group, expressing hope to achieve the signing of a minute that would lead to predictability and reliability in the Rio Grande. The TCEQ urged the IBWC to do more, and political tensions on the border spilled over into the water dispute. The IBWC was dissatisfied when Texas Governor Gregg Abbott ordered the installation of floating buoys designed to stop migrants on the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass in late June 2023. The IBWC denounced the move, stating that they had not been consulted, and the buoys could violate treaty agreements. Tensions with Mexico escalated, with the top Mexican diplomat filing a complaint with the U.S. government, warning that the buoys violated the 1944 treaty and might be on Mexican territory. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Texas, and the case is now in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

On July 18, 2023, IBWC’s head of foreign affairs, Sally Spener, informed TCEQ that Mexican officials had postponed a meeting due to the incident. Despite the challenges, negotiations continued, and a draft minute was prepared in the second half of 2023, outlining the agreed-upon points between both countries.

The draft minute aimed to resolve old disagreements about the treaty, including the allocation of “surplus water” from Mexico’s domestic dams to fulfill the treaty. It also proposed the use of Mexican rivers San Juan and Alamo to supplement the five named tributaries in the treaty. Additionally, it included the establishment of working groups on “projects” to increase water conservation in the drought-affected basin and on the “environment” to focus on increasing water flow in the Big Bend area of Texas.

While some irrigation districts and politicians in Chihuahua argue that Mexico should only allocate “surplus water” to meet the treaty, the draft minute emphasized the importance of Mexico releasing water from its domestic reservoirs, settling that debate.

As the negotiations progress, opposition politicians in Mexico protest against water deliveries. The Mexican presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, supported by the three main opposition parties in Mexico, spoke out against the current water situation in Chihuahua. Sheinbaum, the frontrunner candidate, has the backing of the current president to succeed him. The opposition to water deliveries from Chihuahua remains strong, with politicians like Salvador Alcántar advocating against sending water stored in the Conchos River to the U.S.

The upcoming Mexican presidential election on June 2nd casts a shadow over the minute negotiations. While Sheinbaum is expected to win, the government is unlikely to take action on the water treaty until after the election. The situation is further complicated by the drought affecting Mexico, with water scarcity spreading to more neighborhoods in Mexico City.

In the U.S., the presidential election six months later will also have implications for the water treaty and relations with Mexico. While water and the 1944 treaty are not top campaign issues, the candidates’ approaches to the treaty will shape future negotiations. The immediate concern in the Rio Grande Valley is how to navigate a dry and hot summer with limited water supplies.

As the water crisis worsens, the need for immediate action to secure water takes precedence. Resolving the root issues of water supply in the Rio Grande requires continuous effort, especially during challenging years.

This detailed and well-researched news post highlights the complex water situation between the U.S. and Mexico, the challenges faced by farmers and communities in the Rio Grande Valley, and the political tensions surrounding the 1944 water treaty. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the negotiations, the impact of the drought and climate change, and the upcoming elections in both countries that could influence the resolution of the water dispute.

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