Mexico to send water to Texas farmers as US treaty threat grows
Mexico will make an immediate water delivery to Texas farmers to help make up its shortfall under a treaty that has strained US relations and prompted tariff threats by Donald Trump, said Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Friday.
Mexico is looking for alternatives to comply with the 81-year-old water-sharing treaty with the US, Sheinbaum said in her regular news conference. A proposal had already been sent to US officials, she said.
Mexico’s failure to keep up with its water deliveries has sparked a diplomatic spat with its largest trading partner. A day earlier, Trump said he would escalate consequences, including tariffs or sanctions on Mexico. Texas Republicans have also publicly accused Mexico of flagrantly ignoring the treaty, harming farmers who depend on the water deliveries.
“For Texas farmers who are requesting water, there will be an immediate delivery of a certain number of millions of cubic meters that can be provided according to the water availability in the Rio Grande,” Sheinbaum said.
Under the 1944 treaty that outlines water sharing between the two countries through a network of interconnected dams and reservoirs, Mexico must send 1.75m acre-feet of water to the US from the Rio Grande every five years. An acre-foot of water is enough to fill about half an Olympic swimming pool.
The treaty’s current five-year cycle is up in October, but Mexico has sent less than 30% of the required water, according to data from the International Boundary and Water Commission.
Sheinbaum has said Mexico is complying with the treaty based on water availability, pointing to drought conditions that have sapped Mexico’s supply. She expects an agreement in the coming days, she said on Friday, and did not see further conflict. The treaty was “fair”, she added.
Mexican officials were scrambling to come up with a plan to increase the amount of water sent to the United States because of growing concern that Trump could drag the dispute into trade negotiations.
Mexico’s federal government may clash with northern Mexican states that closely guard their water supply if it looks to enforce a controversial amendment inserted into the treaty last year that empowers federal officials to take extra water to comply with obligations, sources told Reuters.
