Mexico Is Offering Water to South Texas. But There’s a Catch Farmers Aren’t Happy About.
“The water that we don’t ask to be released for us stays behind the dam, and when there’s the next allocation, everyone gets a piece of the pie,” he said.
The Falcon and Amistad reservoirs supply water to farmers and irrigation districts in the Rio Grande Valley, but levels there remain low from a lack of sufficient rainfall to meet farmers’ needs.
The U.S. side of the reservoirs is also supposed to receive water from Mexico under the terms of a 1944 treaty. Mexico must deliver 1,750,000 million acre-feet of water to the U.S. from six tributaries every five years, or an average of 350,000 every year. But Mexico has fallen behind, with a balance of more than 1.3 million acre-feet it needs to deliver by the October 2025 deadline.
The San Juan River is not one of those six tributaries, but if that water is accepted, it would be credited towards Mexico’s water debt.
Reaching an agreement on the offered water soon is important as that water is in danger of spilling over the dam.
“There is a danger if they get rain in this region and the water starts to spill,” said Maria-Elena Giner, IBWC commissioner. “The other thing is that if we don’t start using some of that water, or that commitment isn’t made very soon, others in Mexico may say, well, then we’ll keep it, and we’ll use it for our users.”
It’s that urgency that motivated Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller to issue an executive order last week authorizing farmers and irrigation districts to use water from the Rio Grande.
“Every day is critical,” Miller said, adding that TCEQ’s hands were tied on the matter. “By the time they got through the bureaucratic red tape, I was afraid the water’s already out the gulf.”
But Miller’s authority to give farmers that access is questionable at best. TCEQ said water rights were governed by the Texas Water Code and TCEQ regulations.
“All Texans along the Rio Grande should continue to comply with these requirements,” a spokesperson for TCEQ wrote in an email.
The department added it continued to work with local stakeholders and the IBWC on negotiating water deliveries from Mexico.
The IBWC said they appreciated Miller’s efforts to help South Texas producers and irrigation districts. Giner said the agency continues to urge Mexico to provide a plan to address the shortfall and make good on their water deliveries.
Berenice Garcia is a regional reporter covering the Rio Grande Valley. This story is published courtesy of the Texas Tribune.The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
