Water symposium to address drought, shortages on South Texas border

PHARR, Texas ( Border Report ) — A bipartisan, day-long symposium will be held Tuesday to address the worsening water situation on the South Texas border.

The Deep South Texas State of Water Symposium is being hosted by Texas state Rep. Terry Canales and state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, both Democrats, as well as the Texas Water Foundation and will be held in the border town of Pharr.

U.S. Reps. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican, and Vicente Gonzalez, a Democrat, who both represent South Texas, are scheduled to participate in the discussions that are to include water conservation solutions.

Gonzalez went to Mexico City last month and met with Mexico’s president and president-elect and discussed water payments with them.

De La Cruz recently formed the South Texas Water Working Group to study the issue.

Tuesday’s symposium is being held as lawmakers and leaders throughout the Rio Grande Valley worry about future water supplies for the region because Mexico owes the United States water to the Rio Grande that has not yet been paid.

As of Aug. 10, Mexico has paid only 400,100 acre-feet of water to the United States this current five-year cycle, which ends in October 2025, according to data from the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission.

Mexico owes a total of 1.75 million acre-feet that is due by the end of the cycle, according to an international treaty from 1944.

The state’s only sugar mill shut down i n February in Hidalgo County and citrus crops in the region are now threatened due to a lack of water.

Tuesday’s event is being hailed as a unifying event where federal, state and local leaders will discuss and exchange information on what organizers say is a “critical issue” to the region.

“The Rio Grande Valley faces a critical water supply deficit with its primary sources, the Amistad and Falcon International reservoirs, currently at 19% and 12% of capacity,” Hinojosa said. “For decades, experts have warned that our region’s growing population, aging irrigation infrastructure and reliance on Mexico make the Rio Grande Valley vulnerable to water shortages.”

“The Deep South Texas State of Water Symposium is a collaborative event that will unify our region to discuss the current state of the problem and how we can work together toward fixing it,” Canales said.

Panels will include:

• A discussion on the local forecast and main challenges concerning water supplies in the Rio Grande Valley.
• An “Infrastructure Trends and Funding Panel” where state and federal officials will discuss projects to better conserve and convey water.
• State legislative priorities devoted to water in the region.
• A “Hope and Innovation” panel where local leaders will talk about their perspectives and how to successfully move forward.

“It’s time for us to unite, identify and implement strategies to diversity our water supply,” Hinojosa said.

“For far too long, our region has been dependent on receiving water through the 1944 Water Treaty with Mexico and the wishful thinking of heavy rain. Still, at some point, our luck is going to run out,” Canales said.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT on Tuesday at the Jose “Pepe” Salinas Recreation Center at 1101 W. Kelly Ave., in Pharr, Texas.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.

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