South Texas leaders push to meet with incoming Mexican president over water debt ‘crisis’

McALLEN, Texas ( Border Report ) — Lawmakers from the Rio Grande Valley are vying to meet with Mexico’s incoming president over water owed to the United States.

U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, this week wrote to Mexican President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum requesting a meeting to address water deliveries that are owed to the United States under a 1944 international treaty.

“The ongoing water scarcity in South Texas represents a true crisis for both communities and farmers,” De La Cruz wrote Monday in the letter. “Given the dire need for water relief in South Texas, I respectfully request a meeting with you so that we may best work together to resolve this long standing issue.”

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez told Border Report on Friday that he has meetings planned with Sheinbaum “and some incoming members of her cabinet Monday and Tuesday.”

Gonzalez recently told “Inside Valley Politics” that he was meeting with Sheinbaum to discuss water payments and other issues.

“I have a meeting with the incoming president Sheinbaum,” Gonzalez said. “I intend to bring up the issues that I’ve been critical on Mexico, the insecurity along our borders, and in the interior of Mexico. I’m going to bring up the water debt that still hasn’t been paid, and other issues that I think are concerns for us.”

Both lawmakers have been outspoken and aggressive in efforts to get Mexico to pay water owed to the United States, and specifically to the Rio Grande, which supplies most of the drinking and agriculture water for South Texas communities.

“Under the 1944 Water Treaty, Mexico pledged to supply the United States with an average 350,000 acre feet of water annually over a five year cycle,” De La Cruz wrote. “Unfortunately, there have been consistent delays in meeting these obligations which is causing agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley to suffer.”

Under the treaty, Mexico is obligated to pay 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the United States via the Rio Grande during a five-year cycle. The current cycle ends in October 2025 and Mexico has not yet delivered 400,000 acre-feet of water — that’s barely one year’s worth of water owed, according to the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which oversees the Rio Grande.

Recent rains brought by a tropical storm and other disturbances have increased water capacity in the region’s two dams a bit. Amistad Reservoir, outside Del Rio, was at 19% capacity on Friday, and Falcon Dam was at 12% capacity on Friday, according to the IBWC.

Regardless, De La Cruz and Gonzalez say water levels this year have been historically low.

This led to the state’s only sugar mill shutting down earlier this year and for Hidalgo County to declare a disaster due to the drought.

On June 28, the House of Representatives passed legislation that includes language to withhold about $7 million worth of funding to Mexico until water is paid to the United States. The legislation was part of the Fiscal Year 2025 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill that would take effect in October.

The legislation is now pending in the Senate.

“With legislation passed that withholds funding from our southern neighbors, they will now see how serious we are about receiving our guaranteed payments. The longer they hold out, the worse the situation is for farmers and ranchers who need that water to produce food that feeds America. The sugar industry in Texas is no longer in existence, and the next casualty will be the citrus industry. This bill holds Mexico accountable, and I hope it will push its leaders to do the right thing,” De La Cruz said after the legislation passed the House.

“As good neighbors, we must hep each other in times of need. That time is now. I urge your incoming administration to fulfill Mexico’s obligations,” De La Cruz told Sheinbaum.

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

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