South Texas congressman holds talks with Mexican leaders on water debt

McALLEN, Texas ( Border Report ) — U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, was scheduled to meet with Mexico’s president in Mexico on Monday to discuss water owed to the United States, Border Report has learned.

Gonzalez says he was meeting Monday with outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrado. He told Border Report he is scheduled to meet with Mexico’s President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday.

He plans to bring up missed water payments, border security and other issues concerning South Texas, Gonzalez told “Inside Valley Politics.”

“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,” Gonzalez said.

According to a 1944 international treaty, Mexico is to pay the United States 1.75 million acre-feet of water during a five-year cycle, which ends in October 2025. However, Mexico has not quite paid 400,000 acre-feet of water to the Rio Grande, so far, according to the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which oversees the Rio Grande.

Analysts and local leaders worry the country is running out of time to repay the water by the deadline. And there are fears that agriculture will be devastated in South Texas if water is not received.

Texas’ only sugar mill shut down earlier this year. It had been located in Hidalgo County, which soon after issued a drought declaration.

The latest drought map released Monday by the Texas Water Development Board shows, however, no immediate drought in South Texas. This comes after tropical storm disturbances brought rain to the region.

Border security

Border security also remains a top priority and a concern for those living in South Texas, Gonzalez says.

The U.S. State Department warns that kidnappings are occurring at bus stations in the border city of Reynosa, directly south of McAllen, and mostly in the evening. “Passengers with connections to the United States are being targeted, including U.S. citizens and residents,” the agency warns.

Gonzalez on Friday tweeted on X about cartel-related kidnapping dangers in the northern Mexican border state of Tamaulipas, which is south of McAllen and Brownsville.

“Reports of organized kidnappings targeting United States citizens and residents on buses departing Reynosa, Tamaulipas are still ongoing. Please be vigilant and continue to monitor the @statedept travel advisories,” he wrote.

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

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