Cuellar: There is no reason the 1944 US-Mexico Water Treaty cannot be renegotiated

RIO GRANDE CITY, On a recent visit to Rio Grande City, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar gave an interview to the Rio Grande Guardian about the 1944 U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty. 

The Guardian posed a question to Rep. Cuellar on behalf of veteran broadcaster Ron Whitlock, of Ron Whitlock Reports. Whitlock wanted to know Cuellar’s position on his idea of having President Trump renegotiate the 1944 treaty. 

Whitlock said the treaty should be renegotiated because, he said, there are too many loopholes in the document that allow Mexico to slide on its obligations, to the detriment of farmers in the Rio Grande Valley. 

Cuellar responded that there are good reasons for the treaty to be renegotiated. He said if President Trump proposed a renegotiation, it is likely Mexico would agree.

“Renegotiation, like we did with the (NAFTA) trade agreement, is always a possibility. Any treaty can always be renegotiated,” Cuellar said.

“We have got Mexico (recently) to do a little bit more but under that 1944 treaty, the way it was set up, they have five years where, if they get behind, they’ve got five years of pay it back. I think that needs to be changed. I think that’s one of the renegotiations.”

But even if Mexico paid back its water debt there would still be a problem, Cuellar explained. He said two thirds of the water that goes into the two dams on the Rio Grande (Amistad and Falcon) comes from Mexico and one third from the U.S. The problem is, Cuellar said, that the one third (coming from the Devils and Pecos rivers) is not arriving. The reason for this, according to Region M Regional Water 

“Population growth along the both sides of the river keeps going. So we got to look for secondary sources. We can’t depend on the Rio Grande. We got to look at conservation, drip irrigation. We got to look at everything, not only the US side, but on the Mexican side,” Cuellar said. 

“So, going back to your original question, if you do a treaty renegotiation, I would certainly ask that we put things in about looking at conservation of both sides, making sure we don’t take give Mexico five years to pay back its water debt like they do at present.”

Getting Mexico to repay its water debt was a problem way back when he was Texas Secretary of State in 2001, Cuellar said. “Mexico was getting behind, and they (the U.S. Department of State) said, ‘there’s nothing we can do. They got five years under the treaty to pay back’.

“So, I think Ron has an idea, maybe we should look at having the president renegotiate. And I bet if he asked for it, the Mexicans would say yes.”

Editor’s Note: Here is the Guardian’s interview with Congressman Cuellar about the 1944 Water Treaty:

The post Cuellar: There is no reason the 1944 US-Mexico Water Treaty cannot be renegotiated appeared first on Rio Grande Guardian.