Giner: We’re deeply concerned how Mexico is going to make up its water debt shortfall

MERCEDES, Texas – Dire is how the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission is describing the water situation along the Texas Mexico border.

Periods of droughts plus a debt Texas’ neighbor south of the Rio Grande has concerning water is creating a crisis that is set to intensify if a solution is not resolved soon.

More than 300,000 people living along the border from El Paso to Brownsville are already feeling the impact and things could get worse as summer approaches.

Maria-Elena Giner, the U.S. commissioner for the IBWC, described the situation as dire in light of Mexico’s water debt with Texas which today stands at some 750,000 acre-feet of water.

“The lack of rain is a reason,” Giner said, during a citizens forum held Tuesday, April 2, at the IBWC Field Office in Mercedes, “but the delivery (issue) has made it more difficult.”

A 1944 treaty between the two countries set a framework for sharing water from the Colorado and Rio Grande rivers.

Under it, Mexico was guaranteed an annual quantity of 1.5 million acre-feet of water from the Colorado River and committed the country to deliver 1.75 million acre-feet to the U.S. every five years.

Under the current five-year cycle, however, Mexico, has a shortfall of nearly a three quarter of a million acre-feet.

And to take care of this matter, Mexico needs to sign a document called a Minute stating it will fulfil its water obligation.

The issue has been so profound that elected representatives from Texas to Washington, D.C. have been pressing the Mexican government to abide by its contract.

They include U.S. Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, Monica de la Cruz, and Henry Cuellar, and even U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

According to an unconfirmed report, Blinken’s Mexican counterpart, Alicia Barcena, has said they will sign the Minute but there has been no new development on this matter.

Giner said the water levels at both Amistad and Falcon dams are also dire, adding the chances for Mexico to have wild water, or water spilling over a reservoir, are nil today.

In the meantime, farmers and people living along the Texas border will keep facing hard days ahead if the water issue is not revolved soon.

Some municipalities are already implementing Phase 2 in their water plans which call for restricted usage.

Farmers and growers are not getting enough water to irrigate their fields, which they usually buy through the many water districts found throughout the Rio Grande Valley.

The crisis reportedly led to the closing of Texas’ only sugarcane mill in Santa Rosa, leaving hundreds of people without jobs and causing millions of dollars to the economy in losses.

Keith Patridge, president and CEO of McAllen Economic Development Corporation, said the water issue has to be addressed regardless of what Mexico is doing.

“We need to start looking at other alternative sources of water,” he said. “I understand salt water is one but it’s more costly that brackish water.”

Giner: Mexico is praying for a hurricane

---

By Steve Taylor

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service also caught up with Commissioner Giner at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for an expansion project at Brownsville’s Veterans International Bridge.

Asked where things stand on negotiations with Mexico, Giner said:

“Right now we are waiting for Mexico to get authorization to sign the Minute. Right now, the United States government has already authorized it. We’ve made all of our negotiating points already on the Minute. We’re just waiting for Mexico to authorize it. The Minute includes good tools for Mexico so that they can make deliveries of water. Right now they’ve only delivered about one year’s worth of water and we’re in our fourth year of the cycle. So, they’re very far behind and we’re deeply concerned how they’re going to make up that shortfall.”

Giner confirmed Mexico was not technically in debt. She said Mexico has until October, 2025, to make its payment of water.

“Technically, they’re not in violation. They’ve got five years to make the delivery. But this is the lowest level of delivery that we have received. And the only time they can spill over into another five years or go into another five years is when there’s an extraordinary drought or serious accident. And so we want to avoid that. “But, the volume is so large at this point, they are 750,000 acre feet behind. At this rate, it’s going to be close to a million if we don’t get serious deliveries,” Giner said.

Giner said Mexico is likely praying for a hurricane.

Here is an audio recording of the interview:

---

Sugar growers discuss Mexico’s water debt

The Texas Farm Bureau has been the voice of Texas Agriculture since 1933. It is the largest farm and ranch organization in Texas. To highlight the water shortage in the Rio Grande Valley, TFB has produced a short video about the closure of Texas’ last sugar mill, in Santa Rosa. In the video, sugar growers Sam Sparks and Tudor Uhlhorn speak about the impact Mexico’s water debt has had on their business.

“We have the ability to grow sugar productively. Our biggest issue is it requires irrigation water,” Sparks said. “We have a treaty that was formed in 1944 with Mexico to where they get a portion of the water that comes down the Rio Grande River along with the United States. Over the years, they’ve built up multiple dams and have been collecting water and not giving the United States the water that is in the treaty. With a shortage of irrigation water, that’s where we’re at today and why they’ve decided that we’re going to have to cease operations at the mill.”

Uhlhorn says the last grain of sugar cane has been shipped out of the warehouse.

“Normally, this warehouse would still be full of sugar, but as you can see, it’s completely empty. And we’ve shipped all the sugar. That’s the last of the Rio Grande Valley sugar that there will be,” Uhlhorn said. “We’ve done everything we could working with International Boundary and Water Commission and the State Department and our representatives in Washington, D.C., to try to push this issue and we’ve basically gotten nowhere.”

Here is a link to the video:

---

The post Giner: We’re deeply concerned how Mexico is going to make up its water debt shortfall appeared first on Rio Grande Guardian.