U.S. rep.: Mexico still not delivering water to South Texas, despite claims

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(The Center Square) – Despite repeated claims by Trump administration officials, Mexico is not delivering water as promised to South Texas in accordance with a long-standing treaty.

In January, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced an agreement had been reached with Mexico to deliver water to South Texas. In February, Rollins again said South Texas ranchers and farmers would be getting water, after also making the claim last year.  

Six weeks later, South Texas ranchers and farmers say they still aren’t getting the water.

By the end of March, “The Mexican government is in default AGAIN on the 202k acre-feet of water they committed to deliver to South Texas. Non-compliance must have consequences. I successfully secured accountability measures in FY26 government funding legislation and won’t stop until the 1944 Treaty is included in the USMCA. It’s time our farmers get the water they’re owed," U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, said.

At issue is compliance with the 1944 Treaty of Utilization of Waters, which governs water usage between the U.S. and Mexico, including from two international reservoirs, Lake Amistad and Falcon Lake in Texas along the international border. Mexico has historically released water storage from Lake Amistad to Mexican growers, not to Texas growers, and the U.S. federal government hasn’t enforced the treaty. Under the Biden administration, Mexican officials killed any agreements to release water, forcing Texas’ last sugar mill to close.

Last May, Rollins said Mexico would comply, but it hadn’t by the end of the year, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott to again demand Mexico fulfill its treaty obligation, pointing to a potential solution proposed by Texas U.S. senators, The Center Square reported. 

If their bill is enacted, restrictions would be imposed on Mexico, including denying all non-treaty requests from the Mexican government and limiting engagement until it complies. De La Cruz also proposed similar restrictions.

For years, Abbott called on the Biden administration to enforce the treaty and received no response. This changed under the Trump administration, which began negotiations last year. In February, Rollins said Mexican officials agreed to deliver a minimum of 350,000-acre feet of water a year to the U.S. This was after the Trump administration repeatedly claimed the Mexican government would comply but hadn’t, The Center Square reported. 

Despite efforts by the Trump administration, in 15 months, Mexico hasn’t fully complied. Texas farmers and ranchers in the Rio Grande Valley are also experiencing a drought. 

Citrus grower Fred Karle told RFD TV News they received some water, equating to roughly 1.5 inches of water per acre. “It was a step in the right direction, but we need some giant steps,” he said. “Well, we just pray for rain. We’ve had a real drought here in the Valley, we didn’t get fall rains, Thanksgiving, Christmas rains. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

By last November, Mexico owed more than 800,000 acre-feet of water, roughly 50% of its total obligation of 1.75 million acre-feet. That’s equivalent to roughly 2.5 years of required deliveries, The Center Square reported.

The Rio Grande Valley is among the most fertile agricultural regions in Texas and the U.S. Half of crop production acreage in the lower Rio Grande Valley is irrigated. In order to grow a wide range of crops, farmers rely on water from the Colorado and Rio Grande rivers. The agricultural industry in the valley contributes roughly $1 billion annually to the economy and provides roughly 8,400 full-time jobs, The Center Square reported. 

A 2023 Texas A&M AgriLife analysis states valley growers have been suffering from water shortages since the mid-1990s.

Mexico has not complied with the treaty since 1992, according to government records. The U.S. government has never enforced the treaty until concerted efforts have been made by the second Trump administration.