U.S. denies Mexico's special request for water due to low water delivery to the Valley
Rio Grande Valley farmers are reacting to a post on X by the state department.
It says the U.S. is denying a special request from Mexico for water in Tijuana from the Colorado River. This comes as Valley growers have struggled with Mexico's low water deliveries to the Rio Grande for years.
Mexico's continued shortfalls in its water deliveries under the 1944 water-sharing treaty are decimating American agriculture--particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley. As a result, today for the first time, the U.S. will deny Mexico's non-treaty request for a special…
— Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (@WHAAsstSecty) March 20, 2025
An expert said Mexico will get its water, but not in the way they're asking.
"I think that was huge. We're still going to deliver that water, it's just not how Mexico wanted it delivered," Hidalgo County Irrigation District 2 Manager Sonny Hinojosa said.
A farmer says it's the first time they've seen the state department take a position like this.
"I tell you what, that has excited a bunch of us. A bunch of us that have been fighting this battle for a number of years, because this is the first time ever that the United States has told Mexico no. In 80 years of the treaty, they've never said no before," Edcouch farmer Brian Jones said.
Under the treaty, the U.S. delivers water to Mexico from the Colorado River and Mexico delivers water to the Rio Grande.
So far, Mexico has only delivered about a quarter of what it owes the U.S. over the last five years.