Dry Rio Grande Point of U.S./Mexico Friction

SILVER CITY, New Mexico, May 17, 2002 (ENS) - The Rio Grande, the river dividing the United States from Mexico, no longer reaches the Gulf of Mexico into which it has emptied for millions of years. The water has stopped flowing due to a sandbar formed by several years of low water levels plus high water usage in drought stricken northern Mexico.

Left high and dry, Texas politicians are threatening retaliation in what has become an acrimonious water dispute between the two countries.

"Sharing the Waters," a report issued today by the Interhemispheric Resource Center, a nonprofit policy studies center, outlines the international dispute over the waters of the Rio Grande and Rio Bravo rivers in Texas and Mexico.

The Rio Grande forms the border between the United States and Mexico. Here it flows through Big Bend National Park. (Photo credit unknown)

Northern Mexico has replied that it is suffering from a persistent, severe drought that has reduced capacity in its reservoirs to dangerous levels.

One of the largest reservoirs in the Mexican portion of the basin, La Boquilla on the Río Conchos in Chihuahua, is at about 20 percent of normal capacity.

Further down the Conchos, the Luís León reservoir is at less than 20 percent of its normal storage. Mexico’s reserves amount to less than 10 percent of that system’s capacity.

Under these conditions, short of cutting off all irrigation south of the border, it is not practical for Mexico to rapidly repay its current deficit of about 1.4 million acre-feet as agreed under the joint 1944 Amistad/Falcon Reservoir Treaty.

However, many people in Texas are demanding that Mexico abide by the treaty regardless of the consequences to that country.

Chapman and Kelly say, "Those Texas politicians leading the charge against Mexico seem to agree with farmers in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas who maintain that Mexico is purposefully managing its part of the Rio Grande/Río Bravo basin in order to deliberately withhold water and put Texas farmers out of business. They have mounted a sustained campaign to convince U.S. federal officials that Mexico should be transferring all its Río Bravo water through to the Rio Grande instead of using some of it for irrigation in Chihuahua."

In response, Mexico points out that the many farmers in the area have had to resort to dryer crops such as grain sorghum in order to survive.

Francisco I. Maderas Dam, located near Delicias, Chihuahua, on the Conchos River, stores irrigation water and generates hydro power for the region. (Photo by Enrique Rios Gonzalez courtesy Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Basin Coalition)

The joint U.S.-Mexico North American Development Bank, created in a side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement, proposes to fund $40 million of the $420 million total price tag that Mexico’s National Water Commission estimates as the total cost of the irrigation and municipal infrastructure improvements project.

Most federal officials in Washington have maintained a low profile on the issue. But constant pressure from Texas officials, widespread media coverage and lack of progress in resolving the dispute could bring attention from the federal government.

Earlier this week, President George W. Bush, formerly governor of Texas, discussed the water issue with Mexican President Vincente Fox, who responded with a public statement promising Mexico will establish a plan for paying its water debt within 15 days.

Last week, Mexican and U.S. conservation organizations convened a forum in Chihuahua to discuss what cooperative actions can be taken to protect and restore the Río Conchos basin.

Chapman and Kelly warn that further escalation of the dispute could damage the bilateral relationship, affecting the two countries’ ability to cooperate on water issues along other parts of the border, and threaten progress on other issues such as immigration and economic development.

In the near term, says Chapman and Kelly, the governments must agree on a formula for allocating what rain does fall this year. A realistic payment plan for the current deficit, based on actual rainfall, is needed.

In addition, the two countries must come to an agreement on a drought management plan for the Rio Grande/Río Bravo basin.

The governments are supposed to convene a binational summit to develop an overall sustainable management plan for the basin, involving key water user groups, conservation organizations, and state and local governments. This concept was originally proposed by Mexico and embodied in a March 2001 agreement between the countries. But the current dispute appears to have stalled action on the idea.

The full report from the Texas Center for Policy Studies (TCSP) can be found online at: http://www.americaspolicy.org/commentary/2002/0205water.html