U.S. Pressures Mexico for Violating the 1944 Water Treaty

Water has become a source of internal and external dispute for the Mexican government in recent months. On November 25, the U.S. State Department reported on a meeting between Mexican and U.S. officials in which, it claims, it “pressed” Mexico to comply with its obligation—stipulated in the 1944 Water Treaty—and supply “the maximum possible amount” of water to users in Texas. “The shortfall in water deliveries has exacerbated the shortage in Texas and contributed to hundreds of millions of dollars in crop losses,” they warned.

The demand echoes months of complaints made by farmers in the southern United States, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and Republican Senator Ted Cruz, some of the voices that have most pressured Mexico to comply with what was agreed in 1944, in the bilateral treaty that manages the distribution of water from three rivers: the Colorado River, the Rio Grande, and the Conchos River, for the population of both countries.