U.S. Water News Online
HARLINGEN, Texas -- Mexico has signed over some 268,000 acre feet of water from two binational Rio Grande reservoirs, eliminating over half of its long-standing water debt to the United States, Texas officials said.
The transfers were made less than two weeks after Gov. Rick Perry and other state officials announced that Mexico had agreed to pay "every drop" of a debt that had been chilling relations between South Texas and Mexico.
A 1944 treaty dictates that Mexico and the United States share water from the Rio Grande and Colorado River. But Mexico began falling behind on its releases of Rio Grande water as a drought set in 12 years ago, and by 2002 Texas farmers were struggling.
Kathleen Hartnett White, chairwoman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said the transfers signaled "Mexico's sincere intentions to meet its future obligations to retire the debt on time and on schedule."
She said more than 210,000 acre feet had been transferred from the Amistad Reservoir north of Del Rio and more than 56,000 acre feet had been transferred from Falcon Lake reservoir in Zapata County.
At one point, Mexico owed 1.2 million acre feet.
By the announcement of an agreement, abundant rains had allowed Mexico to pay the debt down to 733,000 acre feet. The agreement gave Mexico credit for 155,000 acre feet.
"Let there be no doubt, the water is under our control and on our way to Rio Grande Valley growers, ranchers, farmers and residents," White said.
White's agency oversees the water rights program, which controls usage of U.S. water from the Rio Grande and other waterways.
Carlos Rubinstein, the Rio Grande watermaster, said that the transfers increased U.S. holdings in the reservoirs by 8.1 percent.
While pleased to be assured water for upcoming growing seasons, some Rio Grande Valley farmers say they fear that Mexico will continue to pay the water only when it rains.
"We have to recognize that right now everything is rosy, but the long-term problem is still going to be there," said Wayne Halbert, manager of the Harlingen Irrigation District. "Mexico doesn't have a plan for meeting the terms of the treaty on a regular basis. They're still in the mode, 'We'll look and see each year.' When things look bad, they're going to say, 'We don't have the water.' When things are flooding, they're going to say, 'Well look here, we're the good guys.' "
Cristobal Jaime Jaquez, general director of Mexico's National Water Commission, said recently that his country has opened state water utilities to some private investment and is curbing excess demand and modernizing dams to use water more efficiently.
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