DROUGHT MAGNIFIES IMPORTANCE OF U.S.-MEXICO WATER DISPUTES.

A lingering drought in northern and central Mexico has magnified the impact of a dispute between the US and Mexico regarding the allocation of water from the Rio Grande and a growing controversy about allocations from the Colorado River. The disputes stem from a 1944 treaty in which Mexico agreed

The US has thus far continued to meet its end of the bargain, but changes in water-usage policies for California and other western states may cut into the amount of water transferred to Mexico. Conversely, Mexico has been unable to release the required amounts of water from the Rio Grande because extremely dry conditions have prevailed in the northern areas of the country for many years. As a result, Mexico's water debt to the US has grown to about 1.7 billion cubic meters since 1992.

Mexico's inability to pay back the water debt has brought complaints from Texas agriculture interests, the main beneficiaries of the water. As a result, US President George W. Bush made the water debt a priority in bilateral discussions with Mexican President Vicente Fox in early 2001 (see SourceMex, 2001-04-18).

Faced with US pressure, Fox agreed in February of this year to release 112.2 million cubic meters of water to the US, which is less than 10% of the total water debt.

Fox criticized for paying water-debt installment

But Fox's decision was extremely controversial, given the years of drought in northern states during the past decade. The dry conditions are evidenced by the low levels in the Amistad and Falcon Reservoirs, which have dropped to about 10% of capacity, the government's Comision Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA) said in a report in late January.

The administration's decision to pay the installment on the water debt met strong protests from organizations representing tens of thousands of farmers in Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, and Coahuila states. These organizations received support from some elected officials, including Tamaulipas Gov. Tomas Yarrington. Yarrington told participants at a protest in Monterrey in mid-March that he would do his best to defend the rights of water users in the northern states.

The loudest protests against Fox's decision have occurred in Tamaulipas state, where agriculture is a leading source of income. In early March, hundreds of farmers from three communities in northern Tamaulipas held a rally at the international bridge connecting Matamoros in Tamaulipas state with Brownsville, Texas. The protestors said the decision robbed them of water they need to grow their own crops.