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.

Later that month, more than 14,000 Tamaulipas families who are affected by the water payment sent legal representatives to the Chamber of Deputies to ask the Congress to hold accountable several of Fox's Cabinet secretaries and other officials who had input in the decision. Among those listed in the request for a "political trial" were Foreign Relations Secretary Jorge Castaneda, Environment Secretary Victor Lichtinger, and Cristobal Jacquez, who heads CONAGUA.

Farmers in Tamaulipas and other northern states contend that drought conditions left Mexico without sufficient water to pay the debt to the US from the sources stipulated in the 1944 treaty. Because of this, they said, Fox took the illegal step of taking water from other reservoirs that are not named in the treaty to pay this year's installment.

The farmers received strong support from opposition legislators. Sen. Oscar Luebbert Gutierrez of the former governing Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) criticized the administration for succumbing to US pressure and ceding Mexico's sovereign rights. "Water is a strategic resource and is particularly important because of its scarcity in the northern states," Luebbert told the daily newspaper Reforma.

The extended drought in northern Mexico is already beginning to cause significant problems for the area's agriculture producers. Extreme dry conditions forced farmers to reduce their planted area for grains and other crops by 1.2 million hectares, said a report from the Tamaulipas regional office of the federal Secretaria de Agricultura, Ganaderia, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentacion (SAGARPA). The SAGARPA report projected grain production in Tamaulipas state would be about 30% of normal this year.

Fox introduces long-term water-usage plan

The Fox administration insists that the payment of the water debt will have little long-term impact on Mexican agriculture producers and communities in northern Mexico, even though 70% of the water consumption in northern states is devoted to agriculture.

Rather than focus on short-term supplies, the Fox administration has urged the farmers to focus on long-term solutions. Enrique Berruga, deputy foreign relations secretary, said the Fox government has developed a comprehensive plan, involving 11 separate projects, to promote water conservation and recycling and new investment in infrastructure, including construction of water-treatment facilities. These projects, part of the national water plan (Programa Nacional Hidraulico) for 2001-2006, are intended to introduce more efficient irrigation methods and equipment, which will reduce the amount of water that is wasted, Berruga said in a news conference.

Berruga said the program also includes an increase in water rates and stricter pay requirements to promote conservation. But he said CONAGUA has no plans at this time to impose mandatory water rationing.

Some administration officials like CONAGUA director Cristobal Jacquez doubt that any conservation measures will produce enough water to both pay the US debt and meet the needs of Mexican consumers. Jacquez called on the Fox administration to negotiate an agreement with the US to spread out water payments over 10 years or longer.

The Fox administration's decision to pay an installment on the water debt has not appeased the US. Jeffrey Davidow, US ambassador to Mexico, said the Mexican government had to make a greater commitment to repay the water it owes. "Mexico receives four times more water from the US than it gives us, Davidow told Mexican newspapers in mid-April. "We are doing our part...but Mexico is not fulfilling its obligations."

The ambassador's comments brought a terse statement from the administration. "We are meeting our obligations as established in the treaty," said a press statement issued by the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE).

The SRE acknowledged that Mexico was behind in its water payments to the US for the period 1997 to 2002, but said it had until 2007 to make up the debt. "According to the treaty, if Mexico can't meet its obligations in a five-year period, the deficit passes to the next five years," said the SRE.

Jose Luis Samaniego, who was director of international relations for the former Secretaria del Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca (SEMARNAP), said Mexico and the US should take a longer-term perspective when looking at the cause and effect of extended dry conditions in Mexico. He said both countries have done little to control greenhouse emissions, which are widely linked to global warming and may be indirectly causing extended dryness in much of Mexico.

"I don't think it's fair [for the US] to simply continue to ask for water and not meet its obligations to reduce emissions that cause changes in the global climate," said Samaniego, referring to the US refusal to sign international treaties on global warming.

Mexico concerned about US plan for Colorado River

In Mexico, some agricultural and environmental organizations are sounding the alarm about the possible decline in the quality and amount of water sent by the US to Mexico from the Colorado River. These groups say the Colorado River Plan, aimed at reducing California's reliance on water from the waterway, could have unintended effects on Mexico. Under the plan, California has proposed a series of steps that include intensive conservation, transferring agricultural water rights to urban areas, lining canals, and constructing groundwater storage areas. This plan's primary goal is to ensure adequate water supplies for San Diego and Los Angeles.

Transferring water rights to the cities and lining canals are of particular concern to Mexico, since this would reduce water seepage into the river and reduce the volume that eventually ends up downstream and supplies the aquifers in the Mexicali Valley.

There is also some concern that the US may renege on its commitments to supply water to Mexico from the Colorado River if the dispute about the Rio Grande water debt escalates. But Alberto Szekely, the SRE's representative at the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), said the Fox administration is more concerned that California is taking water from the All-American Canal and other Colorado River tributaries used to supply water to Mexico. By some estimates, the California plan could reduce water supplies sent to Mexico by about 73 million cubic meters a year.

As an alternative, the US is said to be considering constructing a desalination and treatment plant near Yuma, Arizona, to purify agricultural waste water to help supplement the supplies sent to Mexico.

But Steve Cornelius, an expert at the Arizona-based environmentally oriented Sonoran Institute, said the plan does not take into account the damage to the environment and agriculture from reducing natural water flows into Mexico. Cornelius said the plan could increase salinization of more than 200,000 ha of agricultural land in the Mexicali Valley and increase the risk to the Gulf of California ecosystems.

"Mexico has been left with the responsibility [of guarding the environment], when this should be a bilateral responsibility," said Cornelius.

Also of great concern is the potential for water shortages in northern areas of Baja California state, especially the city of Tijuana. Continued dry conditions in the area and a burgeoning population have forced Mexico to import 18 million cubic meters of water annually. This represents 10% of the water Mexico receives from the US under the 1994 treaty. (Sources: Press Release, Imperial Irrigation District, 08/08/01; El Financiero, 01/14/02, 01/31/02; CNI en Linea, 02/20/02; Copley News Service, 03/24/02; Milenio Diario, 03/21/02, 04/02/02; Notimex, 01/14/02, 02/07/02, 02/21/02, 03/06/02, 03/13/02, 04/08/02, 04/10/02, 04/11/02, 04/15/02; Novedades, 01/14/02, 03/15/02, 04/01/02, 04/03/02, 04/15/02, 04/16/02; Reforma, 02/14/02, 02/25/02, 03/29/02, 04/03/02, 04/15/02, 04/16/02; La Cronica de Hoy, 03/06/02, 03/08/02, 03/12/02, 03/13/02, 04/01/02, 04/02/02, 04/08/02, 04/15/02, 04/16/02; The News, 04/03/02, 04/16/02; El Universal, 02/07/02, 02/08/02, 02/25/02, 04/03/02, 04/05/02, 04/15-17/02; La Jornada, 02/07/02, 03/07/02, 04/15-17/02)