Giner: Mexico is praying for a hurricane

Rio Grande Guardian's Podcast

MERCEDES, Texas - Dire is how the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission is describing the water situation along the Texas Mexico border.

Periods of droughts plus a debt Texas’ neighbor south of the Rio Grande has concerning water is creating a crisis that is set to intensify if a solution is not resolved soon.

More than 300,000 people living along the border from El Paso to Brownsville are already feeling the impact and things could get worse as summer approaches.

Maria-Elena Giner, the US commissioner for the IBWC, described the situation as dire in light of Mexico’s water debt with Texas which today stands at some 750,000 acre-feet of water.

“The lack of rain is a reason,” Giner said, during a citizens forum held Tuesday, April 2, at the IBWC Field Office in Mercedes, “but the delivery (issue) has made it more difficult.”

A 1944 treaty between the two countries set a framework for sharing water from the Colorado and Rio Grande rivers.

Under it, Mexico was guaranteed an annual quantity of 1.5 million acre-feet of water from the Colorado River and committed the country to deliver 1.75 million acre-feet to the U.S. every five years.

Under the current five-year cycle, however, Mexico, has a shortfall of nearly a three quarter of a million acre-feet.

And to take care of this matter, Mexico needs to sign a document called a Minute stating it will fulfil its water obligation.

The issue has been so profound that elected representatives from Texas to Washington, D.C. have been pressing the Mexican government to abide by its contract.

They include U.S. Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, Monica de la Cruz, and Henry Cuellar, and even U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

According to an unconfirmed report, Blinken’s Mexican counterpart, Alicia Barcena, has said they will sign the Minute but there has been no new development on this matter.

Giner said the water levels at both Amistad and Falcon dams are also dire, adding the chances for Mexico to have wild water, or water spilling over a reservoir, are nil today.

In the meantime, farmers and people living along the Texas border will keep facing hard days ahead if the water issue is not revolved soon.

Some municipalities are already implementing Phase 2 in their water plans which call for restricted usage.

Farmers and growers are not getting enough water to irrigate their fields, which they usually buy through the many water districts found throughout the Rio Grande Valley.

The crisis reportedly led to the closing of Texas’ only sugarcane mill in Santa Rosa, leaving hundreds of people without jobs and causing millions of dollars to the economy in losses.

Keith Patridge, president and CEO of McAllen Economic Development Corporation, said the water issue has to be addressed regardless of what Mexico is doing.

“We need to start looking at other alternative sources of water,” he said. “I understand salt water is one but it’s more costly that brackish water.”
The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service also caught up with Commissioner Giner at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for an expansion project at Brownsville's Veterans International Bridge.
Giner said Mexico is likely praying for a hurricane.
"The volume is so large at this point, they are 750,000 acre feet behind. At this rate, it's gonna be close to a million if we don't get serious deliveries," Giner said.
Here is an audio recording of the interview.

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