Despite back-to-back deals on water from Mexico, relief for South Texas farmers is far from certain

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McALLEN — South Texas farmers remain concerned about their access to water despite back-to-back announcements this month that signaled better days ahead.

First, the U.S. and Mexico signed an amendment to an international water treaty that dictates how water is shared between the two countries. Then earlier this week, Texas agreed to accept a relatively small offer of water that would go toward paying off Mexico's current water debt while also bringing relief to farmers and ranchers whose land has gone dry in the face of the current water shortage.

However, relief is still a ways off as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state agency that decides how to allocate the water, has yet to give the green light for that water to be used.

The water in question is 120,000 acre-feet from Mexico's San Juan River. Mexico had offered the water in October, but the irrigation districts that provide water to farmers and ranchers were hesitant to accept it. They worried that accepting water now would cut into their critical supply needed for farming next season.

The change in the water treaty essentially forced the state's hand. Earlier this month, the U.S. and Mexico signed an amendment to the 1944 international water treaty that had been in the works for more than a year. The amendment gives Mexico more ways to deliver water it owes the U.S., including allowing them to meet their obligations by delivering water it doesn’t need from the San Juan and Alamo rivers, which are not managed by the treaty.

Under the treaty, Mexico must deliver 1,750,000 acre-feet of water to the U.S. from six tributaries every five years. Four years into the current five-year cycle, Mexico has delivered just 427,914 acre-feet with a balance of more than 1.3 million acre-feet of water that is due by October 2025.

Through the new amendment, the U.S. will credit Mexico for water it provides from the San Juan River even though it is not one of the six tributaries, a position that Gov. Greg Abbott sharply criticized when he ordered the state to accept the water earlier this week.

"Texas stands firm in its position — consistent with the text of the Treaty — that those commitments may be satisfied only with water from the six named tributaries," Abbott said.

Because that water will go toward satisfying Mexico's water obligations, TCEQ Commissioner Bobby Janecka confirmed Thursday that farmers and irrigation districts will be charged for it.

“I’m not aware of a path yet, that there’s any opportunity to do it fully no-charge,” Janecka said during a symposium on the state of the Rio Grande hosted by the Texas Water Foundation.

Janecka said not charging those who receive from the 120,000 acre-feet of water would risk leaving users in other areas of the state without water in the future.

But there's a possible solution in the new amendment. It will also allow Mexico to transfer water it has stored at the Falcon and Amistad international reservoirs to meet its obligations. The hope is that Mexico will transfer enough water to make up for any water that farmers will be charged for accepting the San Juan River water.

"I am very optimistic but I expect the worst," said Michael Kent, general manager for Donna Irrigation District.

Janecka said his staff is reviewing options for allocating the accepted water. Sonny Hinojosa, a water advocate for Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2, criticized the ongoing delays in accepting the water.

“We're just wondering why are they throwing up so many roadblocks in accepting this water,” Hinojosa said. “With the governor's directive, they have to accept it, but there's still some issues that nobody really understands what they are.”

Kent said he was grateful that Abbott’s order essentially set a clock for TCEQ to take action on the water but emphasized that time was of the essence.

He lamented the toll the water shortage had already taken on the Rio Grande Valley’s agriculture industry which lost its sugar mill, the last one in the state, in February due to lack of water. Farmers fear citrus will be next.

Because the water shortage has resulted in less citrus production, Kent said citrus growers in his district have avoided using packing sheds to process their fruit as a way to save money.

“The margins would be too slim since the yield was low because of the lack of water,” Kent said. “So it's a matter of time and it's very difficult to plan for the future.”

Federal lawmakers have tried to push Mexico to make good on their water obligations. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn pressured the U.S. State Department to pursue all diplomatic means to ensure Mexico complied with the treaty. Additionally, he and U.S. Sen. Ted Crus introduced legislation that, if approved, would require the U.S. government to impose restrictions on money for federal aid, trade and development sent to Mexico if the country fails to deliver water it owes.

In response to the amendment to the treaty, Cornyn thanked the commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission, the federal agency that oversees the treaty, for fostering open dialogue between the two countries but said there was still work to be done.

"[B]ut there is still much more work to be done," Cornyn said in a statement. "Our border communities in the Rio Grande Valley are being crushed by Mexico’s repeatedly delayed water deliveries, and I urge the State Department to prioritize ensuring South Texas farmers and ranchers have the water they are rightfully owed on a more predictable basis."

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

Disclosure: Texas Water Foundation has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.