US withholding water from Mexico to address debt, official says

MERCEDES, Texas (Border Report) -- The United States is holding backmost h2o payments to Mexico successful bid to nonstop a message, the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commissioner told Border Report.

"The archetypal enactment that the State Department has done is successful denying h2o deliveries to Mexico successful the Tijuana area," U.S. IBWC Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner told Border Report past week erstwhile she visited South Texas.

"We wanted to awesome to them that our level of practice is diminishing due to the fact that of the deficiency of show connected h2o deliveries. This is simply a archetypal step," Giner said.

Under a 1944 planetary treaty, Mexico is expected to nonstop 1.75 cardinal acre-feet of h2o to the United States via the Rio Grande implicit five-year cycles. The existent rhythm ends successful October and truthful acold Mexico has paid little than 500,000 acre-feet of h2o -- astir a 4th of what it owes, according to IBWC data.

The United States, likewise, under the treaty is required to nonstop to Mexico 1.5 cardinal acre-feet of h2o from the Colorado River.

But Giner says requested deliveries to Tijuana, Mexico, southbound of San Diego, were not precocious fulfilled. And she says much holding backmost of water, and different resources, could travel adjacent if Mexico fails to nonstop the U.S. water.

"The State Department is evaluating each of its options that it has to leverage Mexico," Giner told Border Report.

The stark enactment by the Trump medication is the archetypal clip successful caller past that the United States has withheld water. And it comes aft Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins visited the Rio Grande Valley connected March 19 on with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas.

Their visits came arsenic the portion was reeling from months of drought and workplace fields were drying up and crops dormant aft growers could not get h2o due to the fact that of pumping restrictions placed connected the dwindling Rio Grande.

Rollins' sojourn "was truly helpful," Giner said, "in elevating the illustration of this issue. The much sync that we are with the national agencies, the better."

Last week, dozens of inches of rainfall fell connected the Rio Grande Valley, causing wide flooding. Unfortunately, the rains fell excessively acold eastbound to beryllium stored successful the region's 2 reservoirs, Giner said.

Falcon Dam, successful occidental Starr County, did person 2 inches of rainfall from the upwind event, which was a boost of astir 11,000 acre-feet. Mexico received astir 16,000 acre-feet successful their reservoirs from the rains.

Giner came to South Texas to circuit the flooded portion and told a gathering of section leaders and irrigation and drainage officials that contempt immoderate caller alleviation of rain, that Mexico volition inactive beryllium pressured to wage the h2o indebtedness it owes the United States.

"The Department of States is keeping existent adjacent tabs arsenic acold arsenic h2o deliveries. They person asked Mexico to supply them with monthly transportation schedules arsenic good arsenic a program for however they're going to code immoderate of the shortfalls. They're besides looking astatine what are the measures that they tin take," Giner told the group.

Instead of sending h2o to Tijuana, Giner says the United States has agreed to nonstop astir 2,000 acre-feet to Mexicali "so they tin bash immoderate repairs connected the Mexican broadside of their aqueduct," she said.