“For the first time in more than 80 years, the U.S. has denied Mexico’s request for water from the Colorado River, escalating tensions over a water-sharing agreement between the two nations.
The State Department says it denied the request because Mexico hasn’t complied with the 1944 treaty that established the water-sharing system. That agreement requires Mexico to send 1.75 million acre-feet of water from the Rio Grande to the U.S. every five years. In turn, the U.S. must send 1.5 million acre-feet of water to Mexico from the Colorado River each year.
By the end of 2024, Mexico had delivered only a quarter of what it owed for the current five-year period, which ends in October. Mexico has been struggling with severe droughts for several years. In the first quarter of 2024, the country’s agricultural production fell by 6.1 percent, according to a report from the Bank of Mexico. Activity in the north-central regions, which includes the border states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo León, fell by 3.3 percent. The country has sought emergency water deliveries to alleviate the strain on its water systems.”