Mexico to send water to Texas farmers as US treaty threat grows

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By Cassandra Garrison and Raul Cortes

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico will make an immediate water delivery to farmers in Texas, President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday, to help make up its shortfall under a treaty that has strained U.S. relations and prompted tariff threats by President Donald Trump.

Mexico is looking for alternatives to comply with the 81-year-old water-sharing treaty with the U.S., Sheinbaum said in her regular news conference. A proposal had already been sent to U.S. officials, she said.

Mexico’s failure to keep up with its water deliveries has sparked a diplomatic spat with its largest trading partner.

A day earlier, Trump said he would escalate consequences, including tariffs or sanctions on Mexico. Texas Republicans have also publicly accused Mexico of flagrantly ignoring the treaty, harming farmers who depend on the water deliveries.

“For Texas farmers who are requesting water, there will be an immediate delivery of a certain number of millions of cubic meters that can be provided according to the water availability in the Rio Grande,” Sheinbaum said.

Under the 1944 treaty that outlines water-sharing between the two countries through a network of interconnected dams and reservoirs, Mexico must send 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the U.S. from the Rio Grande every five years. An acre-foot of water is enough to fill about half an Olympic swimming pool.

The treaty’s current five-year cycle is up in October, but Mexico has sent less than 30% of the required water, according to data from the International Boundary and Water Commission.

Sheinbaum has said Mexico is complying with the treaty based on water availability, pointing to drought conditions that have sapped Mexico’s supply. She expects an agreement in the coming days, she said on Friday, and did not see further conflict. The treaty was “fair,” she added.

Mexican Agriculture Minister Julio Berdegue said on X later on Friday that he had had a call with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau about Mexico’s commitment to comply with the treaty.

They discussed water deliveries for this year and irrigation technology in the northern states of Baja California, Chihuahua and Tamaulipas, Berdegue said.

Rollins posted a message on X later saying the call had been “productive” and praised Trump for being “willing to do what’s necessary to make it happen.”

Reuters, citing sources, reported on Wednesday that Mexican officials were scrambling to come up with a plan to increase the amount of water sent to the United States because of growing concern that Trump could drag the dispute into trade negotiations.

Mexico has agreed to send 122,000 acre-feet of water to the U.S. and is working on an option to deliver another 81,000 acre-feet, according to a Mexican official. But that additional water would still mean Mexico had sent less than 40% of the water it owes under the treaty.

Sheinbaum did not specify on Friday how much water Mexico would send to Texas farmers.

Mexico’s federal government may clash with northern Mexican states that closely guard their water supply if it looks to enforce a controversial amendment inserted into the treaty last year that empowers federal officials to take extra water to comply with obligations, sources told Reuters.

(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison and Raul Cortes; additional reporting by Diego Ore and Leah Douglas, Editing by Kylie Madry and Sandra Maler)