By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

U.S. Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz introduced legislation designed to help farmers and ranchers in South Texas impacted by Mexico’s failure to deliver the water it owes the United States under the 1944 Water Treaty.

“What we’re trying to do is highlight Mexico’s responsibility to give the United States, specifically producers in South Texas, the water they deserve as per the 1944 Water Treaty,” De La Cruz told the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “What this piece of legislation does is it addresses the significant economic losses that our agricultural producers are going to suffer due to this failure to comply. We want the secretary of agriculture to do a comprehensive review on all existing U.S. Department of Agriculture authorities and programs that can provide relief to Texas farmers and ranchers.”

The Texas Agricultural Producers Assistance Act, according to De La Cruz, ensures the struggles of Texas farmers and ranchers are not overlooked and that they receive support necessary to continue their contributions to the economy.

“Agriculture is the backbone of the Texas economy, and it is essential that we protect and support our farmers through these difficulties. This bill safeguards the livelihoods of those who feed our nation,” De La Cruz said.

The congresswoman is also planning to include language in the 2024 Farm Bill on Mexico’s failure to live up to its end of the water treaty.

“We continue to work with appropriations to put language into the appropriations package that we are working on right now, and to work with the (House) Ag Committee on wording for the upcoming farm bill,” De La Cruz said. “We plan to create language that will be put into the farm bill or provide an amendment to add to the upcoming farm bill in markup.”

U.S. Senator John Cornyn and other lawmakers are working to withhold U.S. funds for Mexico in the State Department’s budget through the appropriations process if Mexico does not deliver the water owed to the U.S.

De La Cruz, Cornyn and Congressmen Tony Gonzales, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, all of Texas, have also spoken with the Secretary of State’s office regarding the water issue.

“The secretary’s position is that they’re electing a president in Mexico and that the focus in Mexico is really the upcoming election,” De La Cruz said. “He hasn’t given us much hope that this issue will be resolved or that Mexico is going to comply in a timely manner.”

Members of the Texas delegation, including De La Cruz, have also spoken with the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), which is charged with the application of the treaty and the settlement of any disputes under the treaty.

“They’ve had an upcoming minute that has been pending for over a year,” De La Cruz said. “We just have not seen any movement from the secretary, from IBWC, and this is why we’re producing legislation that is within the scope of the House to put additional pressures on not only Mexico, but on the secretary of agriculture and Secretary Blinken, as well.”

The 1944 Water Treaty between the United States and Mexico allocates water from the Rio Grande and Colorado River to Mexico.

The U.S. is allocated water from six tributaries in Mexico and some water from the Rio Grande.

The treaty spells out that Mexico is to release this water to the U.S. in five year cycles with 350,000 acre-feet of water owed each year.

According to Reuters, the countries are currently in year four of the current five-year cycle, and Mexico has only sent 30% of its owed deliveries—the lowest amount delivered at this point since 1992.

The lack of water and uncertainty led to the closure of Texas’ only remaining sugar mill earlier this year as sugarcane growers cannot produce a crop without irrigation water.

Now, only two states—Louisiana and Florida—produce sugar.

“Water is important to farmers. They need to plan the crops for the next year, and they need to know that they have the water to be able to grow,” De La Cruz said. “This is not just a regional concern. It’s actually a matter of national food security. This is going to affect all Americans. For example, in the United States, we had three (states producing sugar), one of which was in my area in South Texas, and because of Mexico’s lack of complying with water, our sugar mill had to close. This meant job losses of 500 jobs. It also meant economic loss, but what it did for all Americans is it made us dependent on other countries to supply the sugar that was being supplied by this American company. This is a very serious issue and affects families and livelihoods all across America.”

The uncertainty of water availability also threatens other crops in deep South Texas.

“Very sadly, the citrus industry is at risk, as well,” De La Cruz said. “This is why I’m working not only through this act, by submitting this act and drawing more attention, but we’re working with appropriations to see how we can put language and appropriations. We’re also working with the Ag Committee to put in language within the farm bill that will also draw attention and make leadership such as a secretary of state and the secretary of agriculture, make them responsible to come to the house and provide information about the status on Mexico’s supplying water to our region.”

Manuel Morales, secretary of the Mexican section of IBWC, told Reuters, Mexico is working to comply with its commitments, but the water shortage is due to climate change and extraordinary drought.