MEXICO CITY - Mexico will send to U.S. farmers 6 percent of the water it owes them and get funding for water-conservation projects as part of an agreement unveiled on Saturday to end a simmering dispute between the border neighbors.
Texas water officials criticized the deal, saying it fell far short of what the state's farmers need. Drought-hit Mexico has built up a huge water debt to parched farms in Texas under a 1944 treaty governing flows from the Rio Grande River, called Rio Bravo in Mexico, which serves as a border between the countries.
Under the agreement, Mexico will release about 90,000 acre-feet (111 million cubic meters) of water - of the 1.5 million acre-feet (185 billion cubic meters) owed - into the Rio Grande River for use by Texas farmers.
An acre-foot is the amount needed to fill an acre (0.4 hectares) to a depth of one foot (30 cm). One acre-foot is equivalent to 325,850 gallons (1.23 million litres).
The two countries said they would invest some $210 million over the next four years in irrigation, water-conservation and infrastructure projects, mainly in the Mexican states of Coahuila, Chihuahua and Tamaulipas, which border on Texas.
A joint statement said it marked the first time the two governments will invest together in water projects in the border region.
"The agreement reached contributes to resolving the water problems along the border taking into account immediate needs, as well as concrete actions to be taken in the medium and long term," the statement said.
According to a 1944 treaty between Mexico and the United States, water at the point where Mexican tributaries reach the Rio Grande is to be allowed to flow downstream, with one-third (or a minimum of 350,000 acre-feet) earmarked for south Texas and two-thirds promised to Tamaulipas.
In return, the United States agreed to divert 1.75 million acre-feet of water out of the Colorado River and into Mexico each year. The United States has never defaulted.
But in 1992, Mexico did default and has accumulated a water debt that threatened to become a major dispute between the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners.
WATER FUNDING
Mexico said it would spend about $40 million this year on water projects and get another $40 million from the North American Development Bank, created under NAFTA to fund border infrastructure projects.
Washington will spend about $5 million and seek Congressional approval of $100 million more in fiscal 2004 and 2005 for border water projects, half of which would go to Mexico.
The United States will also back a change in statutes at the North American Development Bank that would free up some $25 million for Mexican water projects.
Texas water authorities, however, said the agreement, details of which emerged on Friday, would do little to help the region's farmers.
Jo Jo White, manager of the Cameron and Hidalgo County Irrigation District, said 90,000 acre-feet of water is not enough to rescue south Texas farmers from financial ruin.
"When you divvy up a 100,000 acre-feet between all of the farmers, it won't be enough to water a tenth of the land," White said.
Blighted melon fields and citrus groves have already cost the area more than $1 billion in agriculture revenues.
"We need at least 1.3 million acre-feet of water in a normal growing season," White said, adding that only a hurricane will bolster the region's water supply enough to save next year's crops if the full amount is not repaid.:
