Until now, Mexico has managed to deliver only 46.4% of the 2,158 million cubic meters of water committed, which provides that it will be impossible to fulfill the agreement in its original terms, set for October 24.
Another critical factor is the Falcón (Tamaulipas) and friendship (Coahuila) dams, where much of the water should leave, but that are currently at extremely low levels: 8.3% and 13.6% respectively. Given this situation, the Government of Claudia Sheinbaum has already confirmed that other dams will be appealed no longer originally contemplated in the bilateral agreement.
To put it in perspective, the 2,158 million cubic meters of water that Mexico must deliver to the US every five years equivalent to filling almost 1,200 times the Azteca stadium, which has a capacity of 1.8 million cubic meters. That is, a volume equivalent to 643 complete stages is still owed.
This comparison allows to dimension the magnitude of the water involved in the bilateral agreement and the difficulties faced by the Mexican authorities to fulfill it.
How will water be paid to the US?
In the Mañanera Conference on October 1 the general director of the National Water Commission (Conagua), Efraín Morales López, explained that there is already an agreement with the United States so that, at the end of October, a part of what is owed and not the total is delivered, since the droughts of recent years in the north have prevented them from fulfilling in a timely manner.
“Then, we are not going to have any difficulty to fulfill that commitment. And then, based on the runoff and on the conditions that are lived on both sides, we will establish a mechanism to be able to regularize it,” said the federal official and confirmed that the newly negotiated terms will be fulfilled, not those established by the treaty.
The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, stressed that the agreement with the US for the delivery of water in the northern states is carried out with the support and knowledge of all the governors involved. He pointed out that the treaty contemplates specific deliveries depending on the amount of rain, and that both Mexico and the US make investments to guarantee compliance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIRSecxini8
“It includes water from all prey, there is an agreement on how to transfer. And all the governors are informed: the governor of Chihuahua, the governor of Coahuila, the governor of Nuevo León and the governor of Tamaulipas,” said the president.
Sheinbaum said that the rains of the season are expected to help fulfill the commitments and that Mexico maintains permanent communication with the US government through the International Limit and Water Commission (CILA). The agreement also includes sanitation actions, such as that of the Tijuana River, agreed with the EU Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The president said that at the end of October the exact figures of delivery and water debt to the US will be announced, as well as the agreed to regularize the situation in Mexico in the coming years. He also guaranteed that the delivery will be made without affecting the right to the water of Mexicans or the producers of the countryside.
(Cuartoscuro)
What is the treaty?
The Water Treaty between Mexico and the United States, signed in 1944, is a key agreement that defines how the waters of the Tijuana, Colorado and Bravo rivers are distributed, from Fort Quitman, Texas, to the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico delivers Agua del Río Bravo to US and receives from the Colorado River, under the supervision of the International Limit and Water Commission (CILA).
Over the years, this treaty has allowed to coordinate the use of shared water resources and resolve conflicts peacefully, although its application has required constant adjustments through the so -called “minutes process”.
In practical terms, Mexico sends around 2,158 million cubic meters of water to EU per five -year period, while receiving 4,317 million cubic meters, a difference that makes it the largest beneficiary of the treaty.
However, in recent years, droughts and low availability in Mexican dams have made it difficult to fulfill complete shipments, generating tensions with President Trump and Texas authorities.
This 2025, Mexico reached an agreement to partially regularize delivery and comply with a portion of what was owed at the end of October, while looking for a mechanism to normalize the situation in the coming years.
(Julio Cesar Aguilar/AFP)
