The US Water War With Mexico Is Just Starting
Severe water scarcity is poisoning bilateral relations. A negotiated technical solution, not threats, is needed to confront a new shared hydrological reality.
The Rio Grande is not as wide or wet as it needs to be.
Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Of the many open fronts Mexico has with Donald Trump, water is the least conspicuous one — but with the biggest potential for immediate damage.
The conflict has an historic background: Under a treaty signed in 1944, Mexico needs to send 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the US over five-year cycles, or an average of 350,000 acre-feet per year, from its tributaries into the Rio Grande. At the same time, it expects to receive 1.5 million acre-feet per year from the US through the Colorado River.1The pact, hailed as a showpiece of transnational cooperation, provides a diplomatic mechanism to resolve disputes affecting local communities and has safeguarded the hydrological resources across the Mexico-US border since its signing.