The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe ended the Mexican American War and delineated most of the current borders between México and the US. The boundary between the countries starting west of El Paso and heading eastward is the Rio Grande, as the Rio Bravo is known in the United States. However, the river’s changing flow due to flooding and other weather-related events moved the border over time.
The border dispute led to a settlement that displaced families, created international policy that affects El Paso to this day, and it impacts today’s national policies between both countries.
The acreage is known as the Chamizal. By 1895, Americans began to settle the land. El Paso incorporated the disputed land into the city. In 1889 the US and Mexican governments created the International Boundary Commission “for the purpose of carrying out the principals contained in the Convention of 1884 and to avoid the difficulties occasioned by the changes which take place in the bed of the Rio Grande.” (see note 1 below) In 1944, water was added to the portfolio of the Commission to address water and sanitation issues between both countries. Today, the International Boundary Commission is known as the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) and it is based in El Paso.
The IBWC And The Water Dispute
The current US Commissioner for the IBWC is Maria-Elena Giner, a professional engineer. Giner, a 1985 graduate of Loretto Academy, was appointed by Joe Biden in August 2021. On Thursday, Donald Trump accused México of “stealing the water from Texas farmers.” Trump was referring the closure of a sugar mill last year in his comments.
In early 2024, the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers mill cooperative announced it was shutting down. Sugar requires 400 gallons of water per pound to be processed, making it one of the highest water usage crops. The sugar mill was getting much of its water from reservoirs that are primarily fed by rain in Chihuahua.
The 1944 treaty governing water sharing between both countries obligates México to give the US one-third of Chihuahua’s rainwater, almost 2 million acre-feet, every five-years. In the last five years, México has only delivered one year’s worth of water.
Under the treaty, México is not in violation because it has until October of this year to deliver the water required under the treaty in the last five years.
The leadership of the Hidalgo County based sugar mill co-op blamed México of “gaming the system” arguing that by October it would be too late for the sugar growers. The mill leadership argued that México should have given more water than its usual release after the 2022 tropical storm provided México with a significant amount of fresh water. The IBWC says that México delivered “its usual releases during the storm,” but did not deliver the additional water requested by the US farmers.
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On February 2, 2024, the sugar mill co-op shuttered its operations, citing “Mexico’s failure to comply with the provisions of the 1944 Water Treaty.” The 1944 Treaty governs the sharing of water resources from two rivers in both countries. Water from México feeds the Texas citrus-industry, while Baja California and Chihuahua are heavily reliant on water that comes from the US side. According to NPR, México “is some 265 billion gallons of water behind its deliveries” to the US.
Climate change and growing populations have led to the water dispute, people on both sides of the border say.
Giner says that México’s water deliveries are “at their lowest levels” since the treaty was enacted, and although she did not characterize it as a violation of its treaty obligations, she told NPR that it would “be very difficult, if not statistically impossible, for them to make up” the water obligation in October when the latest five-year cycle ends.
Tensions over water have risen as the lack of water threatens the Texas citrus industry. But water from México isn’t the only problem driving the water shortages in Texas. According to the latest figures from the Texas Water Development Board water audit dashboard, Texas water utilities lost around 17 billion gallons of water from breaks and leaks in their water infrastructure with another 140 billion gallons of lost water that went unreported in 2023.
Water Region E, where the El Paso water utility is in, reported 570 million gallons of water lost through leaks and breaks in its water infrastructure and another 4.7 billion gallons of unreported water losses. Region E includes Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Presidio and Terrell counties.
Last year, Andrés Manuel López Obrador argued that water must first be prioritized for “people rather than companies,” suggesting that the Texas citrus industry is owned by companies. Comprised of around 27,000 acres in three counties, the Texas citrus industry is valued at around $100 million annually.
Although elected officials in Texas and the Trump Administration have characterized México as not meeting its water obligations under the treaty, the fact remains that although México’s water deliveries have been “at their lowest levels” it is not a violation of the treaty because the treaty allows either country to rollover water delivery shortages to the next five-year cycle where the country must meet its water obligation. In the last cycle that ended in 2020, México delivered most of the water it owed for that cycle, depleting most of its stored water resources in the northern part of the country.
Chihuahua farmers occupied the Boquilla dam in 2020 to stop the water transfers leading to confrontations between the national guard and the Mexican farmers. The confrontation at the dam led to the death of two people when a guardsman opened fire. (some news reports say one protestor was killed and another wounded) The Mexican farmers were protesting López Obrador’s decision to pay its water debt to the US under the treaty.
The Mexican farmers argued that the treaty “establishes alternatives for resolving,” the water debt, arguing that the water debt can be paid in the future.
While Texas citrus farmers complain to their government representatives about water from México, the industry continues to grow. Orange production in Texas grew by 4% and grapefruit was up by 7% in 2024, according to the USDA. The president of the Texas Citrus Mutual, Dale Murden, says that although production is about 60% of what it was in the late 1990’s, “production is up” and “prices have remained high.” Murden added that the industry is optimistic.
Claudia Sheinbaum responded to the Trump complaint on social media, writing that México has complied to its treaty obligations based on available water resources. Sheinbaum added that she has instructed her representatives to offer solutions through the IBWC. The IBWC, meanwhile, threatened to start denying México its water share.
Giner told the Border Report this week, that the IBWC denied México water for Tijuana. Giner added that withholding more water from México may continue if water isn’t forthcoming from México. She added that “despite some relief of rain,” in the Texas area, the US government will still pressure México to fulfill its water obligations.
Note 1. The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 5, No. 3, July 1911, p. 791.