Shortfalls in Mexico’s water deliveries to the United States have contributed to major crop losses for farmers in Texas, the U.S. government said Tuesday.
Under the terms of a 1944 bilateral water treaty, Mexico is required to deliver 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the U.S. every five years from six tributaries of the Rio Grande.
However, due to drought in recent years, Mexico has struggled to meet its obligations.
When the 2020-25 cycle concluded in late October, Mexico still owed the United States just over 865,000 acre-feet of water, a quantity it will need to transfer to the U.S. in the 2025-30 period in addition to its regular obligation.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Office of the Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State said that senior Trump Administration officials from the State Department, the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission had met with Mexican counterparts to “discuss immediate and concrete steps Mexico would take to reduce shortfalls in water deliveries and ensure compliance with the 1944 Water Treaty.”
“The officials examined available water resources and the United States pressed for the maximum possible deliveries to Texas users,” the statement said without mentioning when and where the meeting with the Mexican government representatives took place.
“We have requested additional information and will reconvene to consider additional options.”
The Office of the Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State said that “under the Trump Administration, Mexico has delivered more water in the last year than in the previous four years combined.”
“However, shortfalls in Mexico’s water deliveries have exacerbated water scarcity in Texas and contributed to hundreds of millions of dollars in crop losses for farmers,” the office of Tammy Bruce, the current State Department spokesperson, said.
“President Trump and Secretary Rubio have been clear that Mexico must meet their obligations under the 1944 Water Treaty, including making up the approximately 865,000 acre-feet shortfall over the 2020-2025 five-year cycle and meeting delivery requirements under the 2025-2030 cycle.”
Bruce’s office said that Mexico must formulate “a plan to reliably meet water treaty requirements that takes into consideration the needs of Texas users.”
“We remain committed to working with Mexico to resolve this issue through diplomatic channels as we continue to evaluate all available options to ensure Mexico complies with its water delivery obligations,” the statement concluded.
State Dept: “shortfalls in Mexico’s water deliveries have exacerbated water scarcity in Texas and contributed to hundreds of millions of dollars in crop losses for farmers.”
“This includes a plan to reliably meet water treaty requirements that takes into consideration the needs… pic.twitter.com/o94NJgcDtW— Ryan Sprouse (@RSprouseNews) November 26, 2025
The Mexican government has not given its own account of the meeting Bruce’s office referred to.
In April, the Mexican and U.S. governments announced they had reached an agreement under which Mexico would immediately deliver water to the U.S.
At the time, Mexico had only delivered about 30% of the water it was required to send to the U.S. in the 2020-25 cycle. It ended the cycle having transferred just over 50% of its total obligation. A significant easing of drought conditions in Mexico thanks to a productive rainy season could allow Mexico to increase its water deliveries to the U.S. in the near term, although farmers in the country’s north remain opposed to transferring the precious resource across the international border.
Water is transferred from Mexico to the U.S. through a binational network of dams and reservoirs.
While the Mexican government committed in April to increasing its water deliveries to the U.S., it stressed it also has a responsibility to “ensure the supply [of water] for human consumption” for communities in Mexico that depend on the Rio Grande.
Before the bilateral agreement was reached in April, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico if it didn’t comply with its 1944 water treaty obligations.
“Mexico OWES Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, but Mexico is unfortunately violating their Treaty obligation,” he wrote on Truth Social on April 10.
“… My Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, is standing up for Texas Farmers, and we will keep escalating consequences, including TARIFFS and, maybe even SANCTIONS, until Mexico honors the Treaty, and GIVES TEXAS THE WATER THEY ARE OWED!”
Water shortages in southern Texas
In late October, Sonny Hinojosa, a water advocate for Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2, told The Texas Tribune that water Mexico delivered as part of the agreement reached in April provided some relief to farmers in the southern reaches of the Lone Star state.
However, farmers still only had about 50% of the water they need in a year, he said.
“Next spring, we may not have sufficient water to grow all our crops,” Hinojosa told the Tribune.
“Hurricane season came and went, we got no relief, so we’ll be facing a fourth year of water shortage.”
Dante Galeazzi, president and CEO of the Texas International Produce Association, told the Tribune that farmers in the Rio Grande Valley, as well as businesses that depend on agricultural activity, are suffering because of the water shortages.
“The impacts extend to other businesses like trucking companies, seed and chemical companies, and insurance companies, as well as workers who harvest the crops, Galeazzi said,” according to the Tribune.
New study warns of deepening water crisis in the Rio Grande basin https://t.co/1O7gcPeRTA via @TPRNews #txwater #drought #RGV
— The Texas Water Infrastructure Network (TXWIN) (@TX_WIN) November 25, 2025
“You have this big ecosystem of other adjacent businesses who also aren’t getting business because the farmers aren’t,” Galeazzi said.
The Tribune wrote that “the citrus industry faces the greatest risk from water shortages.”
“[Citrus] farmers worry they’re headed toward a similar collapse that shuttered the [Rio Grande] Valley’s sugar industry,” the publication wrote.
The Tribune reported on Nov. 7 that the delay in water deliveries from Mexico “continues to frustrate local farmers and ranchers who depend on water for their irrigation needs.”
In light of the situation, the two U.S. senators for Texas, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, filed legislation earlier this month that would limit the U.S. from sending Mexico future deliveries of water, and attempt to compel Mexico to make minimum annual deliveries to the United States during each five year treaty cycle.
Under the 1944 treaty, the United States has to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of water from the Colorado River to Mexico every year.
According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, “the United States typically has met its Colorado River delivery requirements to Mexico pursuant to the 1944 Treaty.”
With reports from La Jornada
