April 29 (UPI) — Mexico has agreed to immediately transfer water to the United States and increase the U.S. share of water flow from their shared rivers, after the Trump administration threatened its southern neighbor with tariffs if it did not fulfill its end of a water-sharing agreement.
The United States and Mexico announced the agreement in separate statements on Monday.
The 1944 Water Treaty between the two countries states that the United States is obligated to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of water annually to Mexico from the Colorado River, and in return Mexico will deliver to the United States a minimum of 350,000 acre-feet of water each year, totaling 1.75 million acre-feet of water over a five-year cycle.
However, Mexico has only delivered less than 500,000 acre-feet of water since October 2020, attracting the anger of President Donald Trump, who earlier this month threatened to impose tariffs and potentially sanctions against Mexico until it fulfilled its treaty obligations.
President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo of Mexico had responded to Trump by blaming the water deficit on a three-year drought.
In a statement Monday, her foreign ministry said, “With a strong desire to continue fulfilling the commitments outlined in the 1944 Treaty … Mexico has agreed with the United States to implement a series of measures aimed at mitigating a potential shortfall in Mexico’s water deliveries by the end of the cycle.”
“These measures include immediate water transfers as well as transfers during the upcoming rainy season,” the foreign ministry said.
Mexico will also increase the U.S. share of flow in six of Mexico’s Rio Grande tributaries, according to the U.S. State Department, which said these measures will help American farmers, ranchers and municipalities in Texas’ Rio Grande valley “get much-needed water and reduce shortfalls in deliveries.”
“The United States and Mexico also committed to develop a long-term plan to reliably meet treaty requirements while addressing outstanding water debts,” it said in a statement.