Update on Rio Bravo water management from Mexico to the United States

[Machine translation]

The 1944 Water Treaty governs the relationship between Mexico and the United States regarding the bodies of water in the common border area. Since both the Rio Grande and the Colorado River touch the territories of both countries, mechanisms for water management were established, which the United States has fully complied with. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 4 of the Treaty, Mexico must deliver 511.9 million cubic meters of water to the United States before October 24, 2020.

Article four of the Treaty establishes that Mexico must deliver to the United States a third of the water contributed by the Conchos, San Diego, San Rodrigo, Escondido, Salado and Arroyo Las Vacas rivers. This amount should not be less than 431.7 million cubic meters per year, accounted for in five-year cycles. In other words, Mexico's minimum five-year commitment is 2,158.5 million cubic meters. In reciprocity, the United States has similar obligations with respect to the Colorado River basin.

The previous cycle ended on October 24, 2015 and closed with a deficit of 324.7 cubic meters, which were covered in the first year of the current cycle. The current cycle started on October 25, 2015 and will end on October 24 of this year. To date, a volume of 1,646.7 million cubic meters has been delivered to the United States, so to close this cycle without fail, as stipulated in the Treaty itself and Act 234 of the International Commission on Limits and Waters (CILA ), the 511.9 million cubic meters referred to above must be delivered to the United States between this date and October 24 of this year.

To achieve this, the Government of Mexico has stated that it values the availability of water in the basin, as well as all the possible options granted by both the Treaty and Act 234. In order to comply with the international obligations acquired in the Treaty , and considering that the United States has complied with the deliveries of the Colorado River that correspond to it, the federal and state authorities of Mexico established a comprehensive strategy that involves all the rivers and users that are located within the Bravo river basin, applying adequate water management in the binational border area.

ooOoo