MEXICO WATER NEWS BRIEF – 2024/11/28

The polluting Mexican pig mega-farms supplying pork to the world

Mexico is a leading international pork producer, but Yucatán residents say the waste oozing from hundreds of enormous hog farms, replete with drugs, hormones and excrement, is destroying the environment (The Guardian)

Mexico looking to turn the tide on water use concessions with 2024-30 plan

The Mexican government presented its national water plan for the next six years, largely focusing on the aim of reducing the amount used in agriculture and industry to make more available for human consumption. 

The plan is based on four main pillars: Water policy and national sovereignty, justice and access to water, mitigation of environmental impacts and adjustment to climate change, and comprehensive and transparent management of water resources. (bnamericas)

Extreme weather contributing to migration between US, Mexico

Extreme weather is a factor in driving both illegal border crossings from Mexico into the U.S. and whether migrants return to Mexico, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Researchers analyzed data from more than 48,000 people living in 84 Mexican farming communities between 1992 and 2018. They found that among those regions, residents were more likely to unlawfully cross the border when their community was undergoing extreme drought and less likely to cross the border back to Mexico if their community was experiencing similarly extreme conditions. (MSN)

Mexico agrees to water deliveries to Texas under 1944 treaty

Following a recent agreement between U.S. and Mexican authorities, Mexico is required to make water deliveries to the Rio Grande Valley, Texas. This development comes after Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to accept an offer of water from the San Juan River by Mexico, amidst concerns over Mexico's compliance with the 1944 Water Treaty obligations.

Mexican growers challenged by water shortfall, tight labor conditions

There have been some issues with water and labor availability in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa. Growers in those regions have been in a long-term drought and some reservoirs that provide water to growers are only 20% to 30% full.

Questions about water availability have likely caused some produce growers to be conservative in the acreage they plant for the coming season.

Despite back-to-back deals on water from Mexico, relief for South Texas farmers is far from certain

Texas agreed to take 120,000 acre-feet of water from Mexico this month, only after the U.S. and Mexico agreed to an updated treaty.

South Texas farmers remain concerned about their access to water despite back-to-back announcements this month that signaled better days ahead.

First, the U.S. and Mexico signed an amendment to an international water treaty that dictates how water is shared between the two countries. Then earlier this week, Texas agreed to accept a relatively small offer of water that would go toward paying off Mexico's current water debt while also bringing relief to farmers and ranchers whose land has gone dry in the face of the current water shortage.

Under the treaty, Mexico must deliver 1,750,000 acre-feet of water to the U.S. from six tributaries every five years. Four years into the current five-year cycle, Mexico has delivered just 427,914 acre-feet with a balance of more than 1.3 million acre-feet of water that is due by October 2025