October 24, 2025, marked the end of the most recent five-year water delivery cycle under the 1944 Water Treaty between Mexico and the United States. The agreement requires Mexico to deliver an average of 350,000 acre-feet (about 432 million cubic meters) of water annually to the United States, supporting irrigation in South Texas' Rio Grande Valley (RGV). The end of this cycle leaves a debt of about 925,000 acre-feet (1.14 billion cubic meters), according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
As of January 2025, Mexico had delivered roughly 400,000 acre-feet, below the required average. Although a six-month delivery plan earlier this year added 320,000 acre-feet, the total fell short of treaty obligations. The combined water levels in the region's reservoirs remain below 27% capacity, heightening concern among growers.
"The Texas citrus industry, like every other grower in the Valley, is dying without water," said Dale Murden, president of Texas Citrus Mutual. "We've already watched the state's only sugar mill close and sugarcane production disappear. Citrus is hanging on by a thread. Without dependable water, our groves and livelihoods are at risk."
Farmers across the RGV have been forced to scale back production or sell orchards. "Without water there's no life, so we need that water," said citrus grower Eric Saenz, whose family farm near Edinburg has seen trees dry out after years of drought. "We really can't do anything. We're fading out. We've been asking for water, and there's no relief there."
Low reservoir levels have also reduced farm labor demand. "I just had to let go of some of the workers," Saenz said. "It hurts. It hurts us and it hurts those families as well."
Mexico has attributed the shortfall to ongoing drought conditions affecting both sides of the Rio Grande. An amendment to the 1944 treaty allows water debts to roll over into the next five-year cycle during periods of "extraordinary drought."
U.S. lawmakers have called for stronger enforcement measures. Representative Monica De La Cruz said she wants treaty compliance incorporated into the upcoming U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) review. "Our crisis in deep South Texas affects the entire United States," she said.
Senator John Cornyn, chair of the subcommittee on international trade, said, "We've seen President Trump use trade as leverage to accomplish other goals. It doesn't have to be included in the USMCA per se, but it can be discussed jointly or in connection with that to accomplish the goal of getting release of water."
Representative Henry Cuellar added that even full repayment would not resolve the region's water deficit. "Even if we got Mexico to put all the water back, it would not be enough," he said. "We've got to look at secondary sources of water, because we can't keep going this way."
For more information:
Dale Murden
Texas Citrus Mutual
Tel: +1 956 580 8004
www.texascitrusindustry.com
