It’s been a long summer in South Texas–drought has set in while temperatures continue to climb. And Mexico has been feeling the heat, too.
“We’ve had a water shortage for the last two years,” said Homero Chavez, a farmer just outside of Delicias in the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua near the border.
A 70-year-old treaty between the U.S. and Mexico is supposed to keep the waters of the Rio Grande River flowing, but in a time when the rains can longer be relied upon Mexico has fallen behind on its part of the deal.
“We basically set aside water in the United States reservoirs that will be released and delivered to Mexico,” said Sally Spener, who is with the International Boundary and Water Commission, the federal agency that oversees binational water treaties between the U.S. and Mexico. “We do not believe that the Mexican system is managed in a similar fashion.”
Now, tensions are running high between farmers that rely on the river on both sides of the border.
Monica Ortiz Uribe is a senior field correspondent for Fronteras. Ortiz Uribe went down to Chihuahua to find out more about this battle for water and shares her findings with The Takeaway.
Â
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because our listener community contributes to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciate our coverage, if there has been a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work? All donations between now and June 30 will be matched 2:1, tripling your impact.