More than half a million people in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas lack access to clean drinking water, according to a recent report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Despite attempts since 2012 to achieve universal access to water, such as cloud seeding for rainfall stimulation, the distribution of water storage tanks, and government incentives for conservation, serious water supply and drainage issues in the region persist.
Carlos Peña Ortiz, the mayor of the border city of Reynosa, announced that starting on Dec. 15, the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) will reduce the water supply to the city, leaving only about 60% of the normal supply capacity.
Ortiz explained that the cut is due to the absence of the usual water transfer from the El Cuchillo Dam in Nuevo León to Tamaulipas this year, given the state's current emergency water scarcity.
As an emergency measure, the activation of ground water wells in various sectors of Reynosa, is being considered.
Ortiz told El Horizonte that the purpose of opening these wells is to "direct them towards the city's intakes” and store water in regulating reservoirs to "sustain these kinds of issues for a few months."
As tributaries that feed water reservoirs continue to suffer from drought in northern Mexico, the country’s ability to deliver water payments to the U.S. and to farmers in South Texas as part of an international treaty is in doubt.
Mexico, currently four years behind in expected water supply, does not have enough water to meet its obligations for water payments to the U.S. in 2024.
U.S. IBWC Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner, who has been meeting with growers and farmers in the region, said at a recent public meeting in Mercedes, Texas that she is working with her Mexican counterparts to update the treaty with Mexico.
Farmers in South Texas have been unable to produce crops like watermelon, onions and citrus in the Rio Grande Valley due to low water levels.
In November, Texas voters approved Proposition 6 to create the Texas Water Fund and allocated $1 billion for new water projects in the state that could include infrastructure to help farmers in the region become less dependent on the Rio Grande watershed.
