U.S. rejects Mexico’s request for special delivery of water for the 1st time

'The U.S. will deny Mexico's non-treaty request for a special delivery channel for Colorado River water to be delivered to Tijuana,' the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said.

The U.S. Department of State said that the United States has denied a non-treaty request by Mexico for a special delivery channel for Colorado River water to be delivered to Tijuana.

“Mexico’s continued shortfalls in its water deliveries under the 1944 water-sharing treaty are decimating American agriculture — particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley,” the department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said in a post on X on Thursday.

“As a result, today for the first time, the U.S. will deny Mexico’s non-treaty request for a special delivery channel for Colorado River water to be delivered to Tijuana,” the department added.

Under a 1944 treaty, which governs water allocation from the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers, Mexico is required to transfer water to the United States every five years from the two dams the countries share on the Texas border.

The treaty sets five-year cycles for these water deliveries, with the latest scheduled to end in October 2025, but Mexico has fallen behind due to drought conditions.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the issue is important and that it is being addressed.

“It is being addressed by (national water agency) Conagua and CILA (International Boundary and Water Commission), which is in charge of reviewing this treaty,” Sheinbaum commented on Thursday.

“There’s been less water. That’s part of the problem,” she told reporters.