Change in international water treaty too late for one Texas farmer

MERCEDES, Texas ( Border Report ) — The rows of cornstalks in Dr. Gary Schwarz' fields are dry, just like the ground beneath it.

Schwarz, a Rio Grande Valley surgical dentist, owns 120 acres here, but he has decided farming isn't a viable way to supplement his income since he can't get water from the Rio Grande. So, he's going another direction with the land, giving up his fields and relocating bass from his Zapata County fishing ranch to a lake he's creating here, he told Border Report.

"I tried to farm it myself and the lack of water just was a problem," Schwarz told Border Report as he gave a tour of his South Texas fields earlier this week.

This is land that he grew up on as a child. He says it's "so special" but despite his efforts, he says he can't grow watermelons and corn without water.

"It's just devastating. The river is so low," Schwarz said. "They cut back what we can take compared to what we own and should be able to take to a super low level. The water is just not there."

Farmers have had their water allotments from the Rio Grande cut or eliminated this past summer because of historic lows at two South Texas reservoirs — Falcon Dam and Amistad Dam. That's because water payments from Mexico to the Rio Grande are way behind.

Mexico owes the United States over 1 million acre-feet of water by October 2025, which is the end of a five-year cycle, according to an international treaty between the two countries. But so far, Mexico has paid just over 425,000 acre-feet of water, according to data by the International Boundary and Water Commission, which oversees the river.

And experts don't believe it will be able to pay the full amount before the deadline.

But late last week, leaders from both countries signed an adjustment, or a "minute," to the 1944 water treaty, which will allow Mexico "additional tools" to pay the water back, U.S. International Boundary and Water Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner told Border Report on Tuesday.

"This 'minute' now provides additional tools so that Mexico can meet its water delivery obligations. It has struggled to meet its water delivery obligations since the 1992-97 cycle. Before that, they were able to make their obligations just with whatever water they could not store and spill," Giner said.

The changes are in Minute 331 , which Giner says is the first change to the 80-year-old treaty since 1969. The signing was held Thursday in Juarez, Mexico, with Giner and her Mexican counterpart, Mexican IBWC Commissioner Adriana Reséndez.

"This is truly historic," Giner said. "It's going to give them the tools to be able to deliver the 1.75 million acre-feet over five years. It's going to give them an incentive to also deliver earlier within the five year cycle, with the possibility of a credit into the next five year cycle if they over-deliver. And finally, it's going to look at opportunities to grow the pie through the creation of an environmental work group and a projects work group."

The 17 resolution changes adopted by both countries also include allowing Mexico to pay water from two river basins — the San Juan River, and Alamo River — which previously were not stipulated in the treaty. And Mexico will be credited for water deliveries or releases from those river basins.

These river basins are too far southeast for the United States to store the water in Falcon Dam or Amistad Reservoir.

The water will be released directly into the Rio Grande with U.S. permission. And it will mostly benefit farmers and municipalities downriver in the Rio Grande Valley, because cities and farms upriver, like in Laredo, will not get the flow.

Valley farmers and cities can request to pump the water out and schedule deliveries.

Otherwise, this excess water will flow into the Gulf of Mexico and be lost.

Texas' only sugar mill shut down in Hidalgo County earlier this year because of a lack of water. Over 500 workers lost their jobs. The county also declared an emergency because of dwindling water resources.

Former McAllen Mayor Jim Darling is chairman of the Region M Water Planning Group for the Texas Water Development Board, and he serves on the IBWC's citizens board representing the Valley.

He sat down with Border Report and pored over the multi-page treaty changes and concluded the United States doesn't have to accept the water. But if it does, it will count towards the country's credit, although it won't be stored in the reservoirs. And that is what farmers don't like about the deal.

It's basically excess water from these two basins that Mexico can't store. And it will only be released when their capacity is full.

"I think that's why they made the offer, because it wasn't going to take any water away from the Mexican side, because it was over flood allocation anyway," Darling said.

Giner says this is just a starting point. "Our work will continue to bring predictability and reliability to water deliveries. I want to thank Valley agricultural and municipal water users for our countless consultations and their advocacy for needed changes," she said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols called the signing "a key step in facilitating more regular Mexican water deliveries."

"The job is not done – the United States continues to consult with Mexico on the best ways to use the tools created in this agreement and deliver badly needed water at the earliest possible date," Nichols said in a statement.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, congratulated the signing of Minute 331, but said "there is still much mor work to be done."

"Our border communities in the Rio Grande Valley are being crushed by Mexico's repeatedly delayed water deliveries, and I urge the State Department to prioritize ensuring South Texas farmers and ranchers have the water they are rightfully owed on a more predictable basis," Cornyn said.

For Schwarz, this all comes a little too late for his farmlands. But he says he hopes future water deliveries will help his fellow farmers.

"We need this thing from Mexico bad. And I'm just praying it works out. I'm so thankful that we at least got a little bit of hope," Schwarz said.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at