Farmers in Mexico feeling effects of water shortage
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Tamaulipas' top water official is concerned about Mexico's ability to meet water dues for the United States.
Mexican officials and farmers met in Reynosa to discuss possible solutions.
Tamaulipas Hydraulic Resources for Social Development Secretary Raul Quiroga Alvarez said the current water situation is on shaky ground.
Amistad and Falcon reservoirs have a combined total of 350 million cubic meters of water. But Alvarez says in order to cover yearly water demands in northern Tamaulipas, they would need more than four times that amount, and Mexico is still behind paying its share to the U.S.
Tamaulipas Senator Olga Patrica Sosa said since the 1990s, farmers in Chihuahua were able to get water rights much easier. This altered the Rio Grande and how much water people downstream would get.
Agriculture Union for Northern Tamaulipas President Juan Manuel Salinas said this means area farmers across our border don't have enough water.
An impact felt by cities and farmers in the Rio Grande Valley.
Tamaulipas officials say they want to honor the water rights of the Binational Water Treaty to pay the U.S. the water they owe.
To do that, they say federal leaders need to crack down on over exploited and illegally used water resources in the Rio Grande basin in the state of Chihuahua.
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