Mexico begins water deliveries to US, avoiding 5% Trump tariff
In a press conference Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed her government’s commitment to uphold water deliveries to the U.S. as outlined in the 1944 Water Treaty.
The treaty requires Mexico to give the U.S. one-third of its water surplus from six major Mexican tributaries that flow into the Rio Grande River Basin — totaling around half a trillion gallons over a five-year cycle.
Sheinbaum emphasized that the water delivery will not impact Mexicans and that additional water shipments are currently not possible due to the yearslong drought.
“What is very important for everyone to know is that we are not giving away water that we don’t have or that would negatively impact Mexicans. Rather, we looked at different basins to see how we could address the request from the United States, which is part of the 1944 Treaty. We are not delivering more than the treaty stipulates, nor are we giving away water that we don’t have,” said Sheinbaum. “We will hold meetings at the same time to make an agreement based on the rainfall; before it was every five years, but we will see how it can be resolved due to the drought in the country.”
Mexico’s water shipments this week are the result of a binational agreement made Friday, which also states that the two countries will finalize a plan before February 2026 for Mexico to address its outstanding debt.
According to the most recent data from the International Boundary and Water Commission, the international body that manages shared water resources and applies international treaties between the two countries, Mexico has sent around half of the water it owes to the U.S. over a five-year term that ended Oct. 24.
On Monday, Mexico intends to start delivering 65 of the 260 billion gallons of water it owes to the U.S. The delivery is supposed to be completed by Dec. 31.
The treaty also requires the U.S. to send about 489 billion gallons of water annually from the Colorado River to Mexico.
Last week, President Donald Trump demanded via Truth Social that Mexico settle its water debt with the U.S. or he would slam Mexico with a 5% tariff.
Water deliveries to the U.S. from Mexico come from two shared dams in the border region — Falcon and Amistad dams. Both dams are owned and operated by the International Boundary and Water Commission.
According to data released on Monday by the commission, the Falcon dam is at 11.5% capacity and the Amistad dam is at 24.1% capacity.
In a historic first, the U.S. Department of State rejected Mexico’s request for a special non-treaty water delivery from the Colorado River to Tijuana on March 20, citing Mexico’s shortfalls on water delivery requirements.
Trump’s water demands add to recent domestic water legislation moves.
On Dec. 4, the Mexican Senate approved changes reinforcing human rights to water, banning the transfer of water concessions between private entities, limiting changes in water use, creating a new national water registry and beefing up fines for water mismanagement.
During the week of legislation, hundreds of farmers arrived in Mexico City in a caravan to express their concern with the new law and amendments, claiming that the changes would jeopardize their ability to access and inherit water concessions.
