Cornyn Praises Mexico’s Agreement to Fulfill Water Obligations to Texas Under 1944 Treaty

Yesterday I celebrated the announcement that Mexico will fulfill its water delivery obligations to Texas in compliance with the 1944 U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty:

Texas’ border communities will welcome this news that Mexico has committed to fulfilling its water obligations to the United States. Farmers, ranchers, and families who rely upon this water can rest easy, and our close relationship with Mexico can continue to grow.

Since early this year, I have worked diligently to ensure negotiations between IBWC, Mexico, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality resulted in an agreement that benefits Texas.  I have been a long-time leader in fighting to secure water for rural Texans through enforcement of a 1944 Treaty on U.S.-Mexico water-sharing.  I worked to include a provision in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for FY2016 that reinforces Mexico’s Treaty obligations to the U.S. and requires the State Department and the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC) to assess the impact Mexico’s water debt has on U.S. interests and Texans, which was signed into law on Dec. 18, 2015.  Following my efforts, Mexican authorities announced that they had paid down their Rio Grande water debt in full for the previous cycle in February 2016.