Mexico Says It Met Its US Water Pledge

MEXICO · US RELATIONS · WATER

Mexico says it has delivered the minimum yearly volume of Rio Grande water it owes the United States under the 1944 Water Treaty, and Mexican media report that US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed it.

Mexico says it completed the first year of a new five-year water delivery cycle on Saturday, 24 October 2026, meeting the minimum it owes the United States under the 1944 Water Treaty. US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed that Mexico delivered at least 350,000 acre-feet, about 431 million cubic meters or 114 billion gallons, La Razón and Infobae report.

The water matters to Americans because South Texas farmers and ranchers depend on the Rio Grande, and Washington said in December 2025 that it would impose 5% tariffs on Mexican goods if Mexico kept violating its commitments. The announcement meets the yearly minimum but does not close the file, because Rollins said pending deliveries remain critical for South Texas.

What Mexico Announced

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry (SRE) said in a statement on Saturday, 24 October 2026, that the first year of Cycle 37 of Rio Grande deliveries had ended. It said the government coordinated efforts across agencies to meet the minimum annual volume set in the joint strategies announced on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, despite extreme drought, according to El Economista and El Universal.

The ministry said Mexico had acted responsibly without putting at risk the human right to water, community consumption or food production, especially along the border. It added that Mexico will keep working with the United States on predictable solutions to the drought, with full respect for its national water sovereignty.

Mexico’s ambassador in Washington, Roberto Lazzeri, wrote on social media that the result “shows what our two countries can achieve when they work together”, El Universal reports in Spanish. The statement as quoted gives no volume, and La Razón and Infobae put the annual minimum at about 431 million cubic meters, the metric equivalent of 350,000 acre-feet.

What the Treaty Requires

The IBWC says the treaty gives the United States one-third of the flow reaching the Rio Grande from six named Mexican tributaries. That third “shall not be less, as an average amount in cycles of five consecutive years, than 350,000 acre-feet annually”, in the commission’s wording.

In the other direction, the IBWC says Mexico is guaranteed 1.5 million acre-feet a year from the Colorado River. The US Department of Agriculture puts the Rio Grande obligation at 1.75 million acre-feet over five years, the same 350,000 a year.

The IBWC is the joint US-Mexican body that applies the treaty and settles disputes under it. Its US section is based in El Paso, Texas.

How the Dispute Unfolded

The US Department of Agriculture announced on Friday, 12 December 2025, that Mexico would release 202,000 acre-feet starting the week of Monday, 15 December, and repay the deficit from the previous cycle. Rollins said that “if Mexico continues to violate its commitments”, the United States would levy 5% tariffs on Mexican goods.

A second statement, from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Rollins on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, said Mexico had committed to deliver at least 350,000 acre-feet a year in this cycle and to a detailed plan to repay all outstanding debt from the last one. It said monthly meetings would follow, after a call between Presidents Donald Trump and Claudia Sheinbaum the week before.

El Economista reported in April that 413 million cubic meters were sent between January and March, well above the monthly pace needed for the five-year total, citing Mexico’s section of the commission. It added that part of the December release was meant to address the previous cycle’s shortfall as well as the current cycle.

What Washington Said

Rollins said Mexico delivered at least 350,000 acre-feet in the 2026 water year, Infobae reports, while La Razón gives the same volume as 431 million cubic meters. She also said the work is not finished, because the pending deliveries “remain critical” for South Texas farmers and ranchers who depend on the water “to sustain their operations and feed our nation”, in La Razón’s Spanish rendering.

She thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his team for stepping into the negotiations, La Razón adds, quoting her as saying “together we are delivering” for American agriculture and “safeguarding the water our producers need”. Infobae reports that she credited President Trump’s leadership and coordination with Sheinbaum for reaching the target.

Infobae writes that the US administration considers predictable and reliable future deliveries a priority for South Texas producers. A US statement on the delivery year was not yet on the Agriculture Department’s press page on Sunday morning, so her words reach readers through Mexican outlets.

“The work is not finished.”
Brooke Rollins, US Agriculture Secretary, as quoted by La Razón, 25 October 2026 (our translation)

What It Means for You

For South Texas growers, the news means the yearly minimum was reached, but the water is only useful if deliveries stay steady and the old debt is repaid. For consumers and traders, it bears on the 5% tariffs that Rollins threatened in December, though none of the statements reported so far announces a tariff step either way.

For border residents on the Mexican side, the Foreign Ministry stresses that drought-hit communities came first. El Economista reported in April that Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas were among the states with the worst drought, citing the national water commission.

The flow also runs the other way. El Economista reported in July, citing a researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, that Mexico’s Colorado River supply was cut by 182 million cubic meters, or 10%, in 2026.

Sheinbaum said in July that the water treaty is not on the table in the USMCA negotiations, which Mexico calls the T-MEC. She called claims that Mexico was missing its water quota “false”, adding that “we are complying perfectly”.

What Is Not Known

No full year-one tally has been published in the statements reported so far, and neither the volume delivered since 25 October 2025 nor how much counted toward the old debt is clear. The IBWC’s last posted tally for the previous cycle, which ended on Friday, 24 October 2025, shows an estimated 884,861 acre-feet delivered against the 1,750,000 target, and the balance still owed has not been given.

It is also unclear what Rollins means by pending deliveries, and whether Washington will treat Mexico’s year-one result as closing its tariff warning. The US section of the commission listed no release on the delivery year on its press page on Sunday morning.

Cycle 37 runs until October 2030, El Economista notes, so four more yearly counts remain. Whether rainfall in the northern basin will let Mexico keep the pace is not stated in any of the statements.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 1944 Water Treaty?

It is a 1944 agreement sharing the Rio Grande and the Colorado River. Mexico must send the US at least 350,000 acre-feet a year on average over five-year cycles, and the US sends Mexico 1.5 million acre-feet a year from the Colorado.

How much water did Mexico deliver?

Mexico says it met the minimum annual volume, and US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed at least 350,000 acre-feet, about 431 million cubic meters. A full year-one tally has not been published in the statements reported so far.

Does this end the water dispute?

Not yet. Rollins said the work is not finished and that pending deliveries remain critical for South Texas, and the balance of the debt from the previous cycle has not been published.

Why does this matter to US readers?

South Texas farmers and ranchers depend on Rio Grande water. In December 2025 Rollins said the US would impose 5% tariffs on Mexican goods if Mexico kept violating its commitments.

Is the water treaty part of the USMCA talks?

Sheinbaum said in July that the treaty is not on the table in the USMCA negotiations, which Mexico calls the T-MEC. Washington raised its tariff warning over water separately, in December 2025.

Sources: International Boundary and Water Commission, history and 1944 Treaty summary, US Department of Agriculture, release of 12 December 2025, US Department of Agriculture, statement of Rubio and Rollins, 3 February 2026, US Geological Survey, water science glossary (acre-foot), El Economista, 24 October 2026, El Universal, 24 October 2026, La Razón, 25 October 2026, Infobae México, 25 October 2026, El Economista, 6 April 2026, El Economista, 24 July 2026, El Economista, 25 July 2026. All opened on 25 October 2026. The Foreign Ministry statement is quoted as reproduced by El Economista, El Universal and La Razón; Rollins’s words are quoted from La Razón and Infobae. Quotes from Spanish-language sources are translated into English.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief