McALLEN, Texas ( Border Report ) – U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, has filed legislation that, if approved, would give millions of dollars to farmers in the Rio Grande Valley affected by a lack of water payments from Mexico.
Change in international water treaty too late for one Texas farmer
The South Texas Agriculture Emergency Assistance Act would allocate $280 million in grants to the State of Texas to be administered through the Texas Department of Agriculture to help border farmers for losses incurred due to drought and a lack of water payments from Mexico.
The money would help “farming operations along the Rio Grande who have suffered economic losses during crop years 2023 through 2024 due to the failure of Mexico to deliver water annually to the United States in accordance with the Treaty Relating to the Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande,” the legislation filed Tuesday reads.
Mexico owes the United States a total of 1.75 million acre-feet of water by next October, under the 1944 international water treaty…