Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SCR13 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		By: Hinojosa of Nueces, et al. S.C.R. No. 13
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3		-
	2	+	(In the Senate - Filed February 7, 2025; February 13, 2025,
	3	+	read first time and referred to Committee on Water, Agriculture and
	4	+	Rural Affairs; March 10, 2025, reported favorably by the following
	5	+	vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; March 10, 2025, sent to printer.)
	6	+	Click here to see the committee vote
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5	8
6	9		SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
7	10		WHEREAS, Mexico's failure to fulfill its water deliveries to
8	11		the United States according to the stipulations of a 1944 treaty
9	12		between the two countries significantly harms the interests of
10	13		Texas; and
11	14		WHEREAS, The Rio Grande is both an interstate and
12	15		international river arising in the mountains of Colorado and
13	16		flowing in a southerly direction through New Mexico, where it forms
14	17		the border between the United States and Mexico beginning near
15	18		El Paso; the river is a shared and vital resource providing
16	19		municipal water for millions of Texans and irrigation water for
17	20		hundreds of thousands of acres in Texas; and
18	21		WHEREAS, Below Fort Quitman, the waters of the Rio Grande are
19	22		apportioned to the United States and to Mexico per the terms of the
20	23		1944 Treaty, "Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana
21	24		Rivers and of the Rio Grande"; Article IV of the treaty requires
22	25		that inflows from certain named tributaries of the Rio Grande be
23	26		apportioned one-third to the United States and two-thirds to
24	27		Mexico; and
25	28		WHEREAS, The 1944 Treaty specifically requires that "this
26	29		third shall not be less, as an average amount in cycles of five
27	30		consecutive years, than 350,000 acre-feet (431,721,000 cubic
28	31		meters) annually"; Mexico is allowed to deliver less than this
29	32		annual average amount of water during a five-year cycle only in the
30	33		event of an extraordinary drought, and not all years in a delivery
31	34		cycle reflect extraordinary drought conditions; and
32	35		WHEREAS, Many municipal, industrial, and agricultural water
33	36		users in Texas rely almost exclusively on these waters from the Rio
34	37		Grande for their water supplies; it is thus critical to the state's
35	38		interests that, during years in which extraordinary drought is not
36	39		present, Mexico take all necessary measures to address accumulated
37	40		water delivery deficits; and
38	41		WHEREAS, Mexico has failed to comply with its obligations
39	42		under this treaty regularly over the last three decades, and it is
40	43		now significantly behind in fulfilling them; in the current cycle,
41	44		Mexico is 984,814 acre-feet in arrears; and
42	45		WHEREAS, During the past 10 years, Mexico has expanded crop
43	46		production in Chihuahua, resulting in the use of water volumes
44	47		exceeding the annual average Mexico agreed to deliver under the
45	48		treaty; this increase has directly impacted water availability for
46	49		downstream users in the RGV, creating economic and environmental
47	50		concerns; the water reserves in the Amistad and Falcon reservoirs
48	51		are at historically low levels; shortages have disrupted key
49	52		sectors, leading to the loss of sugarcane production, significant
50	53		reductions in fruit and vegetable farming, and stalled housing
51	54		developments; the only sugar mill in Texas closed permanently in
52	55		2024; moreover, rural municipalities have been forced to purchase
53	56		water from outside districts, incurring up to 60 percent higher
54	57		monthly costs; and
55	58		WHEREAS, The 1944 Treaty requires that the United States
56	59		Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which
57	60		is a subdivision of the United States Department of State, ensure
58	61		compliance with the terms of the 1944 Treaty; and
59	62		WHEREAS, The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has
60	63		conveyed and communicated these issues and concerns to the
61	64		International Boundary and Water Commission, and it is vital that
62	65		the IBWC and the state department recognize the critical
63	66		socioeconomic importance of this issue; now, therefore, be it
64	67		RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas
65	68		hereby respectfully urge the U.S. Department of State and the
66	69		United States Section of the International Boundary and Water
67	70		Commission to take appropriate action to ensure that Mexico
68	71		complies with the 1944 Treaty regarding shared water resources and
69	72		that they take all necessary steps to make deliveries to the United
70	73		States a priority during annual water allocation deliberations;
71	74		and, be it further
72	75		RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
73	76		copies of this resolution to the U.S. secretary of state and to the
74	77		commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission,
75	78		United States and Mexico.
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