{"id":2212020,"date":"2024-04-03T07:56:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T11:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/border-crisis-worsens-as-mexico-dries-out-south-texas-farmers\/"},"modified":"2024-04-03T07:56:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T11:56:48","slug":"border-crisis-worsens-as-mexico-dries-out-south-texas-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/border-crisis-worsens-as-mexico-dries-out-south-texas-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"Border crisis escalates due to drought affecting farmers in southern Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fborder-crisis-worsens-as-mexico-dries-out-south-texas-farmers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2212020&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The border crisis \u200cworsens as Mexican policies dry out south Texas farmers, leading to economic losses and job\u200b cuts. State Democratic lawmakers demand action from the \u2063Biden administration and Gov. Greg Abbott to enforce a 1944 water treaty \u2063with Mexico. They \u200cexpress deep concerns about water shortages\u2064 affecting agriculture and urge immediate\u200d intervention to \u2062rectify the situation. Your summary effectively \u200cconveys the key \u2064points from the provided text, highlighting the impact\u200d of Mexican policies on south Texas \u2063farmers, the involvement of\u200b state Democratic \u2063lawmakers in seeking action, and the urgency to address water shortages affecting agriculture.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 The border crisis continues to worsen as the Mexican government dries out south Texas farmers, those in Texas\u2019 Rio Grande Valley argue. The situation has become so dire that state Democratic lawmakers have called on the Biden administration and Gov. Greg Abbott to take immediate action.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic members of Congress also have called on the Biden administration to enforce a 1944-era water treaty to no avail.<\/p>\n<p>Mexico is not upholding its end of a 1944 Treaty of Utilization of Waters, the lawmakers argue. The treaty governs water usage between the U.S. and Mexico including from two international reservoirs: Lake Amistad and Falcon Lake in Texas along the international border. Mexico has historically released water storage from Lake Amistad to Mexican growers, not to Texas growers, and the U.S. federal government hasn\u2019t stepped in to enforce the terms of the treaty. Recently, Mexican officials killed any agreements to release water to Texans, even running ads in Mexico City to protest compliance with the treaty, according to news reports.<\/p>\n<p>South Texas sugar growers said that without the State Department\u2019s support, \u201call attempts to negotiate timely water releases for Mexico have failed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Texas\u2019 last sugar mill <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/texas\/article_dfa72e4a-e133-11ee-9986-9fce985e5426.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a><\/strong> it was shutting down as a result. Because Mexico wasn\u2019t releasing water as required by the treaty, south Texas growers didn\u2019t have enough water to grow their crops, forcing more than 100 sugar growers out of business, 500 workers out of jobs and the Rio Grande Valley to lose an initial $100 million in economic losses.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, primarily Democratic state lawmakers urged U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to enforce the treaty, saying the water shortage wasn\u2019t just devastating the agricultural community but also \u201cin our fast-growing region, development is beginning to slow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a joint letter led by Democratic state Rep. Terry Canales, they expressed \u201cdeep concern\u201d about \u201congoing challenges related to water delivery and the apparent noncompliance\u201d with the treaty. \u201cWe are disappointed to observe a persistent shortfall in the delivery of water to our region, specifically an average of 350,000 acre-feet annually,\u201d as stipulated in the treaty. \u201cThe scarcity of water in our region has far-reaching implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and communities on both sides of the border\u201d and \u201cstrongly urged\u201d the State Department \u201cto take immediate and effective action to rectify the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joining Canales were state senators Judith Zaffirini, Juan Hinojosa and Morgan LaMantia, and state Reps. Ryan Guillen, Armando Martinez, and Sergio Mu\u00f1oz, Jr. All are Democrats except for Guillen, who recently switched parties and was most recently reelected as a Republican.<\/p>\n<p>In a separate letter sent before the Easter holiday, Canales called on Abbott to declare a state of emergency, saying the \u201ccritical water challenges\u201d were \u201ccreating an imminent threat to our residents and farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By declaring a state of emergency, the governor could provide additional state resources to \u201cprevent additional economic losses and job layoffs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In the lower Rio Grande Valley, \u201cfarmers are running out of vital irrigation water,\u201d Canales said. \u201cCompounding this issue is the alarming delay by Mexico in fulfilling its obligations\u201d under the treaty \u201cexacerbating the water shortage for our local farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must find a means of applying pressure on Mexico to comply with the treaty and release the water owed to the United States,\u201d he said, asking Abbott to urge the State Department to enforce the treaty.<\/p>\n<p>Neither the governor\u2019s office nor the attorney general\u2019s office responded to requests for comment. It remains unclear what legal recourse the state has or the extent to which the governor or state legislature could act to provide the amount of water needed to the region.<\/p>\n<p>The agricultural industry in the Rio Grande Valley contributes roughly $1 billion annually to the economy and provides roughly 8,400 full-time jobs, Canales said. But it\u2019s not just the agricultural community that\u2019s in jeopardy, he added. Mission\u2019s city council members are planning to impose a moratorium on all new residential and commercial developments built on over five acres of land citing the water shortage. Other communities are also facing similar challenges, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Without water, \u201cwe are perilously close to losing a crucial economic pillar and immediate action is imperative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we don\u2019t start turning the ship now, the Rio Grande Valley ultimately faces the threat of the taps running dry,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n<p>While the State Department hasn\u2019t acted, Canales expressed confidence that Abbott would.<\/p>\n<p>With the governor\u2019s support, \u201cwe can pave the way for a sustainable and secure water future for our community,\u201d Canales said. The governor\u2019s \u201cswift action will make a significant difference in preserving the livelihoods of our residents and the economic well-being of our region.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The border crisis worsens as the Mexican government affects south Texas farmers, leading to concerns among Rio Grande Valley residents. State Democratic officials urge swift action from the Biden administration and Gov. Greg Abbott. Congressional Democrats are also addressing the escalating situation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2212021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24058139329233-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2212020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24058139329233-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2212020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2212021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2212020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2212020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2212020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}