Mexico City, Mexico — President Sheinbaum says she is convinced Mexico will reach an agreement with the United States on water deliveries. She said the federal government is holding talks with the governors of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila and Chihuahua.
“We stand united with the governors in this process to find the best agreement with the United States.”
Regarding the recent post by U.S. President Donald Trump, Sheinbaum stated that Mexico has delivered more water this year because it was possible, adding that Mexico will present proposals to continue deliveries for the remainder of 2025 and in the future without jeopardizing the population or agricultural production.
“I am convinced that we will reach an agreement, as on other occasions, that benefits both Mexico and the United States,” she said Tuesday. “We both defend our population, but the treaty must be fulfilled according to the amount of water that exists and that can be carried through the pipelines.”
President Sheinbaum noted that the 1944 Water Treaty establishes that water can be delivered during the following five years in case of drought, adding that there is indeed an amount that Mexico owes due to the situation in 2023 and 2024. Therefore, this year’s delivery was larger.
“Of course we are in a position to comply with the treaty, but we have to take into account how much water we can contribute between now and December 31 based on what is available and what can be physically transported. In any case, we have until 2026 to continue delivering.”
After stating that this is a good treaty for Mexico, she emphasized the importance of ensuring that populations do not run out of water and that Mexico is fully prepared to comply under the current conditions.
“Now there are other sources of water, therefore, it is very important that we sit down with the United States to review other issues in order to solve the problem in the future and not just the immediate one.”
Roberto Velasco Álvarez, the Undersecretary for North America and acting head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE), said that 2022 and 2023 presented droughts that were outside the range since the measurement of runoff was established in 1953.
Therefore, in the last year of the previous cycle and in 2025, Mexico was able to make up part of the debt, but the delivery of more than one billion cubic meters of water remains pending.
The “Falcon” and “Amistad” dams only have nine and four percent of their storage capacity, so the priority is to guarantee the supply to 13 Mexican border cities.
He indicated that since April 23, authorities from both countries have held meetings to define extraordinary measures, assess the conditions of the basin, and determine the next steps.
