Rising temperatures threaten Texas’ water resources

Texas has witnessed a “miracle” in the past decade, as the southern state’s economy grew by 63% during that period. Fossil fuels have driven most of the growth, but water is essential to the industry, with much of the production coming from water-based fracking. However, in the midst of severe drought lasting several decades, driven largely by global warming, water has become a source of serious concern.

While the money continues to flow in, the blows dealt by the drought are not immediately clear. In the Rio Grande Valley, the border region with Mexico in the southeastern part of the state, the last sugar mill closed in February due to water shortages. Citrus crops in Texas, the third-largest citrus-producing state, are also at risk, as Texas reservoirs are nearly at historic lows.

This summer, the capacity of the Falcon and Amistad reservoirs on the Rio Grande River, which provide water to millions of people, reached 13% and 25%, respectively.

Although periods of heavy rainfall may refill the reservoirs, the heat quickly dries them up again.

Climate change is expected to increase temperatures and change rainfall patterns across the Southeast, exacerbating drought and its impacts.

Similar droughts, such as the one that occurred during the 1950s, were primarily caused by a lack of rain, but with climate change the main factor is rising temperatures, not an actual lack of rain, and this exacerbates the risks of such prolonged drought.

The effects of severe drought can have serious consequences for agricultural systems and water supplies, including reduced productivity and depletion of groundwater reserves and reservoirs that supply cities and towns with fresh water.

This is why updating the bilateral agreement between the United States and Mexico on water sharing in this region is so important.

In 1944, Mexico signed this treaty, which obligated it to deliver to Texas a certain amount of water from six tributaries of the Rio Grande every five years.

In mid-November, it announced the new version of the agreement, which also allows it to use water from alternative sources or from shared reservoirs.

In the current cycle, which ends in October 2025, Mexico has so far fulfilled less than a third of that agreement, exacerbating water shortages for Texas farmers.

The amendment aims to alleviate farmers’ concerns and support the availability of water for the upcoming growing season. The agreement also addresses a recent offer from Mexico to supply water from another source, which has raised concerns among Texas farmers wary of potential compensatory measures that may affect their water supply.

Irrigation district authorities that supply water to farmers and ranchers were reluctant to accept Mexico’s offer, and there was concern that receiving water now would reduce their critical supply, needed for the next agricultural season. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state agency that decides how water is allocated, has not given the green light for its use yet. About “El Pais”

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Fixed position

Texas has no choice but to accept the amendment negotiated by the federal government, which states that the United States will accept water provided by Mexico from the San Juan River, despite the fact that it is not one of the six tributaries included in the original agreement. This is the position that Texas Governor Greg Abbott strongly criticized when he ordered the state to accept the waters, saying: “Texas is firm in its position that Mexico’s obligation can only be met by water from one of the six tributaries mentioned in the 1944 treaty.”

The status of the Rio Grande Valley is reflected in different parts of the state and could have profound economic consequences in the medium and long term.

. The effects of drought can have serious consequences for agricultural systems and water supplies.