Rio Grande Valley farmers who have seen their industry devastated by insufficient rain and depleting water reserves have been offered up a modest but helpful amount of water for their dried-up land.
The farmers are hesitating to accept it.
Farmers and the irrigation districts that supply water to farmers remain in a stalemate with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality over 120,000 acre-feet of water that Mexico offered up to the U.S.
This is the catch: If the farmers accept the water now, they will have to give up the water they already own and need for next year.
In mid-October, farmers and irrigation districts met with representatives from TCEQ and the International Boundary and Water Commission, the federal agency that oversees water treaties between the U.S. and Mexico, to discuss the offer.
It entails more than 120,000 acre-feet of water that Mexico offered up to the U.S. after heavy rains caused significant runoff from Mexico&... Read more
