US denies extra Colorado River water supply to Mexico over delay in payment

The Trump administration announced that it will deny supplying additional Colorado River water to Mexico for the first time after there was a delay in its payments.

Through a statement, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, an agency integrated into the Department of State (DOS), said that Mexico's non-compliance has hurt U.S. farmers.

"Mexico's continued shortfalls in its water deliveries under the 1944 water-sharing treaty are decimating American agriculture--particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley. As a result, today for the first time, the U.S. will deny Mexico's non-treaty request for a special delivery channel for Colorado River water to be delivered to Tijuana," the agency said.

Both countries have a 1944 treaty that establishes that Mexico and the United States should share the waters of the Rio Grande and the Colorado River, which run along the border between the two countries.

Under this text, the United States must send a quantity of water from the Colorado River per year and Mexico must send it a portion of that from the Rio Grande in five-year cycles. The last one ends in October 2025.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins used the same rationale as the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs to argue for the Trump administration's decision.

"Mexico has failed to uphold its end of the treaty, and American farmers have suffered the consequences. Mexico was allowed to get away with it in years past—but those days are over," Rollins wrote in X.

Also speaking out was Ted Cruz. The Texas senator stated that farmers in his state "are in crisis" because of Mexico's noncompliance.

From the other side of the border, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum did not make many statements on the matter and limited herself to saying that this issue "is being addressed" between the authorities of both countries.

Specifically, this extra water requested by Mexico was to supply Tijuana, a city that has suffered a lack of rainfall.