79R6172 CCK-D

By:  Guillen                                                    H.C.R. No. 100



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, In 1944, the United States and Mexico signed a water 
treaty governing international utilization of the Rio Grande/Rio 
Bravo basin, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, and of the Colorado 
and Tijuana Rivers, emptying into the Gulf of California and the 
Pacific Ocean, respectively; and
	WHEREAS, The treaty obligates the United States to deliver an 
annual 1.5 million acre-feet of Colorado River water to Mexico and 
obligates Mexico to deliver from six Rio Bravo tributaries a 
minimum annual 350,000 acre-feet, averaged over a five-year cycle, 
to this country; and
	WHEREAS, The history of the treaty has witnessed no American 
failures to uphold its more sizable obligation, but Mexico in 
recent years has failed to live up to its half of the agreement, 
having accumulated since 1992, as of mid-February 2005, a water 
debt of approximately 725,000 acre-feet based on numbers reported 
by the International Boundary and Water Commission; and
	WHEREAS, Mexican officials long claimed a prolonged drought, 
spanning more than a decade, as a cause of the water debt 
accumulation; yet simultaneously, irrigation along the Rio Conchos 
basin in Chihuahua, the largest tributary contributor to the Rio 
Grande, moved incongruously toward a more water-intensive crop mix 
as well as an increase in irrigated acreage; and
	WHEREAS, While Chihuahuan irrigators applied water lavishly, 
their shortchanged Texas counterparts, when they had water at all, 
managed with only a small amount; the result was a one-sided 
austerity that Texas A&M University analysts estimated to have cost 
South Texas $1 billion in total economic impact; and
	WHEREAS, Admirably, Mexico, since President Vicente Fox took 
office, has honored its annual treaty obligation, and in only 12 
months since February 2004, when the debt stood at 1.3 million 
acre-feet, Mexico has retired almost 45 percent of that amount, 
demonstrating that complete retirement is doable given strong 
leadership and honorable commitment; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby request the United States secretary of state and the 
International Boundary and Water Commission to require Mexico to 
fully repay its Rio Grande/Rio Bravo water debt to the United 
States; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That Mexico be required to retire the debt over the 
next three years, contributing equally to the Amistad and Falcon 
reservoirs, so that the benefits of the water can be enjoyed over 
the maximum stretch of the United States side of the river; and, be 
it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward a copy of 
this resolution to the United States secretary of state, and to the 
United States and Mexican sections of the International Boundary 
and Water Commission.