83R8284 LB-D
 
  By: Lucio III, Guerra, Oliveira, Longoria H.C.R. No. 55
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, Mexico's failure to fulfill its water deliveries to
  the United States according to the stipulations of a 1944 treaty
  between the two countries significantly harms the interests of
  Texas; and
         WHEREAS, The Rio Grande is both an interstate and
  international river arising in the mountains of Colorado and
  flowing in a southerly direction through New Mexico, where it forms
  the border between the United States and Mexico beginning near El
  Paso; the river is a shared and vital resource providing municipal
  water for millions of Texans and irrigation water for hundreds of
  thousands of acres in Texas; and
         WHEREAS, Below Fort Quitman, the waters of the Rio Grande are
  apportioned to the United States and to Mexico per the terms of the
  1944 Treaty, "Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana
  Rivers and of the Rio Grande"; Article IV of the treaty requires
  that inflows from certain named tributaries of the Rio Grande be
  apportioned one-third to the United States and two-thirds to
  Mexico; and
         WHEREAS, The 1944 Treaty specifically requires that "this
  third shall not be less, as an average amount in cycles of five
  consecutive years, than 350,000 acre-feet (431,721,000 cubic
  meters) annually"; Mexico is allowed to deliver less than this
  annual average amount of water during a five-year cycle only in the
  event of an extraordinary drought, and not all years in a delivery
  cycle reflect extraordinary drought conditions; and
         WHEREAS, Many municipal, industrial, and agricultural water
  users in Texas rely almost exclusively on these waters from the Rio
  Grande for their water supplies; it is thus critical to the state's
  interests that, during years in which extraordinary drought is not
  present, Mexico take all necessary measures to address accumulated
  water delivery deficits; and
         WHEREAS, During the current five-year delivery cycle, which
  began on October 25, 2010, Mexico has failed to deliver an amount of
  water equal to the annual average required by the 1944 Treaty, and
  the deficit amount so far exceeds 390,000 acre-feet; and
         WHEREAS, Several irrigation districts in the Lower Rio Grande
  Valley of Texas are now projecting they will exhaust their
  irrigation water reserves by mid-year 2013 as a result; these same
  irrigation districts deliver municipal water to almost all of the
  cities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas; and
         WHEREAS, The 1944 Treaty requires that the United States
  Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which
  is a subdivision of the United States Department of State, ensure
  compliance with the terms of the 1944 Treaty; and
         WHEREAS, The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has
  conveyed and communicated these issues and concerns to the
  International Boundary and Water Commission, and it is vital that
  the IBWC and the state department recognize the critical
  socioeconomic importance of this issue; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas
  hereby respectfully urge the U.S. Department of State and the
  United States Section of the International Boundary and Water
  Commission to take appropriate action to ensure that Mexico
  complies with the 1944 Treaty and that it takes all necessary steps
  to make deliveries to the United States a priority during its annual
  water allocation deliberations; and, be it further
         RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
  copies of this resolution to the secretary of state of the United
  States and to the commissioner of the International Boundary and
  Water Commission, United States and Mexico.