SAN ANTONIO – Rio Grande Valley farmers’ concerns about a lack of water are being addressed in a new executive order issued by State Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller’s office.
The executive order will allow Texas farmers and ranchers to use water from the Rio Grande for irrigation purposes, the news release stated.
According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, recent heavy rain in Mexico has caused significant runoff from the Marte R. Gómez reservoir — located approximately 30 miles southwest of Roma, Texas, along the U.S.-Mexico border — into the Gulf of Mexico.
Much of the rainwater flowing into the gulf has been previously unused, the agriculture department said.
“Enough is enough,” Miller said in a statement. “We’re done sitting around waiting for someone else to act. There is no reason the water overflow south of the Amistad and Falcon international reservoirs should go down the Rio San Juan to the Rio Grande and be wasted. The water belongs in the hands of those who need it most, not lost to the Gulf.”
On Wednesday’s episode of KSAT Explains, KSAT Meteorologist Justin Horne and photojournalist Sal Salazar traveled to the Rio Grande Valley and heard first-hand from farmers struggle to make their living.
The future of the citrus industry, an economic staple of the Rio Grande Valley, may be in doubt due to inadequate amounts of water and a water treaty signed between the United States and Mexico 80 years ago.
Former Texas watermasters allege that Mexico has not met its end of the treaty’s requirements. International Boundary Water Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner told KSAT that approximately 50% of the water is supplied from Mexico.
According to the news release, Miller’s Thursday executive order is due to concerns with the 1944 Water Treaty.
“Our farmers and ranchers have needed water for far too long, and this is just another way we’re supporting them,” Miller also said in the news release. “Texas should always take care of Texans.”
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