The 1944 Treaty: An Overview
T
he Rio Grande serves as an international bound ary between the United States of America and the United Mexican States. Both countries rely on the water in this river for domestic, municipal, agricultural, industrial, and hydro-electric gen eration purposes. As of August 8, 2020, the Amistad-Falcon Conservation Capacity is at 43.1% for the United States and 8.4% for Mexico. This time last year, the United States was just below 60% and Mexico was hovering at around 15%. This article explores why and how water in the Rio Grande below El Paso is allocated between the two countries and offers some insight as to why such a disparity in the conservation capacity exists and how this disparity directly affects users in the United States, particularly those in the Rio Grande Valley. The name of the watershed draining into the Rio Grande is called the Rio Grande Basin. The Rio Grande Basin includes approximately 335,500 square miles in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. Roughly 47% of this area contributes no surface runoff to the Rio Grande, leaving about 177,815 square miles of productive watershed. Only about 40,000 square miles of that productive watershed is located in Texas. An estimated 75% of the tributary inflow below El Paso comes from the watershed located on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. The water in the Rio Grande below El Paso, Texas is allocated by a treaty between the United States and Mexico. This treaty is formally called the Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande. It is most often referred to as the “1944 Treaty” because the treaty was signed on February 3, 1944. As the formal treaty title suggests, this treaty not only divides the waters of the Rio Grande, but also the waters of the Colorado River and the Tijuana River. The need to delineate the boundary between the two countries arose at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War upon the signing of the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic (also known as the “Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo”) in 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo drew the boundary between the United States and Mexico at the Rio Grande and the Gila Rivers. The population and agricultural growth on both sides of this international boundary, as well as the inconsistent precipitation, raised the need to regulate these boundary rivers. The express purpose of the 1944 Treaty was to “fix and delimit” the rights of the two countries with respect to the waters of the
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Ag Mag THEAGMAG.ORG
BY RICHARD WARD FRYER
Colorado and Tijuana Rivers (in the Southwestern United States), and of the Rio Grande (aka the Rio Bravo) from Fort Quitman, Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. The 1944 Treaty also provided for the construction of up to three storage dams in the main channel of the Rio Grande. Two of those dams were actually constructed and are still in operation today. These dams are known as Falcon Dam and Reservoir and Amistad Dam and Reservoir. The 1944 Treaty allots the waters of the Rio Grande between Fort Quitman, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico between the two countries in the following manner: To Mexico:
• All of the waters from the San Juan and Alamo Rivers; • One-half of the flow in the Rio Grande below Falcon Dam and Reservoir; • Two-thirds of the flow from the Conchos, San Diego, San Rodrigo, Escondido and Salado Rivers and the Las Vacas Arroyo; and • One-half of all other flows from all the unmeasured tributaries between Fort Quitman, Texas and Falcon Dam and Reservoir. To the United States: • All of the waters from the Pecos and Devils Rivers, Goodenough Spring, and Alamito, Terlingua, San Felipe and Pinto Creeks; • One-half of the flow below Falcon Dam and Reservoir; • One-third of the flow from the Conchos, San Diego, San Rodrigo, Escondido and Salado Rivers and the Las Vacas Arroyo, provided that the one-third shall not be less, as an average amount in cycles of five consecutive years, than 350,000 acre-feet annually; and • One-half of all other flows from all the unmeasured tributaries between Fort Quitman and Falcon Dam and Reservoir. The waters of the Colorado River are allotted to Mexico as follows: • A guaranteed annual quantity of 1,500,000 acrefeet; and • Any other quantities arriving at the Mexico points of diversion.
