Water Crisis Now Stands at 18.95%

By Gregg Wendorf
Advance News Journal

The two water reservoirs combined, Amistad and Falcon, that supply the RGV’s four counties with water for ag, citrus, commercial, and residential, not to mention the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, now sit at a historic low, beating out the record low set in August 1998, when the county’s population was approximately 350,000 less than what it is today.

Unless you’re a cactus, this story should be of concern.

The maximum water capacity that the U.S. can store at the two reservoirs is approximately 3.4 million acre-feet. If we only had 2 million, we’d be grateful. Instead, the number is nearing the 500,000 acre-feet mark.

Thanks to record heat, which further facilitates surface water evaporation, continued drought conditions on both sides of the river, Mexico’s refusal and/or inability to live up to its water-delivery obligations related to the 1944 Water Treaty, the water capacity available for U.S. use at both reservoirs was only 639,775 acre-feet as of last Friday.

Longtime water guru Sonny Hinojosa looks at these numbers, and he seems perplexed by what he sees going on around him, or put more aptly, what’s not going on around him.

When the Valley is indeed facing a serious crisis, more people in positions of power should seem more concerned, said Hinojosa. But that’s not what he sees.

Hinojosa served as Assistant Rio Grande Watermaster for eight years and then as GM for Hidalgo County Irrigation District #2 for 28 years, for which he still serves as water advocate, looks at the low water numbers and says he still doesn’t understand why more people in positions of authority aren’t taking this water crisis as serious as he sees it.

“And we’re still developing, but where is the water supposed to come from?”

Already, this year is off to a record start with both the heat, lack of rain, and the low water levels at Amistad and Falcon, dropping approximately 4/10ths of one percent per week (.004).

The six Mexican river tributaries that feed both Amistad and Falcon are only holding 1.14 million acre-feet, approximately. While the U.S. is owed approximately 870,000 acre-feet, per the treaty.

Meaning, in practical terms, while still suffering through a severe drought, Mexico is not going to dump the water it owes us into Amistad and Falcon, 870,000 acre-feet, while leaving its own stakeholders with less than 300,000 acre feet in reserve.

As mentioned in one of last week’s columns in The Advance, two years ago, August of 2022, Mexico had approximately 3 million acre-feet in those same six tributaries whereas it now has 1.14 million. That’s when Mexico had the water to make whole the 1944 Water Treaty, but no one on the U.S. side put any pressure on Mexico, and so, here we sit, up a dry creek with no need of a paddle.

Only thing to do is pray for rain. Lots of it.

Time to Get Serious

Last week, an Advance reader called to report a neighborhood church that was doing what you call in Texas, something that’s “just plain stupid.”

Watering the church lawn in the middle of the afternoon, around 3 p.m.

“We’re in the middle of a drought, record low water levels in the reservoirs, and they’re watering their lawn during the worst part of the day — mid-afternoon. Can’t you do anything?”

Sure, we could go take a picture, and we might, maybe phone the church and ask them to reconsider lawn-watering times, maybe switch to 3 a.m. instead of 3 p.m., but how many other people are there, businesses, doing the same thing? Wasting precious water?

A lot. In recent weeks, according to Hinojosa, the reservoir levels had been dropping (4/10ths of one percent) a week, or approximately 13,503 acre-feet over a seven- day period.

That level of usage isn’t sustainable unless present conditions change.

Multiply a weekly loss of 13,503 acre-feet (hopefully it will be less or we’ll get a lot of rain) by 52 weeks, and you come up with 702,156 acrefeet, which is more water than is the current combined U.S. share sitting in both Amistad and Falcon – 639,775 acrefeet.

If anyone says, “nothing to worry about,” find out what kind of pills they’re taking, and ask them to share.