Trump opens "a new front", US rejects Mexico's water request

The United States has rejected a Mexican request for water, claiming "water sharing deficiencies" from its southern neighbor, as Donald Trump wages a battle on another front.

The State Department said on Thursday that it was the first time the United States had rejected a Mexican request for a special shipment of water, which would have gone to the border city of Tijuana, foreign media wrote, according to the Telegraph.

“Mexico’s ongoing shortfalls in its water supplies under the 1944 water-sharing treaty are devastating American agriculture – especially farmers in the Rio Grande Valley,” the State Department’s office that handles Latin America said in a post on X.

The 1944 treaty, which governs the sharing of water from the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers, has come under increasing strain in recent years due to the pressures of climate change and population growth and agriculture in arid areas.

The treaty sets five-year cycles for water deliveries, with the last one ending in October 2025.

Under the treaty, Mexico sends water from rivers in the Rio Grande basin to the US, which in turn sends water to Mexico in the Colorado River, further west.

But Mexico has fallen behind on its water payments due to drought conditions in the country's arid north.

American farmers and lawmakers complain that the neighboring country has waited until the end of each cycle in the past and failed in the latest period.

The deal is highly controversial south of the border, where Mexican farmers have been struggling with intense drought in recent years.

As a result, the last sugar mill in South Texas closed a year ago, blaming a lack of water supplies from Mexico.

Texas lawmakers have demanded consequences for Mexico, saying the United States has fulfilled its water-sharing obligations.

The water dispute comes as Trump takes a tough approach towards Latin American countries, particularly regarding migration.

After returning to office, Trump has vowed to end the arrivals of undocumented immigrants, who mainly come from Central America and Venezuela, but transit through Mexico.

Trump deployed troops to the border and announced painful tariffs on Mexico, although he has since put them on hold until April 2. /Telegraph/