September 10, 2007
Mexican High Court to Review Legality of Water Treaty
Frontera NorteSur
Mexico's Supreme Court will review a case that tests the constitutionality of the 1944 Water
Treaty between the US and Mexico. In a September 4 decision, the high court agreed to hear a legal complaint pursued by farmers
from the northern border state of Tamaulipas. The growers contend that Mexico's scheduled delivery of 510 million cubic meters
of water to the United States will damage their livelihoods.
Under the 1944 agreement, Mexico is supposed to deliver
an annual amount of water to the Rio Grande bordering Texas and Tamaulipas. A Mexican lower court had earlier thrown
out the growers' legal challenge to Rio Grande water deliveries, finding that the plaintiffs did not have legal standing to
pursue a case.
Ruling unanimously, Supreme Court justices decided that parties that suffer the consequences of an international
treaty could attain legal status in a dispute. Supreme Court Minister Jesus Gudino Pelayo observed that "sociological and
agricultural" issues were at stake in the Tamaulipas complaint. Minister Jose Ramon Cassio said that the court would consider
the specific water rights of Mexican irrigators who draw water from the Rio Grande.
Tamaulipas farmers from Irrigation
District 25 argue that premature water deliveries from the Amistad and Falcon reservoirs on the US-Mexico border resulted
in water allotment cutbacks by the National Water Commission this year. In 2005, Mexico completed delivery of all the water
it owed to the US at the time in order to settle a long-standing water debt accrued under the terms of the 1944 agreement.
Mexican
irrigators are receiving support in their legal challenge from the administration of Tamaulipas Governor Eugenio Hernandez
Flores, who recently told farmers that he supported their demands for a rightful share of water.
"We will continue
dedicating our determination and political will to the question of international water distribution, giving it the highest
priority," Governor Hernandez vowed.
A possible precedent-setting case, the Tamaulipas controversy carries ramifications
for Baja California, which receives US water deliveries from the Colorado River under the 1944 treaty. Competition for the
river water is growing among municipal, industrial, agricultural and rural users.
On a broader note, the Supreme Court's
action could also impact the negotiation and enforcement of international treaties in Mexico. "The court will have the possibility
of establishing novel criteria that will be able to be used for future cases," said Chief Justice Guillermo I. Ortiz Mayogoitia.
It's not known when Mexico's Supreme Court will issue a final ruling on the Tamaulipas
water users case.
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Sources: La Jornada, September 5, 2007. Article by Jesus Aranda. Proceso/Apro,
August 10, 2007. Article by Gabriela Hernandez.
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Frontera
NorteSur (FNS)
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
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(Reprinted with authorization
from Frontera NorteSur, a free, on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news source. FNS can be found at http://frontera.nmsu.edu/)
Translation FNS
