For the first time in 81 years, the U.S. denied Mexico’s request to supply water from the Colorado River to Tijuana.
The move comes in the wake of Trump’s escalating aggression against its southern neighbor. While Mexico is experiencing a historic drought, Trump absurdly blamed the country for stealing the U.S.’ water. In a Truth Social post, he wrote:
Mexico OWES Texas 1.3 million acre-feet of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, but Mexico is unfortunately violating their Treaty obligation.
Mexico has been unable to complete its usual water deliveries to the U.S. due to severe drought conditions caused by climate change. The drought poses an existential threat to Mexican farmers, wildlife, and communities.
It also impacts the Southern U.S. border states that share the Rio Grande with Mexico. The U.S. has also had to scale back water shipments to Mexico due to drought conditions, but holds Mexico to a different standard.
Trump’s aggressive policy is rooted in a centuries-old U.S. war on Mexico’s land, national resources, and territorial sovereignty. Instead of cooperating with Mexico to mitigate the climate crisis affecting both countries, the administration has resorted to bullying its southern neighbor and threatening the country with increased tariffs and sanctions.
Climate change and drought in Mexico
Mexico is over 1 million acre-feet of water behind in its usual shipments, due to a paralyzing drought. According to a February 2024 report, nearly 60% of the country is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought. The drought has hit the arid northern states the hardest, but extends as far down as Mexico City. Reservoirs are running dangerously low, with some sitting at only 10-15% of storage capacity. The water shortages, caused by lack of rainfall and prolonged heat waves, are so severe that thousands of cattle have died of starvation. Essential crops like wheat, corn, sorghum, and coffee beans are at risk. In the northwest state of Sonora, every single one of the state’s 72 municipalities is in severe drought. In Chihuahua, entire populations of bees and fish are on the brink of extinction.
Last November, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist, initiated a five-year mitigation plan to tackle the water crisis. The Plan Nacional Hídrico (National Water Plan) will mobilize government ministries to reduce water waste, improve irrigation and purification technology, and work with local and state governments to increase access to clean drinking water.
Meanwhile, in the U.S, Trump is working to shrink the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and repeal key environmental regulations, giving petrochemical corporations the green light to pollute our air and water as much as they want.
Trump’s colonial-style aggression
If the threats to the climate weren’t bad enough, Mexico also has to deal with increasing threats from its northern imperial neighbor. Trump is weaponizing a decades-old treaty to demand that Mexico fork over more of its scarce water supply to the U.S. In 1944, the U.S. and Mexico signed a treaty guaranteeing that the two countries share the water from the rivers on their shared border, primarily the Rio Grande and Colorado River. The treaty delineates the amount of water that each country is entitled to and dictates that the countries equitably share their water supply.
Trump demands 1.3 million acre-feet of water from Mexico, but Mexico hardly has enough water to provide for its own people. Texas Senator Ted Cruz echoed Trump on X: “Texas farmers are in crisis because of Mexico’s noncompliance.” It is true that drought conditions have seriously impacted communities on both sides of the border, but at no fault of Mexico. The U.S. emits five times more greenhouse gas than Mexico; the Pentagon is the world’s single biggest polluter. Pitting Texan farmers against Mexican farmers does nothing but sow division and deflects from the fact that the U.S. has declined to take responsibility for climate mitigation and has left its own population to fend for itself amidst escalating climate chaos.
The U.S. empire’s legacy of snatching precious resources from the Global South is nothing new. Texas belonged to Mexico until annexation in 1845, when the U.S. secured it as a part of its southern slaveocracy. Thousands of Mexican citizens of Texas were sent into exile and forced to abandon their farms and ranches. It is ironic that Trump now wants to blame Mexico for hurting Texan farmers.
Trump’s water wars on Mexico are an extension of his tariff war against the country, which is an extension of a longstanding U.S. colonialist policy. Trump wants to continue the tradition of old-fashioned, racist 19th-century colonialism to reinforce the U.S. empire’s chokehold over the rest of the world.
Mutual cooperation, not imperialist bullying!
The U.S. will not bully Mexico into submission. The Mexican people have resisted U.S. imperialism for hundreds of years and they will continue to defend their sovereignty. Tackling the climate crisis will require mutual coordination and a commitment to shared stewardship over the land and waters we share on this earth. Imperialist bullying does no one any favors; only a people-led, climate-centered approach can resolve the crisis.