Bill Text: TX HCR55 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Urging the U.S. Department of State to take appropriate action to ensure that Mexico complies with the 1944 Treaty regarding shared water resources and that it make required water deliveries to the United States a priority.
Sponsorship: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)
Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Signed by the Governor [HCR55 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HCR55-Enrolled.html
| H.C.R. No. 55 | ||
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| WHEREAS, Mexico's failure to fulfill its water deliveries to | ||
| the United States according to the stipulations of a 1944 treaty | ||
| between the two countries significantly harms the interests of | ||
| Texas; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The Rio Grande is both an interstate and | ||
| international river arising in the mountains of Colorado and | ||
| flowing in a southerly direction through New Mexico, where it forms | ||
| the border between the United States and Mexico beginning near El | ||
| Paso; the river is a shared and vital resource providing municipal | ||
| water for millions of Texans and irrigation water for hundreds of | ||
| thousands of acres in Texas; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Below Fort Quitman, the waters of the Rio Grande are | ||
| apportioned to the United States and to Mexico per the terms of the | ||
| 1944 Treaty, "Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana | ||
| Rivers and of the Rio Grande"; Article IV of the treaty requires | ||
| that inflows from certain named tributaries of the Rio Grande be | ||
| apportioned one-third to the United States and two-thirds to | ||
| Mexico; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The 1944 Treaty specifically requires that "this | ||
| third shall not be less, as an average amount in cycles of five | ||
| consecutive years, than 350,000 acre-feet (431,721,000 cubic | ||
| meters) annually"; Mexico is allowed to deliver less than this | ||
| annual average amount of water during a five-year cycle only in the | ||
| event of an extraordinary drought, and not all years in a delivery | ||
| cycle reflect extraordinary drought conditions; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Many municipal, industrial, and agricultural water | ||
| users in Texas rely almost exclusively on these waters from the Rio | ||
| Grande for their water supplies; it is thus critical to the state's | ||
| interests that, during years in which extraordinary drought is not | ||
| present, Mexico take all necessary measures to address accumulated | ||
| water delivery deficits; and | ||
| WHEREAS, During the current five-year delivery cycle, which | ||
| began on October 25, 2010, Mexico has failed to deliver an amount of | ||
| water equal to the annual average required by the 1944 Treaty, and | ||
| the deficit amount so far exceeds 390,000 acre-feet; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Several irrigation districts in the Lower Rio Grande | ||
| Valley of Texas are now projecting they will exhaust their | ||
| irrigation water reserves by mid-year 2013 as a result; these same | ||
| irrigation districts deliver municipal water to almost all of the | ||
| cities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The 1944 Treaty requires that the United States | ||
| Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which | ||
| is a subdivision of the United States Department of State, ensure | ||
| compliance with the terms of the 1944 Treaty; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has | ||
| conveyed and communicated these issues and concerns to the | ||
| International Boundary and Water Commission, and it is vital that | ||
| the IBWC and the state department recognize the critical | ||
| socioeconomic importance of this issue; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the U.S. Department of State and the | ||
| United States Section of the International Boundary and Water | ||
| Commission to take appropriate action to ensure that Mexico | ||
| complies with the 1944 Treaty and that it takes all necessary steps | ||
| to make deliveries to the United States a priority during its annual | ||
| water allocation deliberations; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the secretary of state of the United | ||
| States and to the commissioner of the International Boundary and | ||
| Water Commission, United States and Mexico. | ||
| Lucio III | ||
| Guerra | ||
| Oliveira | ||
| Longoria | ||
| Guillen | ||
| Canales | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 55 was adopted by the House on April | ||
| 11, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 1 present, not | ||
| voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 55 was adopted by the Senate on May | ||
| 15, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: __________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| __________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
