MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday the country would immediately send Texas farmers a water delivery as part of a treaty that has recently strained tensions with the United States, though she did not specify a quantity.
Mexico, which has fallen short on it deliveries under an 81-year-old water sharing treaty with the U.S., was looking for alternatives to comply, Sheinbaum said in her regular news conference. Those alternatives would depend on water availability, she added.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened tariffs or sanctions on Mexico for its failure to deliver water, which U.S. officials have said is hurting Texas farmers who rely on the deliveries.
The treaty’s current five-year cycle is up in October, but Mexico has sent less than 30% of the required water, according to data from the International Boundary and Water Commission.
Sheinbaum said she expected an agreement in the coming days and did not expect further conflict. The treaty was “fair,” she added.
Mexican officials have routinely pointed to drought conditions that have sapped the supply available for deliveries as the reason for non-compliance with the treaty.
(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison and Raul Cortes; Editing by Kylie Madry)
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