The 1944 Water Treaty (Treaty for the Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande) is a bilateral treaty that allocates cross‑border river waters and assigns the binational International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) to implement and administer deliveries, storage, and related operations. For the Rio Grande it establishes that Mexico must deliver an average of 350,000 acre‑feet per year (1.75 million acre‑feet per five‑year cycle) to the U.S., defines storage at international reservoirs, and provides the IBWC and treaty "Minutes" as mechanisms for interpreting and adjusting operations and resolving disputes.
An acre‑foot is the volume covering one acre to a depth of one foot (~325,851 gallons or ~1,233 cubic meters). 350,000 acre‑feet equals roughly 114 billion gallons (≈431 million cubic meters) per year — enough to supply tens of thousands of irrigation acres; for example, at typical irrigation rates (varies by crop and method), 350,000 AF could irrigate on the order of several hundred thousand acres per year, so the commitment provides substantial, but not unlimited, water for South Texas farming and ranching.
Public reporting around the December 2025–February 2026 negotiations states Mexico ended the prior five‑year treaty cycle (Oct 25, 2020–Oct 24, 2025) with an outstanding shortfall of roughly 865,000 acre‑feet that Mexico agreed to repay under the new understanding. The shortfall was caused by under‑deliveries during that cycle tied to hydrological conditions and Mexico’s releases from upstream basins and reservoirs, as tracked by IBWC delivery accounting.
Verification and enforcement will rely on continued U.S. federal oversight through the Department of State, USDA and the IBWC’s water accounting and monitoring; the agreement also establishes monthly binational meetings to review deliveries and a detailed repayment plan. The IBWC’s operational records, reservoir gauges and published weekly delivery status are the primary verification tools; treaty enforcement typically proceeds through diplomatic channels and IBWC Minutes rather than punitive automatic sanctions.
Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo — commonly reported as President Sheinbaum — is the President of Mexico (elected 2024; took office December 1, 2024).
The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) is the bilateral U.S.–Mexico commission that implements the 1944 Treaty: it measures and accounts Mexico’s treaty deliveries, operates and maintains international reservoirs and works, publishes weekly delivery status and coordinates Minutes and technical agreements that govern operations and dispute resolution between the two countries.