Rio Grande's Trouble Is Worse Than Most Realize

Headlines about looming water shortages with the Colorado River are commonplace. At the Texas Monthly, Jack Herrera calls attention to lesser-known trouble on the Rio Grande, which he describes as "worse—significantly worse—than most realize." In a sweeping piece, Herrera traces how the river that supplies drinking water to roughly 15 million people and underpins billions in agriculture has entered crisis mode. Some South Texas cities came within months of "Day Zero"—the day taps would run dry—in 2022. And now, Herrera reports, some taps could run dry early next year. It's not simply drought: Herrera explains how a 1944 US-Mexico water treaty built on unrealistic flow estimates, expanding agricultural production on both sides of the border, and "use it or lose it" water rights that reward maxing out irrigation all helped push the Rio Grande to the brink.

"Blood has already been spilled, and the prospect of more-widespread violence—not to mention a mass-migration event—appears increasingly likely," writes Herrera. His piece threads together armed uprisings by rural farmers at Mexico's La Boquilla dam, critically low levels at Texas reservoirs Amistad and Falcon, Monterrey's bottled-water scramble, and warnings that drastic cuts in agricultural water use may be the only way to avert a deeper crisis. He also explores the potential for mass migration, violence, and even US pressure on Mexico over water. His bottom line is that this is a man-made emergency with no quick technological fix. Read the full story, in which Herrera describes "a water crisis without precedent in American history."