The Borderline La Linea Fronteriza |
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Houston Institute for Culture SPECIAL FEATURE |
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REPORT TO BE POSTED WEATHER
View Major Hurricanes and Floods DROUGHT
Tamaulipas farmers had to be compensated in 2003 for lost productivity due to the deficit of irrigation water, which was transferred to the United States to meet the requirements of a bi-national water treaty. Lower Rio Grande Irrigation District 025 paid 460 million pesos ($43 million U.S. dollars at that time). Regional drought, which has severely affected the Mexican side of the border has left Mexico owing water to the United States. Three-fourths of the water flowing into the Rio Grande below El Paso comes from the Mexican side, but reduced rainfall has left the international Amistad and Falcon reservoirs low, and left Mexico with a water debt to the United States. The Rio Grande drains more than 40,000 square miles of Texas. Along the Texas-Mexico border, the Amistad Reservoir impounds 3,383,900 acre feet of water (Texas' share is 56.2 percent) and the Falcon Reservoir impounds 2,667,600 acre feet of water (Texas' share is 58.6 percent). The lake levels are continuing to decline due to drought in northern Mexico and Texas along the Rio Grande, and declining snowfall in the San Juan Mountains, the origin of the Rio Grande. POLLUTION Coming soon. Sources: 1. 2. Copyright © 2004 by Mark Lacy and Houston Institute for Culture. |
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HOUSTON INSTITUTE FOR CULTURE THE BORDERLINE SEARCH info@houstonculture.org |