Blue Community Ambassador Rosario Sánchez writes:
If research were layers of a cake, this is the cherry. And a rather big one. Of course only possible because I had the privilege to work with simply the best Gabriel Eckstein and Steve Mumme. And yes, the Water Treaty is the topic!
The extraordinary drought provision and the future of the Rio Grande water deliveries under the 1944 US–Mexico water treaty: an exploratory policy analysis.
The ‘extraordinary drought’ provision contained in the legal framework governing water allocation between Mexico and the United States has been applied differently on the Colorado River, Upper Rio Grande, and Lower Rio Grande. While the provision has been interpreted to require proportional water allocation reductions during droughts for both parties on the Colorado and Upper Rio Grande, it has been applied very differently on the Lower Rio Grande where it binds Mexico to make up delivery shortfalls in subsequent cycles. Given climatic, economic, and population pressures in the Lower Rio Grande basin, application of the ‘extraordinary drought’ provision requires reconsideration.
