Texas-Mexico water war boils over
Miguel Llanos - MSNBC

A water war between Texas and Mexico has Texans boiling mad, and they're hoping their former governor, President Bush, can do something about it during his talks this week with Mexican President Vicente Fox. The water dispute is just one of many around the globe - a worrisome trend highlighted by U.N. statements and a report issued Friday, which the United Nations has designated World Water Day.

THE U.S. BORDER dispute stems from a 1944 water treaty in which Mexico agreed to allow 350,000 acre-feet of water to flow annually from Mexican streams and tributaries into the Rio Grande River for use by farmers in south Texas.

Mexico has defaulted on the accord, using the water to help ease its own drought in its northern states. The U.S. neighbor now owes 473 million gallons and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose own state has been hard hit by drought, wants the water now.

"We have lost a billion dollars in economic activity because of Mexico's failure to deliver promised water," Perry told a water rally last Wednesday on parched south Texas farmland. "We have lost more than a half-million acres of irrigated crops because of Mexico's failure to deliver promised water. And many of our farm families have lost hope."

Perry, a Republican running for re-election, suggested his patience was running out. "I will continue to talk with anyone who will listen," he said, "but it's about time to stop the talking and get the water flowing."

EARLIER BUSH-FOX DEAL
A spokesman for Perry said Friday that the governor raised the issue with Bush during his brief Texas stopover before heading to Mexico this week.

Perry's spokesman, Gene Acuna, said Texas officials would be in contact with the Bush administration to find out what, if anything, was resolved.

Acuna noted that Bush and Fox signed an agreement last March to restore the water supply "but that has not occurred."

Still, said Acuna, "the governor certainly remains optimistic."

Under the treaty, in exchange for water from Mexico, the United States agreed to divert five times that amount out of the Colorado River and into Mexico each year.

While Mexico first defaulted in 1992, the United States has kept its side of the treaty.

The south Texas fruit belt - 750,000 acres of citrus, melons, cotton, sugar cane and other crops - has been plagued by a drought so severe that some farmers have had to burn parts of their citrus groves.

WATER ISSUES WORLDWIDE
The U.S.-Mexico water treaty is one of dozens among nations worldwide - and not the only one that has led to disputes.

An Oregon State University database counts 150 international water treaties as well as 39 accords between U.S. states. In a statement marking World Water Day, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that "fierce national competition over water resources has prompted fears that water issues contain the seeds of violent conflict."

The head of the U.N. Environment Program, Klaus Toepfer, said the key to "peace and stability" is developing "legal frameworks for the equitable sharing of water resources."

Toepfer said developed countries in particular should increase the price of water to encourage conservation.

"Water-pricing needs to be revised to reflect the true cost of the resource, taking account of the economic, social and environmental value of water," he said in a statement. "Such a policy will encourage more efficient use, and discourage waste."

"Pricing policy should of course take account of the limited finances of the poor," he added. "At present the poorest pay most for clean water, both in monetary terms, and in terms of the burden to their health."

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Oregon State University database