MEXICO CITY, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday she expects to reach an agreement with the United States over a water dispute as Mexican officials will meet with their U.S. counterparts later in the day.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday accused Mexico of violating a treaty that outlines water sharing between the neighbors and threatened to impose an additional 5% tariff on goods from Mexico if it doesn’t immediately provide additional water.
Under a 1944 agreement governing water sharing through a network of dams and reservoirs, Mexico must deliver 1.75 million acre-feet of Rio Grande water to the United States every five years. An acre-foot is enough to fill about half an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference that Mexico is limited in delivering more water by the country’s own needs under the treaty and by the size of the pipeline carrying water to Rio Grande, which she described as a physical constraint.
Trump asked Mexico to release 200,000 acre-feet of water before December 31. Sheinbaum said that “due to the size of the pipe, it would not be possible to deliver the amount of water requested in a very short time.”
(Reporting by Kylie Madry and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Writing by Natalia Siniawski)
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