“The last five years in Texas has kind of been the perfect storm,” said Dale Murden, a citrus grower in the state’s Lower Rio Grande Valley. First came Hurricane Hannah in 2020; it knocked fruit to the ground before harvest. A year later, Winter Storm Uri devastated the region, freezing thousands of citrus trees. Now, ongoing drought and a water dispute with Mexico threaten the valley’s agricultural lifeblood.
When Murden started growing citrus in the 1980s, he had close to 100,000 acres of trees. Today, he has 25,000 acres. Much of this reduction is due to freezes, relentless drought and the critical water crisis tied to a broken agreement with Mexico.
Under the 1944 Water Treaty between the United States and Mexico, Mexico is required to deliver 1,750,000 acre-feet of water every five years, an average of 350,000 acre-feet annually. The current five-year cycle ends in October 2025, and Mexico is behind by more than 1 million acre-feet.
“We’re going into the fourth year of a five-year cycle with Mexico owing us close to a million acre-feet of water,” Murden said. “It’s hard to make plans when you can’t even count on water for your crops.”
Mexico made a water payment as of December 2024. But without a consistent water supply, farmers in the valley are forced to make difficult decisions.
“It really prohibits you from doing any planning at all,” Murden said. “Do I plant trees, or do I not plant trees? Do I water this crop, but not this crop? It’s difficult to plan your future when you can’t count on what a treaty obliges Mexico to do.”
Mexican officials point to drought as the primary reason for delay in water deliveries. Severe drought has also pushed reservoirs to historic lows.
“We’re in the worst shape I’ve seen water-wise going into winter and spring,” Murden said. “Typically, during the summer, there’s a storm event that’ll bring those levels up, but that didn’t happen this year.”
Murden and other farmers have cut back acreage, laid off employees or shifted to crops that require less water.
“Could this be the last citrus crop in Texas?” Murden asked, quickly answering, “No. We’ll get the rains we need, or we’ll come to an agreement with Mexico. I’m not going down without a fight.”
Source: Texas Farm Bureau
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